Fairdale is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

located in Franklin Township, in the northwestern corner of

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Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

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. It is located on the

Iowa, Chicago and Eastern Railroad The Iowa, Chicago and Eastern Railroad (IC&E) was a Class II railroad operating in the north central United States. It has been controlled by the Canadian Pacific Railway and operated as a part of its system since October 30, 2008. Formerly, th ...

and on

Illinois Route 72 Illinois Route 72 is an east–west state road in northern Illinois. It runs from the intersection with Illinois Route 73 north of Lanark east to Illinois Route 43 (Harlem Avenue) in Chicago. This is a distance of . Route description Illin ...

, approximately east of Exit 111 on

Interstate 39 Interstate 39 (I-39) is a highway in the Midwestern United States. I-39 runs from Normal, Illinois, at I-55 to State Trunk Highway 29 (WIS 29) in the town of Rib Mountain, Wisconsin, which is approximately south of Wausau. I- ...

History

The community known today as Fairdale was

plat In the United States, a plat ( or ) (plan) is a cadastral map, drawn to scale, showing the divisions of a piece of land. United States General Land Office surveyors drafted township plats of Public Lands Surveys to show the distance and bear ...

ted in 1875 or 1876 (sources differ) and was centered on the property of farmer Henry Koch. The community's original name was Fielding, apparently named for a man named Albert Fielding. Early buildings in Fielding included Lewis Keith's general merchandise store, L.W. King's drug store, and a

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...

church. A post office was first established in the community in 1875 under the name Wallace (which was the name of the son of Henry Koch). Eventually, the growth of the neighboring community of Kirkland outpaced the growth of Fielding (Fairdale), possibly due to Kirkland's coaling and watering station. The name of the community (Fielding) and the name of the post office (Wallace) were both changed to Fairdale in late 1895 or early 1896. (The post office eventually closed in 1953.)

2015 tornado

On April 9, 2015, the community was struck by an

EF4 tornado The Enhanced Fujita scale (abbreviated as EF-Scale) rates tornado intensity based on the severity of the damage they cause. It is used in some countries, including the United States, Canada, China, and Mongolia. The Enhanced Fujita scale repla ...

, which caused two fatalities, numerous injuries, and significant damage to commercial and residential buildings. According to local authorities, 15 to 20 homes were destroyed, and almost all of the buildings in the town "sustained damage of some sort".

Technical rescue teams Technical rescue is the use of specialised tools and skills for rescue, including vehicle extrication, confined space rescue, rope rescue, trench rescue, structural collapse rescue, water rescue, and wilderness search and rescue. These often requir ...

from

DeKalb DeKalb or De Kalb may refer to: People * Baron Johann de Kalb (1721–1780), major general in the American Revolutionary War Places Municipalities in the United States * DeKalb, Illinois, the largest city in the United States named DeKalb ** DeK ...

and Rockford assisted in searching the collapsed buildings for survivors. The tornado had peak winds of 200 mph, the upper limit of an EF4. A man named Clarence "Clem" Schultz filmed a video of the tornado approaching his house, which ended up killing his wife Geraldine and their neighbor Jacklyn Klosa in the process. Shultz, along with 22 others, were injured during the tornado.

Education

By 1881, a school had been established in Fielding (Fairdale). By the early 1900s, a two-year high school had opened, and in 1924 it became a four-year high school. The high school closed in 1945, but the school building continued to serve as an elementary school for the Kirkland School District until 1967. Since that time, the community has been part of what is now ''Hiawatha Community Unit School District 426'', with most students attending schools in neighboring Kirkland. As of 2018, the former school building was a private residence.

References

External links

*
"Fairdale, Illinois: Before & After the Tornado" - Swipable images prepared by NBC Chicago WMAQ
{{authority control 1870s establishments in Illinois Populated places established in the 1870s Unincorporated communities in DeKalb County, Illinois Unincorporated communities in Illinois Tornadoes in Illinois