The Robbins Park Historic District is a set of three hundred and sixty-eight buildings in Hinsdale,

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 ...

. Two hundred and thirty-two of these builds contribute to its historical value. The district 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 by William Robbins in the 1860s and 1870s following the completion of the

Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad The Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad was a railroad that operated in the Midwestern United States. Commonly referred to as the Burlington Route, the Burlington, or as the Q, it operated extensive trackage in the states of Colorado, Illin ...

. Wealthy entrepreneurs moved to the district beginning in the 1890s due to its natural beauty and proximity to major golf resorts. The district was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 2008 and features two houses previously honored by the register.

History

The

(CB&Q) was opened in 1862 and added a station in modern-day Hinsdale,

two years later. Before the station was built, real estate developer William Robbins purchased , the first land in Hinsdale, including a lot for his own home. He

ted the Town of Hinsdale in 1866, almost all of which was south of the railroad tracks. Robbins advertised the land in Chicago newspapers and built cottages and a school to promote residential development. He added land to the town later in 1866 and in 1871. Horace W. S. Cleveland was hired to plat the 1871 addition, which was in the emerging curvilinear style instead of the predominant

gridiron Gridiron may refer to: Sports and games * Gridiron, a term for the field marked with yard-lines on which American and Canadian codes of football are played ** Gridiron football, umbrella term used to refer to the several codes of football which ...

plan. Curvilinear plans spared the local environment, maneuvering around large trees and hills. The Robbins Parks Addition was one of Cleveland's first ventures in the Midwest. The

Great Chicago Fire The Great Chicago Fire was a conflagration that burned in the American city of Chicago during October 8–10, 1871. The fire killed approximately 300 people, destroyed roughly of the city including over 17,000 structures, and left more than 10 ...

caused many Chicago residents to reconsider a move to the suburbs, resulting in a population boom. The Highlands train station, just north of the Robbins Park district was added to the CB&Q in 1873. By this time, the population of Hinsdale was 1,500. Hinsdale issued bonds to improve its public works, resulting in running water, electricity, and a sewage system for the town. Streets were paved with

asphalt Asphalt, also known as bitumen (, ), is a sticky, black, highly viscous liquid or semi-solid form of petroleum. It may be found in natural deposits or may be a refined product, and is classed as a pitch. Before the 20th century, the term a ...

and

brick A brick is a type of block used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a block composed of dried clay, but is now also used informally to denote other chemically cured cons ...

. The Hinsdale Golf Club, opened west of Hinsdale in 1899, prompted wealthy patrons to move near the club. Hinsdale's reputation grew as one of Chicago's most beautiful suburbs of Chicago, and several publications heralded the architectural styling of the town. Local entrepreneurs flocked to the Robbins Park district. William Whitney was a member of the

Illinois House of Representatives The Illinois House of Representatives is the lower house of the Illinois General Assembly. The body was created by the first Illinois Constitution adopted in 1818. The House under the current constitution as amended in 1980 consists of 118 re ...

and first proposed legislation to incorporate Hinsdale.

His house ''His House'' is a 2020 horror thriller film written and directed by Remi Weekes from a story by Felicity Evans and Toby Venables. It stars Wunmi Mosaku, Sope Dirisu and Matt Smith. The film tells the story of a refugee couple from South Sudan, ...

is independently listed on the

(NRHP). William Gibson Barfield was a local architect who designed the Hinsdale Theater and the Hinsdale State Bank, as well as many of the Robbins park residences. Howard George Hetzler was the President of the

Metropolitan West Side Elevated Railroad The Metropolitan West Side Elevated Railroad (known as the ''Met'' or ''Polly "L"'') was the third elevated rapid transit line to be built in Chicago, Illinois and was the first of Chicago’s elevated lines to be electrically powered. The lin ...

and the Superintendent of the Chicago division of the CB&Q. Charles G. Root was a partner of the United States Gypsum Corporation. Orland P. Bassett, whose

house A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...

is also on the NRHP, was the first to commercially sell the

American Beauty rose ''Rosa'' 'American Beauty' is a deep pink to crimson rose cultivar, bred by Henri Lédéchaux in France in 1875, and was originally named Madame Ferdinand Jamin. Description The hybrid perpetual has cup-shaped flowers with a brilliant crims ...

Architecture

The earliest homes in the district represent the

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

style, including Robbins' own. The most popular style of building in the district is Colonial Revival (sixty-three buildings). Most structures are from the Late Victorian era, but there are a few examples of more modern

American Craftsman American Craftsman is an American domestic architectural style, inspired by the Arts and Crafts movement, which included interior design, landscape design, applied arts, and decorative arts, beginning in the last years of the 19th century. Its ...

and

bungalow A bungalow is a small house or cottage that is either single-story or has a second story built into a sloping roof (usually with dormer windows), and may be surrounded by wide verandas. The first house in England that was classified as a b ...

designs. Four contributing houses are of Italianate design and thirty-two are Queen Anne style. The district is almost entirely residential, with the exception of four churches and two non-contributing businesses. The

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

firm of Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge designed the George H. and Carrie R. Mitchell House at 244 E. First Street in 1893. Eben Ezra Roberts designed the 1910

Prairie School Prairie School is a late 19th- and early 20th-century architectural style, most common in the Midwestern United States. The style is usually marked by horizontal lines, flat or hipped roofs with broad overhanging eaves, windows grouped in ...

Albert Wilson True House at 231 E. Third Street. Fellow Oak Park native

John S. Van Bergen John Shellette Van Bergen (October 2, 1885 – December 20, 1969) was an American architect born in Oak Park, Illinois. Van Bergen started his architectural career as an apprentice draftsman in 1907. In 1909 he went to work for Frank Lloyd Wrigh ...

was the architect of the 1923 Harold Klock Residence at 306 S. County Line Road. Schmidt, Garden and Erickson was responsible for two Colonial residences, built in 1934 and 1937. Solon Spencer Beman, who designed the first

company town A company town is a place where practically all stores and housing are owned by the one company that is also the main employer. Company towns are often planned with a suite of amenities such as stores, houses of worship, schools, markets and re ...

Pullman, Illinois Pullman, one of Chicago's 77 defined community areas, is a neighborhood located on the city's South Side. Twelve miles from the Chicago Loop, Pullman is situated adjacent to Lake Calumet. The area known as Pullman encompasses a much wider ...

, also designed the

Church of Christ, Scientist The Church of Christ, Scientist was founded in 1879 in Boston, Massachusetts, by Mary Baker Eddy, author of '' Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures,'' and founder of Christian Science. The church was founded "to commemorate the word an ...

building in the district in 1951.

References

National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: Robbins Park Historic District

External links

{{commons category-inline, Robbins Park Historic District Historic districts in DuPage County, Illinois Hinsdale, Illinois National Register of Historic Places in DuPage County, Illinois Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Illinois

History

Architecture

See also

References

External links