Crystal Lake is a city located in southeastern McHenry County in northeastern Illinois. It is named after Crystal Lake, a 230-acre lake 1.6 miles west-southwest of downtown. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 38,000. Crystal Lake has a small bit of fame for being the city where the tradition of giving gold coins to the Salvation Army anonymously began in 1982. The city is also home to the Crystal Lake Community Band.
History
Founding
The City of Crystal Lake traces its origins to two separate communities which were established in the 1800’s. Those communities were generally known as Nunda and Crystal Lake.
In 1835, Ziba S. Beardsley had come to the shores of the lake and commented that the “waters were as clear as crystal,” thereby giving the lake its name. Ziba Beardsley continued south to Naperville and missed the opportunity for fame as this city’s founder. In February, 1836 the first white settlers, Beman and Polly Crandall and six of their ten children, came from New York State and traveled to Crystal Lake in a covered wagon. The family lived in the covered wagon for a time until a log cabin could be built. Their original cabin was built in the vicinity of today's intersection of Virginia Street and Van Buren Street. Four of the Crandall children were born here.
Najah Beardsley’s family was the second to settle here. His grandson, William Beardsley, was the first white child born on the Crystal Lake prairie (May 7, 1837).
The town was first known as Crystal Ville, but sometime before 1840, it was changed to Crystal Lake.
The area known today as “Downtown Crystal Lake” was first called “Dearborn” and then “Nunda.” The village of Dearborn came into existence in the mid 1850’s after the railroads extended their lines through the area. In 1856, the first train depot was established. This depot was pre-fabricated and shipped from Chicago, Illinois on a flatcar. Although the depot was located near Dearborn, it was called the Crystal Lake Station.
At that time, the main business district for the village of Crystal Lake was located on Virginia Street about one mile southwest of the railroad station. The railroad served to connect the people and industries of both Crystal Lake and Dearborn to Chicago and the rest of the county. Because of its close proximity to the railroad, Dearborn’s population and business district quickly grew.
On October 7, 1868, Dearborn’s name was changed to “Nunda” after an area in New York from which many settlers had come. The village of Nunda was platted in 1868 by local surveyor, John Brink. The village included the area now generally bounded by Route 176 on the north, Crystal Lake Avenue on the south, Main Street on the east, and Walkup Avenue on the west. Much of the land was originally owned by Daniel Ellsworth and Simon S. Gates.
The villages of Crystal Lake and Nunda were each incorporated in 1874. In 1908, the name of the village of Nunda was changed to “North Crystal Lake.” Several attempts were made to consolidate the two villages. Finally, after much disagreement, the village of North Crystal Lake was annexed to the Village of Crystal Lake in 1914, and a new city form of government was established.
The Dole Family
Back in the 1860's, when the town of Crystal Lake was about 25 years old, Charles S. Dole purchased over 1,000 acres of land overlooking the lake. It was his dream to construct an elaborate estate that would reflect his position as a successful businessman. He was an early member of the Chicago Board of Trade, being associated with Armour, Dole and Company in Chicago.
To carry out his plan, he built a three-story mansion with adjoining gardens and stables. European craftsmen were imported to lay parquet floors, fashion archways and carve interior wood work from black walnut trees grown on the property. As a final touch, he brought in Italian artisans to build several marble fireplaces. According to Mr. Dole's obituary, construction costs exceeded $100,000, an enormous amount of money in those days.
The estate was known as Lakeland Farm. Mr. Dole lived there with his wife Julia, his mother-in-law, Mrs. Harriet Coffin, his two daughters, Mary Florence, Harriet (Hattie), and son Sydney. Dole maintained the estate for over 30 years, entertaining lavishly. As an example, for his daughter's wedding in 1883 he built a spur line from the Chicago and Northwestern railway tracks almost to his doorstep. A canopied and carpeted walkway extended 750 feet from the front door to the train enabling the guests to walk to the mansion for the ceremony and return to the train without concern for the weather. Notable wedding guests included Julian Rumsey (mayor of Chicago and Dole's first cousin) and Levi Leiter (first partner with Marshall Field). Mr. Dole's interests changed throughout the years. He laid out a half-mile racetrack on his property and purchased the finest horses that money could buy, soon accumulating a string of horses that was the envy of northern Illinois. It is said that Mr. Dole loved to go up in his tower (currently closed off) and watch his horses run. When tired of the fad of his stable, he disposed of his beautiful and valuable horses, holding an elaborate sale.
The Dole's lived in the mansion until the late 1890's when the property was sold.
During the early 1900's, the property was owned and operated by several different ice companies. Ice was harvested from Crystal Lake and shipped by rail to nearby Chicago. The advent of refrigeration brought about the decline of the ice business.
After laying vacant for several years, the property was sold in 1922 to the Lake Development Company.
Eliza Ringling
Ringling Road is an east-west road which curves from Country Club Road back up to Lake Avenue. There are less than one dozen houses that claim a Ringling Road address; but those houses range from a small, stone cottage to large, imposing mansions.
It is no mistake that Ringling Road provides the northern boundary for the Dole Mansion property. The road was named after Eliza “Lou” Ringling, who was instrumental in turning the Dole Mansion into the Crystal Lake Country Club in 1922. Mrs. Ringling, and her group of investors, created the Lake Development Company, which subdivided much of the large Dole estate into what is known as the Country Club Additions subdivision. Eliza “Lou” Ringling was the widow of the oldest Ringling Brother, of circus fame.
In 1922, Mrs. Ringling and a group of investors, known as the Lake Development Company, purchased the Dole Mansion property (then known as the “Consumers Farm”). The transaction involved nearly a half million dollars and was one of the largest real restate deals handled in the area. Under Mrs. Ringling's, guidance, the Dole Mansion was completely renovated and became home to the Crystal Lake Country Club.
Geography
Crystal Lake is located at 42°13'35" North, 88°20'8" West (42.226423, -88.335439)Template:GR.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 43.5 km² (16.8 mi²). 42.1 km² (16.2 mi²) of it is land and 1.5 km² (0.6 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 3.33% water.
Demographics
As of the censusTemplate:GR of 2000, there are 38,000 people, 13,070 households, and 9,854 families residing in the city. The population density is 903.4/km² (2,339.5/mi²). There are 13,459 housing units at an average density of 320.0/km² (828.6/mi²). The racial makeup of the city is 94.07% White, 0.56% African American, 0.16% Native American, 1.97% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 2.17% from other races, and 1.05% from two or more races. 7.01% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There are 13,070 households out of which 44.6% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 64.1% are married couples living together, 8.4% have a female householder with no husband present, and 24.6% are non-families. 20.2% of all households are made up of individuals and 8.1% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.89 and the average family size is 3.36.
In the city the population is spread out with 31.6% under the age of 18, 6.7% from 18 to 24, 33.1% from 25 to 44, 19.6% from 45 to 64, and 9.0% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 34 years. For every 100 females there are 97.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 92.9 males.
The median income for a household in the city is $66,872, and the median income for a family is $75,396. Males have a median income of $52,154 versus $32,287 for females. The per capita income for the city is $26,146. 3.5% of the population and 2.6% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 3.4% of those under the age of 18 and 3.8% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.
City Description
Crystal Lake is a large city and has distinct neighborhoods. As the largest city in McHenry County, Illinois, it contains three high schools, and has seven separate neighborhoods. Because many adults work out of town, notably in Chicago, social life in Crystal Lake is determined largely by who people's children go to school with. For this reason, two of the separate neighborhoods are technically in the neighboring city of Lake in the Hills, Illinois, but are both socially and socioeconomically more a part of Crystal Lake.
Crystal Lake's seven neighborhoods are largely divided by wealth and school district. Starting from the north of the city, the seven neighborhoods are easy to trace out. The first has no de facto name like the others, but is referred to as "by Prairie Ridge," referring to the nearby high school of the same name. Houses in this neighborhood are large and widely spaced. Next is downtown Crystal Lake, which rings Crystal Lake Central High School. Houses here range greatly in size and age, and it is the most diverse neighborhood in the city. Directly south of downtown Crystal Lake is the Coventry neighborhood, named for the major through street Coventry Lane. Students in the Coventry neighborhood attend either the Central High School of Crystal Lake or the Crystal Lake South High School. Coventry has seen a large increase recently in its Hispanic population.
To the southwest of downtown Crystal Lake is the sprawling Four Colonies neighborhood, which covers nearly 2.5 square miles. All students from Four Colonies attend the South high school. Because the neighborhood is so vast and uses so few different floor patterns in its construction, it inspires a saying among children who have never met "That they have already been in each others' houses before." Four Colonies is a solidly middle class neighborhood. South of Four Colonies is the Village neighborhood, which is named for its major thoroughfare, Village Road. An important feature of the village neighborhood is Indian Prairie Elementary School, which is built on a large and steep series of hills that is a favorite sledding ___location during the snowy months. The Village neighborhood is solidly upper middle class. Village residents attend the South high school.
The last two neighborhoods in Crystal Lake are de facto neighborhoods of Crystal Lake due to social and school district ties. These two neighborhoods are technically in Lake in the Hills, Illinois. The Spring Hill subdivision bears a strong resemblance to the Village neighborhood, but the houses are slightly smaller. Spring Lake residents attend the South high school, as Spring Lake is across the street from the Village neighborhood. Spring lake mixes the middle class and the upper middle class. The final neighborhood of Crystal Lake is also in Lake in the Hills, Illinois. This is the exclusive Boulder Ridge neighborhood, and it is a gated community centering on the Boulder Ridge Country Club. The neighborhood opens its gates to the public most famously on Halloween, and the neighborhood is well-known by local children to give excellent candy. A discussion of Boulder Ridge at any time of the year will invariably turn to this. Boulder Ridge is a solidly upper class neighborhood. Lakewood, Illinois, near the geographic center of Crystal Lake and on the south side of the lake also has social links to Crystal Lake and is, in many cases, considered part of the town.
Famous residents or former residents of Crystal Lake
- Jim Verraros, American Idol singer
- Tom Amandes, actor