19th century Early history Wilmette was a forested area with high bluffs along its lakeshore. Before European settlement, members of the
Potawatomi tribe lived in the area that would later become Wilmette. Native Americans were forced out of the area by treaties in the 1820s and 1830s. The Ouilmettes moved into a cabin that they built on this reserved land. After Archange's and Antoine's deaths, seven of their children petitioned the federal government for permission to sell the land, as the treaty had stipulated that no part of land could be sold without permission from the President of the United States. In 1875 Wilmette's Protestant denominations partnered to construct the Union Evangelical Church at the northeast corner of Wilmette and Lake Avenues, an arrangement that would ultimately fail, as the groups came to construct their own churches. The largest denomination, the Methodists, were left with ownership of this first church building In 1874, the community was incorporated as the Village of Gross Point, using the traditional voyageur name for the area immediately north of Chicago. Some prominent Gross Point family names include Hoffmann, Braun, Bauer, Schneider, Schaefer, Schaefgen, Reinwald, Bleser, Schwall, Engel, Steffens, Lauermann, Thalmann, Loutsch, Rengel, Nanzig, and Borre. For the next half-century, Gross Point would remain a separate entity from Wilmette. In 1897 Gross Point opened up a small public school west of Ridge Road on Wilmette Avenue. The Gross Point Public School was housed in a two-room, two-story brick building built on that had been donated by the Nanzig family. Its building would later become the home of the American Legion Post 46. Following the result of these votes, the village improved its own services. In 1905,
with the assistance of funds from
Andrew Carnegie, the village was able to erect a new building for its library at the corner of Park and Wilmette Avenues. Illinois law stipulated that an organized Park District had the authority to, without any cost, take possession of any man-made land for use as parkland. Citizens, thereafter, petitioned for a vote to be held on the prospect of establishing Park District. Later that year, a second track was added in Wilmette and the station's platform was elongated. See "Attractions" below. Across Sheridan Road from the Bahá'í property, Wilmette Harbor experienced a plethora of changes in the twenties. The Sheridan Shore Yacht Club opened in Wilmette Harbor during the 1920s. The club was housed in a space on the lower floor of the
Marshall mansion (architect
Benjamin Marshall's opulent residence and studio), Marshall had allowed the club to be located in his mansion as a compromise with the village. The village had previously been unwilling to rezone the property to permit him to house his commercial offices there. As a result, Marshall had been unable to get a building permit for the home. Marshall made an offer to members of the headquarterless organization, he would let them house their headquarters in the basement of the studio if they could convince the village to issue a permit. The house was built into a bluff so that only one of its three stories was visible at street level. The house's furnishings included a tapestry which
Louis XV once presented to
Madame de Pompadour. In 1932, despite the onslaught of a national depression, Dubbs was able to finish construction on Lochmoor, his Phillip Brooks Maher-designed lakefront mansion located along Wilmette's Michigan Avenue. Construction of the residence cost him $200,000. A
Coast Guard station was established in Wilmette Harbor in 1931. In 1968 the Curtis Curling Center, a state-of-the-art
curling facility, opened in Wilmette. Its construction was funded by a $400,000 donation from Darwin Curtis, a millionaire from the neighboring town of
Winnetka and a $39,000 grant from the Wilmette Memorial Trust. In 1973 Wilmette adopted a new comprehensive plan (which had been developed between the years 1967 and 1971). In 1974 the village adopted a new zoning ordinance designed to adhere to the vision of the comprehensive plan. In 1974 Wilmette launched a village bus system named
Wilbus. and represented the United States at the
1985 men's
World Curling Championships where they ultimately tied with Denmark to place 3rd overall. In the 1970s, Wilmette experienced a post-
baby boom drop in primary school education. As a result, the village closed three schools (including Bell School). Drivers and maintenance staff were Village employees. Ridership grew as service quality was high, and the routes served the train stations, the high schools and the shopping area. In 1995
Pace took over the operations for Wilmette's bus routes, bringing an end to the village's
Wilbus service. In late 2001, a coalition of open land advocates, historic building preservationists and proponents of senior/affordable housing banded together to petition the Park District to purchase the 17-acre Mallinckrodt College property (which contained a former college building alongside 14 acres of open land). The group petitioned the village to hold a referendum on purchasing the property. Mallinckrodt property was under contract to be sold by
Loyola University Chicago to a developer that intended to raze the historic 1916 structure and build a tract of single family homes. On March 19, 2002, a referendum was held, and Wilmette residents vote in favor of granting the Park District the authority to issue up to $25 million in bonds in order to purchase, improve, and maintain the Mallinckrodt College property. The village ultimately acquired the property for $20 million in September of that year. In May 2003 the
Illinois Department of Natural Resources awarded the Park District a $2 million grant through the Open Land Trust program in order to preserve 5.22 acres of the property. In July 2004 a sales agreement was reached in which the Park District transferred ownership of the building to the Village of Wilmette. The village would then aim to sell the structure to a developer that would convert it into condos for senior citizens. Under the sale agreement with the developer, the Park District has retained a 7,000 square foot space on the ground floor of the building's south wing of the building, which they operate as a community recreation space named The Mallinckrodt Center. The Mallinckrodt Center contains the new home of the Meskill Senior Center. ==Geography==