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    • Plan of Winnetka
      Edward Bennett, co-author of Daniel Burnham's Plan of Chicago, created the Plan of Winnetka in 1921. The thrust of the report was an argument for track depression but it also highlighted the need for a number of other engineer projects as well.
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    • The Lady Elgin
      On Friday September 7, 1860, hundreds of Irish Democrats from Milwaukee were returning home from a political rally in Chicago when their ill-fated ship, the Lady Elgin, was struck by a lumber schooner off Highland Park. In the midst of a fierce storm, the boat sank and the wind pushed the survivors to Winnetka.
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    • The Skokie Lagoons
      Village engineer, Frank Windes came up with the idea of digging a series of lagoons to mitigate the constant floodi ng of western Winnetka, an area the Indians called the "Che-wab Skokie", meaning the swamp prairie. Former Winnetka resident, Harold Ickes, FDR's Secretary of Interior, approved the creation of the Skokie Lagoons as Civilian Conservation Corp project.
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    • Track Depression
      In a span of 25 years, Winnetka saw 31 fatalities at its railroad crossings, more than any other village along the North Shore. Public indignation reached a fever pitch in 1937 and Winnetka finally made the dream of Track Depression a reality.
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    • Peck's Place
      Twelve years after Charles & Sarah Peck founded Winnetka, they moved back to the city. For the next 50 years their beloved mansion went through a succession of varied owners, including Hetty Green, the wealthiest woman in America.
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    • Henry Demarest Lloyd
      Winnetka resident Henry Demarest Lloyd is widely considered the first of the muckrakers, the man who inspired Upton Sinclair to write The Jungle. Along with Quincy Dowd, pastor of the Congregational church, Lloyd helped create the Winnetka Town Meeting, a monthly gathering for debates and lectures. It was here that Progressive Education was first introduced to Winnetka, for which its schools would later become world famous.
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    • Murder Town
      In the late nineteenth century, a string of lurid, high profile homicides earned Winnetka the unwelcome nickname of "Murder Town". Two of Winnetka's founders were killed during this brief crime spree.
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    • Iroquois Theater Fire
      The Iroquois Theater fire of 1903 still ranks as the deadliest building fire in U.S. history. Six hundred and two people, mostly small children and their mothers, were killed during a matinee of a musical comedy at the Iroquois theater on Randolph Street in Chicago. Some of the victims were from Winnetka.
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    • The Streets are Perfect Arbors
      A.W. Stevens from Springfield, Massachusetts, visited Winnetka around the turn of the century and made this observation.
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    • SPECIAL FEATURES 
       "Winnetka Story" includes nearly an hour and a half of rare films clips. Here are two examples:
       
      • Sledding Sheridan Road.
        Busy Sheridan Road was blocked off so locals could sled down the ravines in Hubbard Woods to the beach.
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      • The North Shore Line
        The old electric train ran through Winnetka on what is now the Green Bay Trail.
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DVD
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Special Features
  • Daily Life in the 1920s
  • Sledding Sheridan Road
  • 4th of July on Village Green
  • Winter in Winnetka
  • Maple Street Beach
  • Winter Sports
  • The Fire Department
  • Skokie Playfield Sports
  • The North Shore Line Part I
  • The North Shore Line Part II
  • The Police Department
  • Paving the Roads
  • Water & Power
  • New Home Construction 1929
  • Memorial Day 1934
  • Memorial Day 1939

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Total Running Time: 3 hrs, 50 min.
Movie: 2 hrs, 20 min.
Bonus Scenes: 20 minutes
Special Features: 70 min.

 

Winnetka Story DVD - http://www.winnetkastory.com

©2007 John Newcombe. All Rights Reserved. Home  |  Buy DVD Now  |  View Promo Clips  |  DVD Chapters  |  History