Park Ridge

Images of America: Illinois

by David Barnes

In 1835, immigrants began to arrive from New York and New England to the area first called Pennyville, later renamed Brickton to reflect its leading industry, then finally incorporated as the Village of Park Ridge in 1873. The name originates from the village's park-like setting and an erroneous belief that the ridge at Johnston's Circle--today the three-way intersection of Touhy, Prospect, and Northwest Highway--was the highest point in Cook County. Notable names associated with Park Ridge include Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and actor Harrison Ford, who both attended Maine East High School; Chicago Cubs great Ron Santo, who operated a popular pizzeria in town; and painter Grant Wood, whose American Gothic is one of the 20th century's great works of Americana. Anchored by the landmark Pickwick Theater, a fine example of art deco architecture built in 1928, downtown Park Ridge has changed much over the years, a transformation captured so well in the pages of this book.

128 pages, Paperback

First published August 31, 2010

Reviews

[Erik Graff · Rating 3 out of 5]

My legal residences have included Chicago, Des Plaines, Carpentersville and Park Ridge in Illinois; Grinnell in Iowa and Manhattan in New York. The places I most consider my hometown, however, is Park Ridge, even though I only lived there from age ten until going to college at eighteen. The reason, probably, is that Park Ridge is where I made my first real friends, many of whom are still in contact.

This book was in the possession of one of those friends, one who actually still lives in the town and the one I stay with on those occasions when I stay there myself. The occasion of this last visit and the reading of the book was a visit to help a little in preparing his family home on Talcott Place for sale.

Like most, if not all, of the fantastically expensive "Images of America" paperbacks, this book is mostly a thematically arranged bunch of annotated photographs following a brief introduction. As a former resident of the town I can appreciate most of the references, haphazard as they are, but wouldn't much recommend the book to a foreigner.