Diana L. Kenney is president and cofounder of the Crystal Lake Historical Society. Her interest and passion for local history and historic architecture has made her a strong advocate for historic preservation. Using vintage postcards, Kenney creates a visual history of Crystal Lake that illustrates how the city truly lives up to its motto, A good place to live.
Title: Patch Passport: Travel Back in Time - Crystal Lake and the
Dole Mansion
Author: Brittaini Maul
Publisher: Crystal Lake Patch
Date: 6/29/2011
Crystal Lake was founded in 1835 by Beman and Polly Crandall, along
with six of their ten children. Pioneers emigrating from the east
settled along Crystal Lake, where in the first years, "there was
little on which to rest the eye except the ground and the sky."
Crystal Lake was first settled mainly around Route 14 and the lake
itself. A.M. Anar opened the first store in 1840. Butter ranged
from five to nine cents per pound; eggs were five cents a
dozen.
The village of Nunda, first known as Dearborn, was born in the
spring of 1855. It was located just north of Crystal Lake, and its
boundaries were route 176 to the north, Crystal Lake Avenue to the
south, Main Street to the east, and Walkup Avenue to the west.
Nunda, due to its close proximity to the railroad, quickly became
the business center of the county.
Both villages were incorporated in 1874. The two villages feuded
for 40 years, mainly small town squabbles, until the village of
Nunda - then called North Crystal Lake - was annexed to the city of
Crystal Lake on September 23, 1914.
Major industries in Crystal Lake have included farming, ice
harvesting, and the American Terra Cotta and Ceramic Company. Begun
in 1881, the company grew from a plain drain tile factory to a
producer of fine architectural terra cotta. The manufacture of
terra cotta was discontinued in 1966.
The Dole Mansion: Its History and Evolution
There are no other structures in Crystal Lake like the Dole
mansion, now known as the Lakeside Center. C.S. Dole, a partner in
the Chicago grain company Armour and Dole, built the mansion in
1864 cost $100,000 to build. The house was built with lavishly,
with European Craftsman brought in to lay parquet floors and create
interior woodwork from black walnut trees grown on the property.
The property was called Lakeland Farm and included a half-mile
racetrack.
In the late 1890s, Dole sold his home to his son-in-law for $1. The
mansion was used as an office for the Knickerbocker ice harvesting
business. Before refrigeration, ice harvesting was a major industry
in Crystal Lake, providing income for farmers in the winter months.
The Dole Mansion was used for a number of different ice companies
until the industry declined.
The property was sold in 1922 to the Lake Development Company. Mrs.
Al "Lou" Ringling, widow of the oldest Ringling Brother, was vice
president of the Lake Development Company. The mansion was restored
and the annex, now called the Creative Art Center, was added. The
property became the first Crystal Lake Country Club.
The life of the Country Club was short lived, however, and faltered
following the stock market crash of 1929. The building and adjacent
property were sold to the Franciscan Order in 1945. The building
became St. Mary's Minor School for Boys, a seminary for high school
boys studying for the priesthood. St Mary's was a residential
boarding school, with about half of its students living on
campus.
Enrollment faltered around 1970 and the building closed.
The First Congregational Church of Crystal Lake purchased the
building in 1977. The center became "Lakeside Center." Thousands of
volunteer hours went into renovating the annex.
Local Dole Mansion enthusiast and retired interior designer
Virginia Howley remembers the Dole Mansion when it was a school and
when it was owned by First Congregational.
"Father Norbert used to use the old iron stove to make special
German treats for the seminarians and students," Howley said. "And
it was always wonderful to see the families pushing their strollers
when First Congregational bought the property. Crystal Lake has
always had a beautiful, homey, Cape-Cod feel to it."
Dorothy Heisler, of Heisler's Bootery, a resident of Crystal Lake
for over 90 years said of the Dole Mansion, "It's always been
there. Crystal Lake has always been a good place to live, and it
still is."
In January of 2000, First Congregational voted to sell the
property. In 2002, a major fund-raising effort called "Lakeside
Legacy: Save the Dole" was spearheaded by the local Jaycees. In
1942, the community had raised $1.2 million dollars to purchase the
property. The money went to the Lakeside Legacy Foundation, a
non-profit dedicated to the restoration of the Dole Mansion and the
creation of an arts and education center for use by the
community.
Sylvia Yount, a resident of Crystal Lake for over 30 years, said,
"I loved working with the Dole Mansion Preservation Society to
preserve the building." She added, "There were many people who
wanted to tear it down, but we resisted."
"There's one piece of woodwork installed in the center hallway
that's installed upside down," said Diana Kenney, executive
director of Downtown Crystal Lake. "I took a tour of the Dole
Mansion in the mid-1980's and I was hooked."
The Lakeside Legacy and Lakeside Center serve over 80,000 people a
year, and always hosts the local Lakeside Festival in the summer.
There are 24 resident partner artists utilizing the Lakeside
Center, both for studio space and classes.
"If we lost the Dole, we would lose a unique venue for events and
150 years of history and architecture. The land would become
condos, and we would lose our heritage." Said Lakeside Legacy
Executive Director
On the first Friday of every month, the Lakeside Legacy hosts a
Gallery Night. At Gallery Night the Lakeside Center's galleries are
open to the public and there is live music and a special theme.
Admission is by donation.
If you're interested in learning more about Crystal Lake history,
contact the Crystal Lake historical society or pick up the Postcard
History Book for sale at Howell's Gifts or City Hall.
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