What is the history of Glencoe, Illinois?
In 1835 several pioneers, including Anson and Lisa Taylor, set up businesses on the land originally inhabited by Potawatomi. They profited from a commercial pier and an inn that served the stagecoach traffic on the Green Bay Road. Along with several other investors in 1867, Gurnee purchased and subdivided the land near the railway depot on the Chicago North Shore and Milwaukee Railroad line that had been completed a decade earlier. As president of the railroad company, Gurnee made a practice of buying land near stations on the route as sure investments. While he had planned to settle in Glencoe, financial insolvency forced him to return to his hometown in New York. Upon Gurnee’s failure, Alexander Hammond bought 520 acres and formed the Glencoe Company with plans for an exclusive residential community. The charter included the building of a school and a church and the hiring of a teacher and a pastor. After some early financial problems, the settlement had grown to 536 homes by 1885. S
