CLARENDON CENTURY

Like other cities and villages in the West Suburbs of Chicago, the development of Clarendon Hills was spurred by the building of the Burlington Railroad, which was built in 1864. The railroad attracted real estate speculators, settlers, and families looking for a quieter life but still close to the big city.

It wasn’t until 1924 that the village was incorporated, fending off an effort by Hinsdale to annex it, and by then Clarendon Hills had plenty of examples of how to grow a village based on the older suburbs that surrounded it. Frederick Law Olmstead had designed nearby Riverside, which was built with winding streets that respected open spaces, rather than with a strict street grid common in many other Western Suburbs. Clarendon Hills followed Riverside’s lead, and it’s what today gives Clarendon Hills its quintessential charm.

On January 22, 2024, the 100th Anniversary of the Village’s incorporation, leaders issued a proclamation marking the occasion and announced a celebration to include events throughout the year. This birthday wasn’t going to pass without a few parties. More on that, but first a little more history.

“We’re all here essentially because of the railroad. Most of the businesses were in an area called Fullersburg, at York and Ogden, but when the railroad came through it just made sense for them to shift south closer to the trains,” says Chuck Brand, President of the Clarendon Hills Historical Society. “Clarendon Hills developed very slowly. At first life was very simple, mostly farmers and bluecollar workers. It wasn’t like Hinsdale, which was well established and had wealth from the beginning.”

When it came time, not everyone was on board with the plan to incorporate; there was resistance. A lot of old timers—many of them German immigrants—were independent-minded and just wanted to be left alone. Others thought they should just join up with Hinsdale. After incorporation, growth was slow, dented by the Great Depression and the wars. It was the Baby Boomers who got the town, well, booming.

“We’re still a small town but we’re all these small towns strung together and not far from the city. There’s a volunteer spirit, a community aspect to Clarendon Hills,” Brand says. “We’ve been in our house since 1979 and we’ve had block parties for over 40 years. We live in a great neighborhood, have great neighbors, and the downtown has come a long way.”

That’s worth celebrating, and while some events have already taken place there are plenty scheduled for the rest of the year, especially as the weather warms up. Mike McCurry, a Clarendon Hills-based real estate broker who’s involved with Clarendon Hills Chamber of Commerce, and Suzanne Austin, President of the Board of Commissioners for the Clarendon Hills Park District, are two of four members of the steering committee charged with spearheading the centennial celebration (the others are Dena Kareotes Arendt and Angie Ursillo Sartori). Needless to say, the four have been busy.

Austin says Clarendon Hills is called “the volunteer community” and nowhere is that more evident than in the planning for the centennial. The four steering committee members oversee a host of volunteers planning the individual events. That’s a lot of chefs roaming about the kitchen, but they’re doing so harmoniously.

“We wanted to have a cohesive committee where we moved in step with each other and so far, that’s what we’re doing, so it’s just a matter of asking the right people to get involved,” McCurry says. “There’s a great even planned on May 18, The Centennial Art Competition, and it’s ready to go.”

The steering committee established three pillars to guide the planning process, more to help them weed through all of the event ideas, which were many: Educate people in the community about Clarendon Hills; connect people in the community; and motivate them.

“Even though we’re only 1.8 square miles, this brings everybody closer, connecting them, and motivating them to volunteer and get involved in their village,” Austin says.

A lot of Clarendon Hills youths are involved in the celebration efforts, and part of the goal of motivation is prompting them to become leaders. If the kids can see the volunteer spirit among the adults, they too will be motivated to adopt the volunteer spirit that’s at the heart of the village’s ethos.

“That is simply how this town has run since we started,” McCurry says.

Alongside the events being planned by the steering committee, the Clarendon Hills Chamber of Commerce is sponsoring a program that encourages visits to local stores, restaurants, and other businesses. Through the Centennial Passport Program, residents collect stamps and are entered in a raffle during the Annual Holiday Walk in December.

“It’s part scavenger hunt, part souvenir collection designed to promote local businesses,” McCurry says. “Both kids and adults can collect the stamps.”

In addition to the involvement of local businesses, local institutions are pitching in. The Historical Society hosted the kickoff event in January. Even the library is pitching in.

“We’re doing one community, one author through the library and we wanted to make sure we got an author and book that was good for both adults and kids, so we chose Agatha Christie,” Austin says. “We have several novels by her that we’re asking the community to read together. The library purchased extra copies in addition to borrowing from other libraries. The library has been super helpful with everything that we’ve planned.”

The annual summer concert series in Clarendon Hills, “Dancing in the Streets,” will also get a boost from the centennial celebration. A concert in the park will feature a Ravinia-style concert with a higher profile performer or band that wouldn’t regularly feature in the concert series in other years.

Other items on the celebration agenda are a historic home and business walk (there are four businesses in Clarendon Hills older than 100 years), and a half-hour documentary the Historical Society has commissioned about the village’s history that will be shown various places around town.

“We decided we weren’t going to have one day or one week of celebration—that became a point of discussion for a while. This is a full year of events in celebration,” McCurry says.

For more information about Clarendon Hills visit clarendonhills.us.

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Upcoming Events

• May 18: Centennial Volunteer Day
• May 21: Centennial art competition and walk
• June 14-16: Daisy Days and Dash – concerts, festival, and race
• June – October: Centennial Documentary film viewings and Historical Society book sales
• July/August: Historic Home Walk – Clarendon Hills Historical Society
• September: Centennial Concert in the Park-Ravinia-style
• Dec. 6: Holiday Walk, Centennial Passport Finale, ‘24 Ornament