How three visionaries helped found Fullersburg, Hinsdale and then Oak Brook

This issue is devoted to three visionaries who affected three communities, within just miles of each other, within the last 200 years.

In chronological order, first, there was Ben Fuller, who came out from New York in the early 1830s with his parents, 11 brother and sisters and his wife and settled 17 miles southwest of Chicago. He saw an opportunity with the land and how it attracted others and created a town he called Fullersburg in the 1850s. His descendants are still very active in Hinsdale. You will read about the family history.

The second visionary is William Robbins, who founded Hinsdale in the late 1800s and attracted a railroad to come through the land he had platted, with others, which led to Hinsdale becoming an ideal community for well-to-do people who wanted to work in Chicago and live in a very comfortable setting.

You will read how his vision for Hinsdale eventually led to Hnsdale’s annexation of Fullersburg in the early 1920s.

The third visionary is Paul Butler, whose Hinsdale parents built a summer home in the late 1890s on Salt Creek near where 31st Street in Oak Brook is located. As he grew up, he came to appreciate his natural surroundings and literally saw a vision for a community as a pilot flying back and forth to tend to his father’s land development of ranches out west. With his foresight and leadership, and his ability to attract other talented developers, he founded Oak Brook, one of the most unique communities in the United States.

Butler is the most famous of all because ultimately, he had the grandest and most unique vision of the three. He not only developed the community, but he also combined the natural surroundings with extremely well-thought use of the land. He attracted the development of one of the finest shopping centers in the US. He created the Sports Core which included a world-class golf course that hosted the Western Open for decades. He made Oak Brook the national center for a relatively new sport called Polo. He not only created the team, but he also played the sport.

We’ll share how the Oak Brook Historical Society is successfully bringing the history of Oak Brook to life with its transformation of the Butler School building located at Spring Road and 31st Street.

We’ll also share how the current head of the Oak Brook Polo Club is following in the footsteps of founder Paul

Butler as the club celebrates its 100th year.

In this issue and upcoming issues, we’ll acknowledge the contributions of five Oak Brook women to the extraordinary history of Oak Brook.

And, speaking of future issues, in our next issue, we’ll chronicle the history of Oakbrook Center. After all, Oakbrook Center is celebrating 60 years in 2022. The next issue will be full of information of how the shopping center began, and little-known facts about its construction. It will also bring you up to date on what Oakbrook Center offers today as it successfully changes with the times.

By the way, there is a reminder of Paul Butler and his vision in the auditorium in the Oak Brook Village Hall. Behind where the Village Trustees, Village President, and Village Clerk all sit when in session, is a giant aerial map of Oak Brook.

It is just like the aerial map that Paul Butler created when he met with colleagues, residents, and various experts in the world of community development. His birds-eye view as a pilot was an excellent technique for literally describing and sharing his “vision” with those he worked with to create Oak Brook.

As Karen Bushy, a Butler colleague, trusted confidant and former President of the Village relates, “We would spend hours in the Chart Room, with Paul, and people he smartly surrounded himself with. We discussed ideas and directions for what ultimately became Oak Brook when it was formally incorporated in 1958. Naturally, we also discussed the community’s development in subsequent years as well.”

In this issue, we have included a 2-page map that shows how and when, and which parcels of land were acquired between 1958 to 2008 when acquisitions were completed.

Last, but not least, we are happy to tell you of the return of a Taste Of Oak Brook this coming July 4th holiday.

We have been heartened by the response from you the reader to our first issue. We welcome your continued support and contributions. Thank you. Enjoy this and future issues.

Scott Jonlich Founder & Publisher sjonlich@hinsdalemag.com

FOUNDER & PUBLISHER

Scott Jonlich sjonlich@HinsdaleMag.com

ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER

Anne Healy anne@hinsdalemag.com

MANAGING EDITOR

Larry Atseff larry@hinsdalemag.com

ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN EDITOR

Julie Jonlich

TRAVEL & LEISURE EDITOR

Kerrie Kennedy

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS

Adam Andrzejewski

Maureen Callahan

Valerie Hardy

Julie Jonlich

GRAPHIC DESIGNER

Jennifer Frencl

CREATIVE DEPARTMENT

Julia Sinogeikina

Dennis Stromberg

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Chuck Fieldman

Kerrie Kennedy

Emma Wolf

FEATURE PHOTOGRAPHERS

Carolina Menapace

Marcello Rodarte

ADVERTISING SALES

Anne Healy

Renee Lawrence (Now Hiring) graphics@HinsdaleMag.com

CORRECTION:

“Red Light Camera Hell” article mistakenly had Sen. Martin Sandoval taking $700,000 in bribes. In fact, Sandoval pled guilty to taking $70,000 in federal government-funded bribes. None of that money came from SafeSpeed LLC.

Editor’s note: SafeSpeed has never been charged with wrongdoing. A company spokesman responded to our comment request after publication: “SafeSpeed remains dedicated to serving Illinois municipalities with honesty, integrity and a commitment to enforcing the law and fully supports the federal government’s efforts to root out corruption.”

Once upon a time, spanning much of the 20th century, a true visionary came on the scene in what is now the Village of Oak Brook. Paul Butler was the Father of Oak Brook—but he accomplished a whole lot more. What follows is a reminder of some of what he did, and how he did it all.

Karen Bushy, the last president of Oak Brook to know and spend time with Butler, has contributed many of the observations in this piece. Bushy was a person that Butler trusted during the years when his ideas were being translated into reality, as the dream began to be implemented on the scale he had imagined. Bushy met Butler