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VOLUME 05 • NUMBER 3
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WEDNESDAY, JUNE 8, 2016
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Area’s history springs to life at museum Former schoolhouse is home to Lakes Region Historical Society By Sandra Laden Machaj CORRESPONDENT
JUDE KAIDER Hi-Liter
A visit from the general
General Ulysses S. Grant, a.k.a. actor/impersonator Wayne Issleb, recounts his memorable life for a full house at The Meeting House, 977 Main St., in Antioch, on Sunday. The Lakes Region Historical Society sponsored “An Afternoon With General Ulysses S. Grant” with the hope of raising funds in order to get The Meeting House, Antioch’s oldest extant structure (1863), a needed fresh coat of paint. Issleb, as Grant in full military uniform, entertained the audience with stories of his youth, his education at West Point and subsequent rise through the military ranks to be appointed commander of all Union armies by Abraham Lincoln. After a brief intermission, Issleb returned in period clothing as an aging President Grant (pictured above) and took the audience through his election as the youngest president of the United States up to that time, and through his sometimes scandal-plagued two terms in office, his retirement, and death three days after finishing his autobiography.
The building at 965 Main Street in downtown Antioch began its life in 1892 as a four-room schoolhouse, built to educate the children of Antioch. In 1915 two major changes occurred, one to bring the school building into the 20th century, and the other to bring new education opportunities to the students. Indoor plumbing was installed and high school classes were added. The classes added were only for the first two years of high school. “After two years, if the students wished to continue with high school, they had to go to Waukegan, quite a distance,” said Ainsley Wonderling, a volunteer at the Lakes Region Historical Society. A new school was built adjacent to this building. By 1971 all classes except for band were moved to the new space. The band schedule can still be seen posted on the wall on the second floor in the room that has been preserved as a classroom. The Lakes Region Histori-
cal Society was formed in the early 1970s with the first official meeting being held at the Antioch Township Library on Aug. 16, 1973. According to Wonderling, interest in a historical society was placed on the back burner as plans for the bicentennial celebration of the nation became the focus of attention. Meanwhile, the 1892 school building, no longer used for classes, was boarded up, the interior painted green and it became a storage building.
A call to action Early members of the Historical Society were concerned that the history of both Antioch and the Chain O’ Lakes was becoming lost as families moved and people died or just plain cleaned out years of accumulation. They realized that the time was now if they were going to preserve these items from long ago. They began to collect items relating to the history of Antioch and the Chain O’ Lakes area. Papers, photographs, and signs from old businesses
See HISTORY, Page 6
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