A History of Ridgeville

Ridgeville, originally called Grosse Pointe by French explorers, was forestland, swampland and marsh. This area was first inhabited by Native Americans. It was a perfect site for settling because it was on Lake Michigan and had the Chicago River for transportation. It had a high ridge (now Ridge Avenue) for settling and was a rich hunting ground. The land to the east was swampland, so the high ground and the beginning of drier lands to the west were commonly called “the ridge.”

The six nations of the Iroquois occupied the territory around Lake Michigan, up to Green Bay, Wisc., which was occupied almost entirely by the Winnebago. Much of Illinois was occupied by the Algonquin tribe and the Evanston and Chicago area was occupied by the Pottowatomi (or Neshnabé) and Illinois. In Sep 1673, the first white visitors came to this area from the north along the Old Green Bay Trail. In Nov 1664, Jesuit missionary Père Jacques Marquette and a band of Pottowatomi and Illinois traveled from Green Bay to Marquette’s mission in Evanston, but they did not stay. This mission was located near where the Grosse Pointe Lighthouse stands today.

A series of treaties began the effort to acquire the land. The Treaty of Chicago was drawn up on Sep 26, 1833. This treaty provided for the resettlement of the indigenous tribes on lands west of the Mississippi River. Under this treaty, the Potowatomi began moving further west, and in 1833 the settlers began to move into this area. In 1836, most native tribes had been forced out and Gross Point and the lands around Lake Michigan were opened up to white settlement.

Maj. Mulford Establishes Ridgeville

The first settlers arrived, traveling along the Green Bay Trail. The Green Bay Trail was established as a military road between Chicago and Green Bay in 1832. Mail was carried on foot along theis trail until 1836 when the Green Bay Trail Stagecoach Line was established. The Green Bay Trail started from what is now Rush Street and ran along the ridge (now known as Ridge Avenue). There has been some dispute as to its exact path, but the closest estimate is that at high water the Green Bay Trail ran along Ridge Avenue, and at low water, it ran along what we now know as Chicago Avenue in Evanston. In 1854, the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad was opened and ran along much the same lines as the Green Bay Trail to Green Bay.

One of these early settlers was Maj. Edward Harris Mulford (1794–1878), who had served in the New York militia and became one of Evanston’s permanent settlers. Mulford, the Gentleman Pioneer, had come west at the age of 42 to engage in the jewelry business with his sons in Chicago.

He bought his two sections of government land—160 acres in all—at the usual price of $1.25 per acre and named this area Ridgeville. He built a small, 14x16-foot log house on his land to satisfy the requirements of his claim. After a few years, the Maj. Mulford and his wife Rebecca built a larger house on the east side of the ridge where St. Francis Hospital now stands. This was called the Ten Mile House and Tavern because it was located ten miles from the Chicago courthouse on the Green Bay Stagecoach route. The Ten Mile House was a stage stop, and the building served as a courthouse, post office and even a medical center. Later the post office was moved to approximately where the main post office now stands. Later, Mulford sold his Ten Mile House to James Kirk, and it became the James Kirk Mansion.

Mulford had the foresight to see that people would be attracted to the area he called Ridgeville, and that it would become an important settlement and stopping place. Mulford would stand by his front door and point out to his neighbors the probable route of an “iron horse” that he felt would soon come to Ridgeville. People often laughed at his prediction because he had the railroad located east of the ridge in the swampland, yet this is almost precisely where the first railway like was placed.

The people of the ridge called everything east of the ridge and to the lake “Frogtown” because it was mainly marsh and swamp, and at night people would sit on their front porches they could barely hear each other talk for the croaking of the frogs. In the wet season, Frogtown expanded and after the first school was built on the corner of Ridge and Greenleaf in 1842, children often had to use rafts and boats to get to school during the wet parts of the year.

Ridgeville was the first name given to the Calvary station by the railway company. Mulford was Ridgeville’s first postmaster, first justice of the peace, first deacon of the First Baptist Church and the first to call the ridge “Ridgeville,” and make the name stick. Mulford lived in his second house for 10 years during which time he began construction of his third and final house. This two-story frame house, which he called Oakton, was located on the west side of Ridge Avenue just slightly south of where he built his first house, and it remained in the family for three generations. Mulford’s house at 250 Ridge Avenue stood until 1963, when it was torn down to build Evanston’s first condominium. Parts of this house were saved and given to the Evanston History Center.

Ridgeville Becomes Evanston

The name Ridgeville first officially appeared in 1850. Ridgeville’s first election was held on Apr 2, 1850 with 93 votes being cast. In 1851 the population of Chicago was 28,000 and that of Ridgeville was 443, which was approximately 11 persons per square mile. The first town assessment took place in 1853, estimating the value of the property at $6,000. Among the names of Ridgeville’s first residents were: General Huntoon, Eli Gaffield, William Foster, Paul Pratt and his wife and O. A. Crain.

In 1857, the General Assembly of Illinois, by special act, provided that the Township of Evanston consist of all of Township 41, Range 14 (Ridgeville) and one mile out of Township 41, Range 13 (Niles). The land that would become the City of Evanston was purchased from Dr. John Foster by a group of Methodist businessmen for a university. On Dec 29, 1863, the territory south of Foster, east of Wesley and north of Crain and Hamilton Streets became an incorporated town under general law. This was the first municipality within the limits of the town of Evanston.

Evanston was named for John Evans (1814–1897), a native Ohioan of Quaker ancestry. Evans was one of the founders of Northwestern University and Lakeside Hospital (Mercy Hospital today), served on the Chicago City Council and later was appointed governor of the Colorado Territory by his friend, Pres. Abraham Lincoln. Evans has recently been condemned for his role in the Sand Creek Massacre in which more than 150 unarmed Cheyenne and Arapahoe men, women and children were murdered.

In Mar 1869, an act was passed by the legislature which would have made Evanston a city; however, it was voted down by the people. Three years later, the voters adopted the village ordinances, and it wasn’t until decades later that Evanston would adopt the ordinance for the city. Although in 1857 the law called for Ridgeville to become part of the town of Evanston there has long been confusion as to when and how Ridgeville became Evanston. This is probably due to two main factors:

First, there is evidence that as late as 1902, residents of the area known as Ridgeville still considered themselves Ridgeville residents and considered Evanston to be the land purchased by the Northwestern University.

The second major factor is that for a few years prior to 1914, the City of Evanston had compressed a portion of Evanston and Ridgeville and considered them a separate town under the name of Ridgeville. It caused a great deal of confusion when combined with the fact that there are very few clear records which explain the events that took place over this period of years. In July, 1916, a resolution was passed making three separate townships, or named areas of land, and that these townships, one of them being Ridgeville, become part of the township of the City of Evanston.

In 1939, the Ridgeville Park District was formed to serve the needs of the people of South Evanston, taking the name of Ridgeville in commemoration to Evanston’s first and oldest community.