- No Man's Land, Illinois
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For other uses, see No Man's Land (disambiguation).
No Man's Land Unincorporated area Country United States State Illinois Coordinates 42°04′38″N 87°43′25″W / 42.07722°N 87.72361°W 
Location of No Man's Land within IllinoisWikimedia Commons: Wilmette, Illinois Website: http://www.wilmette.com/ No Man's Land, Illinois was never an official place name, but has been used to refer to at least two areas that fit the broader meaning of No man's land.
Contents
Wilmette
Most commonly, the term was used to refer to a small unincorporated area on the shore of Lake Michigan, between the exclusive wealthy suburbs of Wilmette, Kenilworth, and Winnetka. Undeveloped for nearly a century after the first settlement of the area, no neighboring municipality wanted to annex it, and it became a haven for shady activities.[1]
In the 1920s, a developer envisioned and began construction of a planned club and beach hotel complex to be called "Vista Del Lago." The club was actually built, in a Moorish Revival architectural style, on the west side of Sheridan Road, but the Depression prevented completion of the hotel. In 1928, one of the earlier automobile-oriented shopping centers, Spanish Court, opened adjacent to the club.
The lack of development on the east side of the road, coupled with the club's location in a relatively lawless unincorporated area, led to a state legislator in the 1930s terming No Man's Land "a slot machine and keno sin center where college students were being debauched with beer, hard liquor and firecrackers."[1] In 1942, after decades of disputed ownership and legal wrangling, the area was annexed by the village of Wilmette.[2][3] The club burned down shortly thereafter; the area is now the home of the Plaza del Lago shopping center on the west side of Sheridan Road and a small number of anomalous high-rise residential buildings east of Sheridan.
Trivia
Actor Charlton Heston was born in No Man's Land while his family was living in this area.[4]
Rogers Park
The term, according to one author, was used prior to the expansion of Evanston and Chicago to refer to what is now the Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago.[5]
See also
- 1500 Sheridan Road
- Plaza del Lago
- Definition of Condominium
- Sheridan Road
- From No Man's Land to Plaza del Lago
- Definition of the Term 'No Man's Land'
- No Man's Land (disambiguation)
- Wilmette, Illinois
- 1616 Sheridan Road
References
- ^ a b "No Man's Land, the Final Frontier". Bright Lights Dim Beauty of Chicago. 2008-04-09. http://dimbeautyofchicago.blogspot.com/2008/04/no-mans-land-final-frontier.html. Retrieved 2010-03-18.
- ^ Shea, Robert (1987). From No Man’s Land, To Plaza del Lago. Chicago, Ill.: American References Publishing Corporation. ISBN 978-0913765081.
- ^ "Wilmette Historical Museum: A Brief History of Wilmette". Wilmette Historical Museum (Adapted from Wilmette Preservation, 1999 edition). http://www.wilmettehistory.org/wilmettehistory.html. Retrieved 2010-03-18.
- ^ Heston, Charlton: In The Arena, Simon & Schuster, 1995. ISBN 0-684-80394-1 For fuller discussion see the article on Heston.
- ^ Biss, Eula (February 2008). "No Man's Land: Fear, Racism, and The Historically Troubling Attitude of American Pioneers". The Believer. http://www.believermag.com/issues/200802/?read=article_biss. Retrieved 2010-03-17.
Categories:- Unincorporated communities in Illinois
- Wilmette, Illinois
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