By the History Center of Lake Forest-Lake Bluff
Lake Forest’s long-running annual summer celebration, Lake Forest Day, dates back 116 years to 1908. During the previous decade, the town population was just passing 3,000. The community began to focus on bolstering its civic foundation, with new buildings constructed (City Hall, the train depot, Gorton School) and new institutions founded (the public library, the Young Men’s Club, the Lake Forest Woman’s Club, the Winter Club) each year.
Back in 1902, scarlet fever had swept through Lake Forest, with over 100 cases in just a few months. The new Alice Home Hospital could not stand up to such an epidemic; most patients were cared for at home, with the mayor Mark Morton offering up a cottage on his property as an auxiliary hospital.
Lake Forest Alderman J.H. Spellman won a prize during the inaugural Lake Forest Day for carrying his twins, Bob and Ray, on each arm. Photo courtesy of the Spellman-Johnson family.
In the following years, local physician Dr. Theodore Proxmire advocated fiercely for the construction of a separate Contagious Hospital in Lake Forest to accommodate such cases. Joining in his advocacy was Dr. Elva Wright and the Lake Forest Woman’s Club, who floated the idea of partnering with the Young Men’s Club to hold a community fair which would raise money for the contagious hospital.
The first annual Lake Forest Day was held in July 1908 at Farwell Field on the Lake Forest College campus. For a 25-cent entry fee, a day of fun and excitement could be found, in addition to the array of goodies for sale in the food tent and booths selling stylish fans and parasols. Guests could enter contests, exhibits and a photo booth; take carriage rides; run in egg, spoon, potato, and foot races as well as a greased pig chase; try to outsmart a mind-reading dog; marvel at a balloon-ascension, parachute jump, and a pack of timber wolves caught the previous year in Lake County; and cheer on a side in a baseball game pitting the town’s married men against the single men.
There were multiple baby-related contests, including awards for cuteness and for baby transport. According to the Lake Forester, “The prize to the father carrying his baby the best was awarded to Alderman J.H. Spellman for carrying the twins [Bob and Ray], one on each arm."
In all, the first Lake Forest Day raised about $900 for the new contagious hospital. Along with this fundraiser, a gift of land for the hospital had also been secured, from the estate of the late Senator Charles B. Farwell, given by his children. It was located on the south end of town, near the Farwell stop on the North Shore Line railroad -- the east side of today’s South Park, off Maywood Road. Mrs. Cyrus H. McCormick also made a generous gift to ensure the success of the project.
The Contagious Hospital, known familiarly by locals as “The Pest House,” was completed and began receiving patients by 1912. Designed by architect Charles Frost on four acres, it featured 18 beds with separate wards that could accommodate four different contagious diseases simultaneously. Utilized to its fullest during the 1918 influenza epidemic, it was used most commonly in the 1920s and 1930s for individual cases or small localized outbreaks of scarlet fever.
As treatments improved and drugs and antibiotics like penicillin became available, the need for a separate contagious hospital lessened considerably and the building closed by 1941. During World War II, it was turned over to the local Office of Civilian Defense for naval personnel housing. The land was deeded back to the City of Lake Forest, and the building was converted into apartments, often used for housing for schoolteachers or staff. This lasted at least into the 1970s before it was demolished and the site incorporated into South Park.
Though its initial raison d'être is no longer with us, Lake Forest Day remains a community staple 116 years later, with only a few pauses during world wars and global pandemics. Hope you enjoyed it earlier this month! Learn more about the History Center here.