|
|
OLD ORLAND HISTORIC DISTRICT
& ANTIQUE ROW HISTORY
From humble beginnings more
than 100 years ago, Orland Park has grown into a dynamic and
progressive community of over 57,000 residents. Located
23 miles southwest of downtown Chicago, Orland Park has a
unique quality of life that makes living, working and visiting
enjoyable. As the retail destination in
the Chicago Southland area, shopping opportunities are plentiful and range from Old Orland's "Antique Row" to the
regional Orland Square Mall.
The Old Orland Historic
District has a quaint collection of small antique, specialty
and boutique shops, pubs and restaurants, historic churches, and charming houses
tucked in an area south of 143rd Street and west of LaGrange
Road in the village of Orland Park. While more modern
development has virtually surrounded it, Old Orland retains
its unique character and special sense of place, and remains a
tangible artifact of Orland Park's history and a link to its
past.
Old Orland traces its history
to 1879 when the Wabash, St. Louis, and Pacific Railroad was
extended through the northwest corner of Orland Township on
its way to connecting Chicago and St. Louis. A train
station was built at 143rd Street and, within a few years, a
small settlement consisting of several commercial enterprises
and a few hundred residents had grown up around the station.
In 1892, the community was legally incorporated as the Village
of Orland Park.
By the turn of the century,
Orland Park was a thriving rural market town. The patchwork of
farms around Orland Park used the town's access to the
railroad to ship dairy products and livestock to Chicago, and
relied on its harness and blacksmith shops, grain elevator,
and general stores for repairs and supplies. The village, on
the other hand, depended on the commerce provided by the farms
for its livelihood and prosperity. During the 1950's and 1960's,
highways and automobiles brought suburban development to the
area. Within a few decades, rapid residential and commercial
development shifted the center of town from Old Orland to the
LaGrange Road corridor, and Orland Park was transformed from a
small village to a rapidly growing postwar suburb.
Despite the growth occurring around it, Old Orland remains
intact as a vestige of an earlier time in Orland Park's
history.
In 1986, the Village of Orland Park
acknowledged the historic and cultural value of Old Orland
by designating the entire area as an Historic District and
adopting regulations to help preserve and protect its
special character. The
Beacon Hill Antique Shop is housed in the
bustling general store and post office. The second floor of
the building was the store owner’s home and now houses the
Country Cupboard Counted Cross Stitch Shop and the office of
Hansen Landscapes. Pam
Benson Antiques and Fine Jewelry was a tavern
while the Player Piano
Clinic & Emporium was the inn.
Anna
B’s Antiques ‘N Things
was a cottage home combined with the next door south
buildings of the ice house and livery stable.
Union Avenue General Store
Antique Shop was always a general store with
living quarters upstairs, and is the first antique shop
opened here in 1969.
Cracker Barrel Antiques was a car dealership and
a dance hall. West 143rd Street is home to
Susie’s Trunk Show &
Emporium and
On the Road Again Consignment Shop, as well as
Thera Day Spa, Paddy B’s Pub, Hienie’s McCarthy’s Chicken,
and Mitchell’s Flower Shop. The nearby Twin Tower Church and
the Humphrey House are both listed on the National Register
of Historic Buildings.
Today, the Old Orland Historic District,
which once bustled with blacksmith shops, inns, livery
stables, general stores and taverns, is alive again with
several antique shops, specialty shops, pubs and
restaurants, creating a delightful one stop destination in
the Chicago Southland region. Come spend the day with us and
step back in time!
|
|
