Press & Support

Ridge Historical Society, HBC

"The Ridge Historical Society's Historic Buildings Committee (HBC) wholeheartedly supports the preservation of the Erastus A. Barnard House I, currently located at 1602 West 108th Place.  Erastus and Mary Barnard were pioneers in this once-remote area that was twelve miles from Chicago, arriving in the 1840s and contributing significantly to local development, government, education, and the founding of early churches. 

In the years preceding the construction of this home, while living in a small cabin, Erastus and Mary Lavinia Barnard demonstrated profound compassion by providing aid to Freedom Seekers they found taking refuge on their property.  Though not part of the organized Underground Railroad, they did what they could to help their fellow man escape human bondage.

This ca.1865 house, built shortly after those events, has the distinction of having been in three communities on the Ridge.  It was originally located at the southeast corner of 103rd and Longwood Drive, which many think of as the heart of Beverly Hills today. That location was incorporated as the Village of Washington Heights in 1874.  Finally, the house was picked up and moved to Morgan Park in 1924.

Today, this irreplaceable link to our heritage—still bearing a charming mix of its original Italianate details and later modernizations —is in jeopardy due to deferred maintenance. To allow the Erastus A. Barnard House to disappear would be to erase a vital chapter of our shared history. We call upon the community to bring together resources, ideas, and determination to ensure this silent witness to our past is preserved for future generations."

More press and support coming soon