The Tinley Park Public Library

On a Sunday morning in May, I took a couple of shots of the Tinley Park Public Library. After some quick post-production work, I was pleased with the results. It seems that the folks at the library enjoyed them also. I was contacted by Karen Beran (the library’s public information and graphics manager) after she viewed them on Flickr’s Tinley Park Group.  After a few cordial email exchanges, I agreed to donate my two images to the library.  They were professionally framed on canvas and can now be seen hanging in the library.

Here are the two shots that I took:

North Facade of the Tinley Park Public Library

A View of the Library from Timber Drive

Bald Eagles in Iowa

I’ve been watching this live feed of a Bald Eagle nest in Decorah, Iowa for days now….

Video clips at Ustream

Ken Burns – The Civil War

Our local PBS station has been replaying Ken Burns’ masterpiece, The Civil War.  I haven’t seen the series in its entirety since it premiered in 1990.

Part I of the series, “The Cause”, aired last Sunday.  At the end of the episode, a lovely, poignant letter from Major Sullivan Ballou to his wife Sarah was read.

The letter may never have been mailed; it was found in Ballou’s trunk after he died.  It was reclaimed and delivered to Ballou’s widow by Governor William Sprague, either after Sprague had traveled to Virginia to reclaim the effects of dead Rhode Island soldiers, or from Camp Sprague in Washington, D.C.

Ballou and 93 of his men were mortally wounded at Bull Run. In an attempt to better direct his men, Ballou took a horse mounted position in front of his regiment, when a 6-pound solid shot from Confederate artillery tore off his right leg and simultaneously killed his horse. The badly injured Major was then carried off the field and the remainder of his leg was amputated. Ballou died from his wound a week after that Union defeat and was buried in the yard of nearby Sudley Church. After the battle the territory was occupied by Confederate forces. According to witness testimony, it was at this time that Ballou’s corpse was exhumed, decapitated, and desecrated by Confederate soldiers possibly belonging to the 21st Georgia regiment. However, since the 21st Georgia was only mustered into Confederate service between June and August of 1861, it is doubtful this was the unit responsible for the nefarious act. Ballou’s body was never recovered.

In place of his body, charred ash and bone believed to be his remains were reburied in Swan Point Cemetery, Providence, Rhode Island. His wife, Sarah, never remarried. She later moved to New Jersey to live out her life with a son, William. She died in 1917 and is buried next to her husband.

The Mind Is a Terrible Thing To Waste.

Here’s what happens when boredom sets in on a rainy afternoon…

The Tinley Park Train Station

The Tinley Park Train Station on Oak Park Avenue has been in operation since 1890.  It lies 23.5 miles away from the LaSalle Street Station (the northern terminus of the line) in downtown Chicago.  It is a station on Metra’s Rock Island Line.

The current Train Station was built in 2002 by Legat Architects and has been named one of 150 “Great Places in Illinois”.  The station features a prominent 3-story clock tower, exterior stonework, slate roofs and beautifully crafted wooden beams and rafters.  The structure blends today’s technology with the timeless Arts & Crafts style of the late 19th century. 

The Tinley Park Train Station in the fog. (click image to enlarge)

 

An early morning shot of the train station. (click to enlarge)

 

The Train Station Clock Tower. (click to enlarge)

 

The north facing elevation of the Tinley Park Train Station. The Old Zion Church, which houses the Tinley Park Historical Society, can be seen in the background to the left of the station. (click to enlarge)

Tinley Park: Home Sweet Home

I’ve lived in Tinley Park since 1990, but the area has a very rich history.

From Wikipedia:

          Early History

Records show that prior to European settlement, the area was primarily occupied by the Potawatomi tribe.

19th Century

Settlement of the area which now comprises Tinley Park began in the 1820s by emigrants from the Eastern United States. German settlers became predominant in area by the 1840s, and the village was originally established in 1853 as “Bremen”. Irish, English, Scottish, Canadian, and other American settlers were also common in the area.

In the late 19th century, railroads expanded rapidly, and the village happened to be located on the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad line. The influence of the railroad on Bremen was so great that, in 1890, its name was changed to Tinley Park in honor of the village’s first railroad station agent, Samuel Tinley, Sr. Even the village’s official incorporation took place at the train depot on June 27, 1892.

20th century

With the railroad came industry and commerce. 1905 saw the Diamond Spiral Washing Machine Company found its first factory in Tinley Park. Local businessmen established an electric utility in 1909. A bottling facility for soda was operated in Tinley Park until the 1950s. Inventor John Rauhoff developed and manufactured a waterproofing additive for cement called Ironite, later used in the construction of the Hoover Dam. In the latter part of the 20th century, Tinley Park was, and remains to be, an area of rapid suburban expansion to the west and south of the original site with over 11,000 housing units constructed between 1970-1994.

 

The Treaty of St. Louis of 1816 was a treaty signed by the United States and representatives of The Council of Three Fires (united tribes of Ottawa, Ojibwa and Potawatomi Indians).  The treaty ceded a 20-mile strip of land to the United States which connected Chicago and Lake Michigan to the Illinois River.  The treaty also created the “Indian Boundary Line”, a section of which is located in the Yankee Woods Forest Preserve just to the east of my home.

The Indian Boundary Line runs parallel with the far treeline in the photo.

Welcome!

I’ve recently become addicted to digital photography and I thought a blog would be a great way to share my photos with friends and family.