Time is the great eraser of life, smoothing out rough edges of the past as it fine-tunes yesterday’s vision into today’s narrative.
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About one month from now, on July 25, Richton Park, a community of some 15,000 residents, will celebrate its 100th anniversary by patting itself on the back with a “Resident Appreciation Day” in Glaeser Park.
That event will be the start of a week-long celebration that plans to connect the distant past with today, or as it trumpets in a village-wide posting, “100 years of community, 100 reasons to celebrate.”
In this year of our country’s 250th birthday, we may come to realize our real history lies in the annals of the innumerable towns and villages and that they are part of the interwoven fabric of life in this country. These threads produce a banner that yes, is red, white, and blue, but also yes, is black and yellow and all dozens of shades that comprise the people of America.
It is our undying story.
In Illinois, no matter the size, from Chicago and its millions to Kaskaskia, an island community on the Mississippi River (population 13), all places have a story to tell.
We only have to listen.
Richton Park’s chronicle is linked to both the historic Illinois Central railroad line and Sauk Trail, a pathway carved by the feet of Sauk tribe who first traversed this narrow highway through the Midwest, and later, in the 19th century, was used by seekers of freedom from slavery as they walked a perilous path on the trail northward and eastward to havens in Canada.
Now a well-nested village of homes, schools and businesses, this small pioneer settlement near the Illinois Central Railroad station at Sauk Trail began life first as Thorn Creek and later renamed as Richton.
That rail-trail intersection spurred the start of a meager commercial success for residents who shopped for necessities at the ramshackle Glaeser General Store
“It became a milk stop for farmers around here,” says Village Clerk Mike Jordan. “The farmers would load metal containers of milk for consumption by others and then drop off the empty containers in the evening.”
When the railroad completed a commuter-based electric line service from Chicago to the area in 1926, the community decided to incorporate itself as the village of Richton Park, but it took two years before the IC changed its station sign.
Today, Sauk Trail, which once weaved its way from Rock Island and the Mississippi River on the west to Indiana and beyond, has been chopped, diced, and sliced by road builders. Johnson-Sauk Trail State Park near Kewanee is the only public memory of the great road outside of the south suburbs.
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Rick Reinbold has been mayor of Richton Park for 25 years of its 100-year history and is someone who gives a new meaning to the word “optimist.”
In recent years he asked the Chicago Bears to look at Richton Park as a potential new home for the team. At that time, we wrote that although some might ask why he is doing this, I argued “why not.”
Earlier this year, we reported that the village could be the potential site of a “racino,” a combination harness race site and casino, which Reinbold believes could be built along Sauk Trail. These days the village is tidying up some empty spaces on Sauk Trail in what seems to be an effort to surround homes and businesses with a lot of green space.
And when asked for his feelings about Richton Park’s future, Reinbold replied that although the first century of its existence was “great,” the next century “promises to be better.”
“Our opportunities are unlimited,” he wrote, citing development in the Town Center connecting with Interstate 57 and the ability to expand business to the west of town.
“Our future isn’t bright,” he wrote. “It’s brilliant.”
This, too, could be part of Richton Park’s story.
Jerry Shnay is a freelance columnist for the Daily Southtown.