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Harvard, Illinois

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Harvard is a city in McHenry County, Illinois, United States. The population was 7,996 at the 2000 census, and estimated to be 9,104 as of 2005.

Geography

Location of Harvard, Illinois
Location of Harvard, Illinois

Harvard is located at 42°25′24″N 88°37′5″W / 42.42333°N 88.61806°W / 42.42333; -88.61806Invalid arguments have been passed to the {{#coordinates:}} function (42.423444, -88.618036)Template:GR.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 13.8 km² (5.3 mi²), all land.

Demographics

As of the censusTemplate:GR of 2000, there were 7,996 people, 2,610 households, and 1,853 families residingthe poverty line, including 11.2% of those under age 18 and 1.2% of those age 65 or over.

History

Looking southwest on Ayer Street. Downtown Harvard, Illinois

In 1855 the Chicago & Northwestern Railway built toward Janesville, Wisconsin, from Cary. Projecting where trains from Chicago would have to stop for servicing in the days of wood fuel, Elbridge Gerry Ayer and two other North Western stockholders platted a community in southeastern Chemung Township on land that they had purchased without mentioning their railroad affiliation. In April 1856, the railroad accepted Ayer's town plat as a station named Harvard. When the North Western's Kenosha-Rockford line entered Harvard in 1859, the railroad built engine-handling facilities there.

As railroad employment expanded, Harvard's population ballooned. In 1868 voters incorporated the community, and elected Ayer as president.[1]

In 1942, Harvard instituted an annual celebration called Harvard Milk Days. A lavish parade down whitewashed streets presided over by a large fiberglass Holstein cow named (since 1970) Harmilda attracted thousands.

Dairy farming declined as farmers found it easier and equally profitable to supply metropolitan Chicago's supermarkets with produce. Many Mexicans who came to work as temporary pickers and processors remained in Harvard as landscape laborers, significantly changing the community's demographic.

In 2006, Harvard held a year long Sesquicentennial Celebration. [2]

The Greater Harvard Area Historical Society is located on Hart Street. The ongoing mission of the society is the plaquing of historical sites in the area, and obtaining histories of Harvard families, businesses and farms which have been in operation for more than 100 years.

Education

Central School, Harvard, Illinois

Harvard is served by Harvard School District #50. District #50 operates five schools within Harvard, Harvard High School, grades 9-12, Harvard Junior High School, grades 5-8, Jefferson School, grades 1, 3 and 4, Washington School, pre-kindergarten and kindergarten, and Central School, grade 2.[3]


Fire Protection

Harvard's Fire Protection District consists of 47 trained firefighters, of which 22 are EMT's and 14 are paramedics. The district traces its history to 1865 when 5 men got together to purchase a fire engine for the village of Harvard. In 1871 the engine was sent to Chicago via the railroad to assist in the Great Chicago Fire. In 1892 it was again placed on a train to assist with a fire in the community of Kenosha, Wisconsin. In 1899 the first constitution and by-laws were drawn up for the Harvard Fire Department. The Harvard Rescue Squad was founded in 1956 with a $7000 donation from the Harvard Jaycees. In 1971 the City and Rural Fire Department merged to form the Harvard Fire Protection District.[4]


Law Enforcement

The Harvard Police Department is located in the lower level of City Hall. It consists of 18 full time police officers, 4 full time emergency dispatchers, 3 part time emergency dispatchers and 2 full time police assistants. The department has two bicycles for officers to patrol the city streets, parks, and downtown area. It also has a canine unit.[5]

Post Office

The U.S. Post Office is located on Harvard's Eastman Street.

Library

The Old Harvard Diggins Library, its

Harvard Diggins Library came into being when in 1908 Delos F. Diggins, a former Harvardite, died in Michigan and in his will, bequeathed to Harvard the sum of $40,000 to buy a site and build a library so that Harvard became the first town in the county to have a library building. Mr. Diggins appointed, in the will, the first library board with instructions as to how the members should be replaced when individuals died or moved from the town. The building, erected by W. H. Ward and Son, was dedicated in May 1909, and opened to the public for use in August of that year.

When the library moved to its new facilities in 2001, the name was changed to Harvard Diggins Library. The library is a municipal library and receives its financial support from city taxes and endowment funds. It is governed by a nine member City Library Board appointed by the mayor. The original Diggins Trustee Board assists with special funding. As an online member of the Prairie Area Library System's automation project, the library shares a database with other libraries in the system and patrons may access these materials as well as local materials. Patrons are also able to use their card at the PALS libraries.[6]

Transportation


People

See also

Notes

  1. ^ http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/567.html Retrieved Sept. 23, 2006
  2. ^ http://www.harvard150.com
  3. ^ Harvard Schools, Harvard School District #50. Retrieved Jan. 2007.
  4. ^ http://www.hfpd.org
  5. ^ http://www.cityofharvard.org/depts/police.asp
  6. ^ http://www.harvard-diggins.org

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