Hi, What happens to towns which were once, somewhere?? My Grandfather was born in Oak Glen, Cook Co., IL. I used to ask Grampa what happened to Oak Glen, and he would only say that it "just disappeared". Some years ago, a nice gentleman [Bill?, maybe?] sent me a copy of the "Lansing Centennial Album 1893 - 1993". Imagine my delight in seeing Oak Glen mentioned throughout the book, including an ad for the Oak Glen School District # 158. The story, as related in the above book, is the in 1893 Lansing wished to incorporate, but the State of Illinois required 250 people to be living in the area. So Lansing just sort of "took" Oak Glen and Bernice which brought them up to 249 people. Shortly after, a family of seven moved in, and Lansing became an incorporated town. It was said that those living in Oak Glen were none too happy about it, either. This area is rich in the history of my Cook Co. family, and many names mentioned in the book are in my family data base -- Hildebrandt [1843], Schultz [1866], Vierk [1872], Ooms [1866], Erfert [1899] and Bock [1874] -- Grampa used to date a Bock gal. The dates are the dates they settled in the Lansing area. A few postcards are reprinted -- Schultz Store, Ridge Road, Lansing [this may be my Gr Uncles store], Lovers Lane, Oak Glen, IL [nick name for Ridge Road prior to it being paved in 1915], and Looking East, 182nd St., Lansing, ILL [Ridge Road, probably prior to 1900]. Grampa was born in 1887 in Oak Glen, and left the area about 1906. His family [Rose] is not mentioned, but his sibs & cousins married into many of these families. A rich source of information is in these Centennial and/or Church booklets, and should not be overlooked in your research. A few interesting tidbits -- Summers - settlers endured mosquitos and resulting malaria which they called ague, the chills or the shakes. Trip to Chicago markets took TWO days in the summer, was next to impossible in the winter. At the Chicago markets, eggs were 5 cents a dozen, milk 2 quarts for 5 cents, butter was 7 or 8 cents per pound. Average days wage was $ .75 and was considered a good wage. Average farmer's income in 1894 $450.00. First telephone cable strong 1911, Electricity 1912, and Ridge Road paved 1915. Sharon Buethner