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38-661: Geist Reservoir was named after Clarence H. Geist , a former owner of the Indianapolis Water Company , who foresaw a deficit in Indianapolis's water supply and envisioned the Geist Reservoir to preemptively address the problem. Planning for the reservoir began as early as 1913, when hydraulic engineers estimated that White River and Fall Creek would not provide enough water for the increasing needs of Indianapolis. Geist gradually bought some 5,000 acres (20 km) in

76-400: A border at 107th St. with Beverly on the north, Halsted St. (north of 115th St.) and Ashland Ave. (south of 115th St.) on the east, 119th St. on the south, and (roughly) California Ave. on the west, as well as Mount Greenwood Cemetery. Beverly and Morgan Park share the same ZIP Code . In the early 1840s, a small section of what was to become southern Morgan Park had an unsavory reputation with

114-423: Is located at the lake's southern end. Fed by Fall Creek on the north, the lake overflow is directed into the creek again at the south. The earthen dam is 40 feet (12 m) high, with an overall length of 1,900 feet (580 m). The reservoir capacity is 60,000 acre-feet (74,000,000 m), although normal storage is 21,180 acre-feet (26,100,000 m). The reservoir is mostly rather shallow (10 feet (3.0 m) or less);

152-535: The 2012 presidential election , Morgan Park cast 11,848 votes for Barack Obama and cast 2,062 votes for Mitt Romney (84.39% to 14.69%). Chicago Public Schools operates public schools in Morgan Park. Morgan Park High School , Clissold School, and Esmond Elementary School (one of the Chicago Public School's oldest school buildings, having been being built in the 1890s, and added to in the early years of

190-589: The Beverly neighborhood and north of the Chicago city border, and includes Mount Greenwood Cemetery. The community, settled in the mid-19th century, was initially known as North Blue Island, being located close to the existing town of Blue Island to the south. As of 2013 , Morgan Park was majority-black, with approximately 22,924 residents in 2015. The community was initially settled in the mid-19th century and known as North Blue Island because of its geographic relationship to

228-626: The Cloister Inn , fifty houses, and 15,000 acres of land. He commissioned the New York architectural firm Schultze and Weaver to create an addition to the 100-room Cloister Inn, resulting in the 450-room Boca Raton Club , which accepted its first guests in December, 1929, ahead of its 1930 formal opening. Geist made a low-interest loan to Boca Raton to finance its first municipal water plant (which he convinced Boca Raton it needed) and provide water for

266-661: The Florida East Coast Railway (in 2017 operated by the Boca Raton Historical Society as a museum). Geist allegedly bought stock in the railroad in order to influence its choice of Boca Raton depot. He died at his home in Villanova, Pennsylvania on June 12, 1938 and was interred at West Laurel Hill Cemetery in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania . At the time of his death it was reported at one time that Geist

304-747: The Rock Island Railroad at the time the former company was incorporated, and they immediately used their influence to have a spur line built to serve the new community. This arrangement lasted until 1889, when the "Suburban Line" as it exists today was built between Gresham and the Vermont Street station in Blue Island, at which time the dummy line, as it was called, was removed, much to the consternation of those who lived immediately nearby. At this point Morgan Park received three handsome passenger depots (at 107th St. , 111th St. , and 115th St. ), with

342-483: The university's divinity school ), and for the next fifteen years Morgan Park Academy became a preparatory school for the university (at which time it was known as Morgan Park Academy of the University of Chicago) until the death of U of C president William Rainey Harper in 1906 ended the university's sponsorship and it passed into other hands. The school continues to operate today serving a highly diverse student body. It

380-427: The 111th Street station being an elaborate Queen Ann structure designed by John T. Long that is sited immediately east of Bohn Park. Morgan Park (and especially the area of it depicted in western part of the map included with this article) is primarily an upper middle-class community, with a housing stock to reflect this demographic, although there are several estate-sized houses on the ridge at Longwood Drive. Many of

418-456: The 20th century and again in the 1970s) represent the public educational institutions that today call Morgan Park home. Zoned K-8 schools include Clissold, Esmond, Shoop, Mount Vernon, Higgins, and Haley. Morgan Park High serves most of Morgan Park, while small sections of the community area are zoned to Julian High School and Fenger High School . St. Cajetan and St. Walter, both private Catholic schools, are located in Morgan Park. There

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456-474: The Cottage Building and Loan in Blue Island. Geist then set himself up as a natural gas distributor, where he supplied gas to Blue Island, Morgan Park , then a suburb of Chicago, and Illinois suburbs south of Blue Island that included Harvey and Chicago Heights . His wife was Florence Hewitt Geist. Although he walked with a cane he was an avid golfer, participating in tournaments. From 1912 to 1938 he

494-677: The Dawes family in Chicago. In 1924 he had built in Palm Beach La Claridad , a mansion designed by Palm Beach architect Marion Sims Wyeth , who also designed Mar-a-Lago . He was a member of the Everglades Club , and the mansion was built on the club grounds (which covered several blocks). When Addison Mizner 's Mizner Development Corporation went bankrupt in 1926 after trying to build the new resort of Boca Raton, Geist bought its assets in 1927 via an anonymous bid of $ 76,350. Included were

532-464: The Fall Creek Valley in the 1920s and 1930s, including the small town of Germantown, which today lies at the bottom of the reservoir. Although controversial, the reservoir was completed in 1943, five years after Clarence Geist's death. In the 1960s further controversy arose over plans for commercial and residential development in the area around the lake. A proposal in the 1970s to triple the size of

570-538: The Morgan family and laid out streets, planted thousands of trees, and built houses for those who were attracted to the bucolic atmosphere of the new community. The goal of the organization was to create a suburban community "..free from smoke and other nuisances that [were] becoming more and more intolerable in the city". Both the president and the treasurer of the Blue Island Land and Building Company were executives of

608-626: The New Jersey Seaview Country Club (1914). He was on the Board of the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company at the time of his death. He owned a Philadelphia Main Line mansion. Morgan Park, Chicago Morgan Park , located on the far south side of the city of Chicago , Illinois , United States , is one of the city's 77 official community areas . Morgan Park is located south of

646-442: The aid of a buggy, in which they kept all the utensils necessary for their business." Rotary International , the first world-wide community service organization, was formed in Chicago in 1905. Rotary's founder Paul P. Harris , married Jean and they moved to Morgan Park at 10856 S. Longwood Drive. Today the house is owned and maintained as a memorial to Paul P. Harris and his wife, Jean, and as an inspiration for Rotarians around

684-677: The already established settlement of Blue Island to the south and because of its position on the Blue Island Ridge. Thomas Morgan became the area's largest landholder when he purchased all of the property between what is today 91st St. on the north, 119th St. on the south, Western Avenue on the west, and roughly Vincennes Ave. to the east. Morgan was born in Surrey, England, and came to the United States in 1843, briefly settling in Albany, New York . He

722-516: The buildings in the neighborhood were designed by notable architects, including Dwight Perkins , Dankmar Adler , Murray Hetherington, John Hetherington, Palliser, Palliser & Co. , Normand S. Patton and Harry H. Waterman. The community is home to the Beverly Arts Center. Because of its ecclesiastical associations (George Walker's father was affiliated with the old University of Chicago and Walker himself would play an influential role in

760-407: The capacity of Geist Reservoir itself. Up to one hundred million US gallons (380,000,000 L; 83,000,000 imp gal) a day can be diverted into Citizens Reservoir when Geist Reservoir is full instead of going over the latter's spillway. When needed, up to thirty million US gallons (110,000,000 L; 25,000,000 imp gal) a day can be pumped from Citizens back into Geist. Construction

798-425: The creation of the present University of Chicago , both of which were founded by organizations with Baptist connections) Morgan Park prohibited the sale of alcohol east of Western Avenue when it was incorporated as a village in 1882 – a ban which stands to this day. The suburb became a city neighborhood when it was annexed in 1914. Morgan Park is located south of the Beverly neighborhood and shares

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836-523: The depth at the dam is 26 feet (7.9 m) and the maximum depth is 48 feet (15 m). Geist Reservoir covers 1,900 acres (769 ha) and spans three counties in Indiana ( Marion , Hamilton , and Hancock ), four voting precincts, three school districts ( Lawrence , Hamilton Southeastern , and Mt. Vernon ), and features five different ZIP codes (46037, 46256, 46236, 46040, 46055). The area has undergone rapid development and some high-valued homes now line

874-463: The guests at his new hotel. He built it in Mizner's style, for visual harmony. At the time, the handsome, Mediterranean-style plant was the most modern in the state. (It was replaced by a much larger plant in 1956, parts having become unavailable for the original equipment. The building was demolished and the site currently houses Boca's City Hall.) He also paid for an elegant, Mediterranean-style depot on

912-564: The noted educator William Rainey Harper was granted a professorship at the age of twenty-three ), and the American Institute of Hebrew. There was also an effort made in 1888 to bring the new University of Chicago to the community, although that project developed in another direction when its primary benefactor, John D. Rockefeller , indicated a preference for the significantly larger site at 57th Street and Ellis Avenue in Hyde Park that

950-481: The reservoir was defeated, and a housing boom began in the lake area. In recent years the Geist area has experienced rapid growth. The area is noted for its topography and the reservoir. In recent years the reservoir has experienced problems with algal blooms and invasive aquatic species. As the result of a series of sales, the water company and the reservoir are now owned by Citizens Energy Group . Geist Reservoir Dam

988-437: The reservoir's waterfront. In 2019, Citizens Energy Group began work to convert a former limestone quarry adjacent to Geist Reservoir into a supplemental reservoir named Citizens Reservoir . Situated near the southern shore of the north end of Geist, the new reservoir covers 88 acres (36 ha) and is 220 feet (67 m) deep. It holds three billion US gallons (1.1 × 10 L; 2.5 × 10 imp gal), equal to almost half

1026-422: The settlers in the region. What follows are the recollections of Isaac T. Greenacre, an early 19th-century resident who settled at the north end of the ridge. The area he describes below is today what is roughly the stretch of Vincennes Avenue from 115th Street to 121st Street: "On the edge of the hill on which Morgan Park is situated, and a little south, is a deep and exceedingly steep ravine. This in early times

1064-450: The sunlight from it. The farmers are confident of the character of this den, having found in it bags of oats and other commodities which proved the use of the ravine for horse stealing. The bottom of the ravine was trampled into a mire by horses' hoofs, and once in a while they would find a horse shoe. The farmers have watched these gentry and proved to themselves the purpose of their frequent visitations. The horse thieves generally traveled by

1102-665: The world. As of 2013 54.8% of the residents were black and 37.2% of the residents were white. As of that year it was, within Chicago, the black-majority area with the highest percentage of whites. The United States Postal Service operates the Morgan Park Post Office. The Morgan Park community area has supported the Democratic Party in the past two presidential elections. In the 2016 presidential election , Morgan Park cast 10,084 votes for Hillary Clinton and cast 1,708 votes for Donald Trump (82.78% to 14.02%). In

1140-502: Was a serious attempt made by the Blue Island Land and Building Company to have Morgan Park become a great center of learning, an effort which was successful to a degree in that it brought to the community Morgan Park Academy (founded in 1873 as Mt Vernon Military & Classical Academy), the Chicago Female College (established 1875), Baptist Union Theological Seminary (which relocated to Morgan Park from Chicago in 1877 and where

1178-543: Was born and raised on a farm in LaPorte County, Indiana . When he was 18 he left Indiana and spent five years in the far West working in cattle ranching, but returned East when he realized he "could not make money where there wasn't any". He settled in Blue Island, Illinois and worked for a year on the Rock Island Railroad as a conductor, and subsequent to that entered the real estate business and served as president of

Geist Reservoir - Misplaced Pages Continue

1216-442: Was completed in 2020, and the reservoir was filled by early 2021. The limestone quarry was previously owned by Irving Materials Inc. and had operated for 50 years before closing in 2018. Citizens Energy spent over $ 20 million on the project. Clarence H. Geist Clarence Henry Geist (1866 – June 12, 1938) was an American financier who played an important role in the early history of Boca Raton, Florida . Clarence Geist

1254-501: Was covered with long grass and thick underbrush, and was not only a very discreet hiding place, but a very formidable fortress for horse thieves. These notable gentry were rather nocturnal in their habits, as they traveled during the night and by day were wont to refresh themselves in Horse Thief Hollow. I imagine it must have been a solitary place as the long grass, thick underbrush, and the forest overhead must have entirely excluded

1292-544: Was donated by Marshall Field . It was thought by virtue of its size and its location in what was then the city proper that that property would allow for a much grander vision, and the "proposals (in Morgan Park) were at once laid aside in view of the greater plan". When the university opened in 1892, it absorbed the Chicago Female College and the Baptist Union Theological Seminary (the latter then becoming

1330-786: Was recently ranked among the top private schools in Chicago. In 1988 the Walgreen family donated their home on the ridge at 116th & Longwood Drive to the Mercy Home for Girls . Morgan Park High School is home to the Morgan Park Mustangs, who are one half of the biggest rivalry in Chicago Public Schools between themselves and the Simeon Wolverines Lena Younger in "A Raisin in the Sun", reminisces about her early life as

1368-631: Was reputed to be worth $ 100,000,000 ($ 1.93 billion in 2021) The bridge over the Intracoastal Waterway on Mizner's Camino Real is officially the Clarence H. Geist Memorial Bridge (1939), replacing a temporary swing bridge built by Geist. A Clarence H. Geist Memorial Organ (1940) is located at the Overbrook Memorial Church in Overbrook, New Jersey . Geist was the founder and owner of

1406-554: Was the principal owner of the Indianapolis Water Company . Geist Reservoir (1943) is named for him. He also founded in 1910 the company today known as South Jersey Industries , when the Atlantic City Gas and Water Company merged with Atlantic City Gas Company. He eventually owned over 100 utilities. Geist was a friend of Charles G. Dawes , who in 1925 became Calvin Coolidge 's Vice-President. Geist left Indiana first to work for

1444-515: Was the son of a London banker and was left a large fortune by his father which he used to establish himself on the ridge in 1844. Here he cleared trees and operated a cattle and sheep ranch for the next quarter of a century. Morgan's son Henry was for a time the village president of Hyde Park before that community was annexed to the City of Chicago in 1889. In 1869, the Blue Island Land and Building Company purchased three thousand acres of this property from

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