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History · Lake Ivanhoe

Half of Lake Ivanhoe’s homes were built after 1998

Most of Lake Ivanhoe was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1998. Below: maps from 1893 on.

0on the National Register
6%homes built before 1940
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What stands out about Lake Ivanhoe’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Lake Ivanhoe are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18934 editions of the USGS map, 1893 to 1971. Watch Lake Ivanhoe change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Lake Ivanhoe’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Lake Ivanhoe’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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On the map

Lake Ivanhoe on the map, 1893 to 1971

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Lake Ivanhoe. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Lake Ivanhoe on the 1893 USGS mapLake Ivanhoe on the 1904 USGS mapLake Ivanhoe on the 1960 USGS mapLake Ivanhoe on the 1971 USGS map1893Geneva sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Lake Ivanhoe.

The story

How Lake Ivanhoe came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Lake Ivanhoe.

Read it all →

In 1926, Jeremiah Brumfield, Frank Anglin and Bradford Watson purchased an 83-acre farm on Ryan Lake to develop a resort community for other middle-class Black Chicagoans. A white real estate agent named Ivan Bell brokered the deal, and the community was named Lake Ivanhoe in his honor. In addition to private lots for cottages and summer homes, the resort included a music pavilion that opened in 1927 with a performance by Cab Calloway. The resort also hosted fishing contests, beauty pageants, and boxing matches.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
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Famous people

Famous people close to Lake Ivanhoe

Nobody well known was born in Lake Ivanhoe itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
T
Tom AmandesActor · b. 1959
Bill KazmaierAmerican Strongman · b. 1953
Neil GehrelsAmerican astronomer · b. 1952
Henry A. CooperAmerican politician · b. 1850
Ed GarveyAmerican lawyer, labor leader, NFLPA executive … · b. 1940
S
Skip WilliamsAmerican game designer · b. 1955
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Lyons1 historic placeA−BloomfieldIts storyB−

Questions about Lake Ivanhoe’s history

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikipedia and U.S. Geological Survey historical maps. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.