ROGERS PARK — The Rogers Park/West Ridge Historical Society's 31st Annual Home Tour will dig deep into the neighborhood's past with this year's "Roots of Rogers Park" theme.
Focusing in on the area's first non-farm residential development, the tour will explore homes on Estes, Greenleaf, Lunt and Morse avenues between Ridge and Clark, where many homes were built in the 1880s, prior to the neighborhood's annexation into Chicago in 1893.
Properties in the historic development are marked by large lots, stately homes and vibrant gardens, and were plotted to provide easy access to the burgeoning Clark Street commercial district, as well as a train line that ran to Chicago (now the Rogers Park Metra), according to the historical society.
Many of the homes have been restored over the years "with care and love," organizers said.
The streets were named after early land-owners who helped develop the area: Luther Greenleaf, Stephen Lunt, Charles Morse, and George Estes.
Participants can catch the tour from noon-4 p.m. Sept. 10. The event kicks-off at Paschen Park, 1930 W. Lunt Ave. and costs $30 ($25 for historical society members).
