Oak Park in Cook County, Illinois — The American Midwest (Great Lakes)

The Kettlestrings

Photographed by Sean P. Flynn, March 27, 2025

1. The Kettlestrings Marker

Inscription. 1833 CE

The Kettlestrings claim 125 acres of land in what will become Oak Park

Erected 2012 by Park District of Oak Park.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Parks & Recreational Areas • Settlements & Settlers. A significant historical year for this entry is 1833.

Location. 41° 53.066′ N, 87° 48.125′ W. Marker is in Oak Park, Illinois, in Cook County. It is on South Marion Street 0.1 miles Pleasant Street, on the right when traveling south. The stone is a part of the labyrinth located on the western edge of Mills Park. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 217 Home Avenue, Oak Park IL 60302, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in Greater Chicago.

It is also in the American Midwest

and on the Great Lakes.

Globally, it is in North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once the Viceroyalty of New France,

the territory of the Mississippian Culture,

and the Northwest Territory.

Other nearby markers. At least 25 other markers are within walking

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distance of this marker: First European Settlers in Illinois (here, next to this marker); Mills Park Labyrinth (here, next to this marker); Pleasant Home (here, next to this marker); Pleasant Home Foundation (here, next to this marker); Potowatamie (here, next to this marker); Village of Oak Park (here, next to this marker); Mills Estate Purchase (here, next to this marker); Herbert S. Mills (here, next to this marker); Oak Savanna (here, next to this marker); End of the Wisconsin Ice Age (a few steps from this marker); Hunter Gatherers (a few steps from this marker); Oak Park Sand Spit (a few steps from this marker); Beginning of the Wisconsin Ice Age (a few steps from this marker); Sabre Tooth Tigers (a few steps from this marker); The Age of Mammals (a few steps from this marker); Mills Park and Pleasant Home (a few steps from this marker); Illinois Tulley Monster (within shouting distance of this marker); Amphibians (within shouting distance of this marker); Ancient Illinois Climate (within shouting distance of this marker); Cambrian Sea (within shouting distance of this marker); Volcanoes (within shouting distance of this marker);

Mills Park labyrinth image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Sean P. Flynn, March 27, 2025

2. Mills Park labyrinth

Solar System (within shouting distance of this marker); a different marker also named Mills Park and Pleasant Home (about 400 feet away, measured in a direct line); a different marker also named Mills Park and Pleasant Home (about 500 feet away); a different marker also named Mills Park and Pleasant Home (about 500 feet away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Oak Park.

More about this marker. The stone is one of about 20 pavers in Mills Park that show the history of Oak Park from the dawn of the solar system through 2012. The pavers are part of a labyrinth embedded into the ground near the western entrance into Mills Park.

The marker says 1833 for the date, and it appears to say the Kettlestrings acquired 125 acres of land. However, a historical marker located in Oak Park's Scoville Park, near the main library, says that while the Kettlestrings first arrived in this area in 1833, they did not acquire the land (173 acres, it says) until 1837.

Regarding The Kettlestrings. Joseph and Betty Kettlestrings, natives of England, came to America in 1832, arriving in Baltimore and then taking a covered carriage west to Chicago.

Betty Kettlestrings image. Click for full size.

3. Betty Kettlestrings

The depiction is taken from a historical marker at Scoville Park in Oak Park.

About 9 miles west of the city they found a ridge where, in 1835, they built their first log cabin, near the modern day intersection of Lake Street and Harlem Avenue. In 1837, they officially acquired the land that would be come Oak Park, bounded by Harlem on the west, Chicago Avenue on the north, Oak Park Avenue on the east and Lake Street on the south. Originally called Kettlestrings Grove, the area would later be called Oak Ridge and then, eventually, Oak Park.

Related marker. Click here for another marker that is related to this marker. The Mills Park Labyrinth marker page includes a list of all 21 stones in the labyrinth in chronological order

Also see . . . Joseph and Betty Kettlestrings. From Forest Home Cemetery in Forest Park, Illinois, where they are buried.

Excerpt: "Returning to their Oak Park farm in 1855, the Kettlestrings began to subdivide their land. Their insistence on temperance and their generous support of local churches and schools were also espoused by those to whom they sold land: the Gales, the Scovilles, and the Austins. Their children married into other early settler families, including the

4. Joseph Kettlestrings
The depiction is taken from a historical marker at Scoville Park in Oak Park.
Herricks, the Whaples and the Dunlops. The Kettlestrings' second home, 'The Grove,' located near today’s Oak Park Public Library, lent Oak Park its first unofficial name, 'Kettlestrings' Grove.'"

(Submitted on March 28, 2025, by Sean P. Flynn of Oak Park, Illinois.)

Photographed by Sean P. Flynn, March 27, 2025

5. Mills Park labyrinth

Photographed by Sean P. Flynn, March 27, 2025

6. Mills Park labyrinth

A nearby historical marker says that the labyrinth's artistic style was inspired by the architect George W. Maher, who designed the Pleasant Home, located in this park.

Credits. This page was last revised on February 24, 2026. It was originally submitted on March 28, 2025, by Sean P. Flynn of Oak Park, Illinois. This page has been viewed 214 times since then and 90 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on March 28, 2025, by Sean P. Flynn of Oak Park, Illinois. 3, 4. submitted on December 21, 2021, by Andrew Ruppenstein of Lamorinda, California. 5, 6. submitted on March 27, 2025, by Sean P. Flynn of Oak Park, Illinois.