Bloomingdale's Farming History

Bloomingdale's Farming History. . The first settlement in Bloomingdale was made by three brothers: Silas, Lyman and Harvey Meacham, who arrived on the land then owned by Erasmus O. Hills in March, 1833. The settlement was located just south of two small groves, then known as Meacham's and Sarah's groves. Bloomingdale Village was officially platted (mapped out) and recorded 12 years later on January 11, 1845.
, Tompkins Park is located on what was the Hills farmland, which was owned by the first settlers, the Meacham family. Most of the farms then were dairy farms. The many dairy farmers in the area would line up every morning at the railroad stop at Gary and Army Trail roads with cans of milk on the back of their wagons waiting for the train to take their milk to be sold. , , In the beginning Bloomingdale was mostly farms. All along west Schick and Army Trail roads, cows and corn were a common sight. , , Bloomingdale underwent slow but steady change, transitioning from a rural area to more of an urban one. In 1950, there were 339 residents. The 60's marked the beginnings of the change with each new annexation of land or sale of farmland. From 1960 to 1970, the population more than doubled from 1,262 to 2,974. , , Ground was broken for the Westlake subdivision, where Tompkins Park is located, in 1969. The park was originally leased from the school district from 1973 to 1991, when the Village of Bloomingdale purchased it and deeded it to the Park District. , , One of the last farmers in the area during this time was Herb Frick, whose farm was active into the 1970s. He would bring his corn husker to Septemberfest and show the kids how it worked. , , Between 1970 and 1980, the population more than quadrupled to 12,659. Largely "Smalltown USA" for 100 years, Bloomingdale came into its own from the mid-70s through the 80s with an explosion of population, business and prosperity. By 1981, when the regional mall opened, there was almost no farmland actively being farmed within Bloomingdale. , , Tompkins Park is named after Harold Tompkins, former Superintendent of School District #13. , , [Photo captions:] , Top photo: , Frank Speckman's grandson, 3-year-old Chuck Franzen, sits on his grandpa's team of horses in 1943, with his dad, Charles "Bud" Franzen, holding the reins. , , Middle-left photo: , Farmer Louis Broker runs the steam engine for farmer Frank Speckman, while hired workers thresh the hay. The Speckman farm, located on Lake Street near Euclid was a dairy and grain farm. Photo taken in 1914. , , Middle-center photo: , In 1933, a fire destroyed the Speckman barn. About 100 friends, neighbors and fellow farmers came together to help build a new barn. They were served lunch and dinner by the farmers' wives and finished the barn in one day. , , Middle-right photo: , Feeding the chickens was one of the farmer's daughter's chores. Lois Speckman, seen here in 1917, seems to be enjoying it. , , Second photo from bottom: , Herb Frick was one of the last farmers in Bloomingdale, keeping an active farm into the 1970s, Bottom photo: , The Tompkins Park playground structures, which were installed in the mid 1980s, were removed December, 2015.