Oak Park, Illinois
Posted by: 
Hikenutty
N 41° 53.302 W 087° 47.815
16T E 433885 N 4637688
Oak Park is a suburb of Chicago, best known for its former resident, the famous architect Frank Lloyd Wright, and the many buildings that he designed within the village.
Waymark Code: WM1XAX
Location: Illinois, United States
Date Posted: 07/25/2007
Views: 38
The following excerpt can be found in tour 11 of the "WPA Guide to Illinois":
OAK PARK, (630 alt., 63,982 pop.) is the largest community with village form of government in the United States. Appropriately named for its natural growth of oaks, Oak Park was first settled in 1833 by Joseph Kettlestrings, who came with his wife in an ox-drawn covered wagon from Baltimore, Maryland. Their descendants, and those of other early settlers, hold prominent positions in the social and civic live of the community.
The guide goes on to talk about the conservative nature of the town and of Frank Lloyd Wright's impact on the community's architecture. Today, Oak Park is synonymous with Wright and his work and tourism is a big industry, thanks to the concentration of FLW buildings located within the village.
Another famous resident of Oak Park was Ernest Hemingway, and the town has a museum dedicated to Hemingway. Although Hemingway was raised in the town, he didn't have much to say about the place. A well-known quote of Hemingway's was that Oak Park was a town with "wide lawns and narrow minds." I doubt that quote is displayed prominently anywhere in the museum.
For those who love Chicago's architecture, Oak Park is a must-see destination during your visit. It is really the location where prairie style architecture was born and in its buildings you can see the development of Wright's style.
Coordinates are given for Wright's Unity Temple. A good place to start if you are planning on doing a walking tour of the city.