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Oak
Forest Illinois Wedding Photographers
Oak
Forest is a suburban city about 24 miles south/southwest
of downtown Chicago in Bremen Township in Cook
County, Illinois, United States. The population
was 28,051 at the 2000 census.
The
area currently known as Oak Forest was originally
called Cooper's Grove in the 1800s. Cooper's Grove
was then bounded by Kenton, Cicero, Kilpatrick,
Lamon, Lavergne and LeClaire Avenues. Mr. Cooper
who settled here in the 1830s was said to have
been the first resident of Bremen Township.
The
community was further established when settlers
arrived to farm in the area (many German-born),
sometime in the mid to late 1840s. The Cooper's
Grove post office began service in 1848 and later
changed its name to New Bremen alongside the Bachelor's
Grove post office which began service in 1843
and later changed its name to Bremen after township
governments were established in Cook County in
1850. Neighboring community Tinley Park was part
of the community know as New Bremen starting in
1854 until it was later incorporated as Tinley
Park in 1892. The population of Bachelor's Grove
began to dwindle with people moving to New Bremen/Tinley
Park or Blue Island to be along the railroad tracks
for more economic opportunity.
Christian
Goesel settled along 147th and Oak Park Avenue
(then Bachelor's Grove Road) in 1861 in a community
named Goeselville where a satellite of the New
Bremen/Tinley Park post office operated from 1884
to 1903. At its highest peak there were about
30 residents in this area with a few general stores
to supply area farmers. This area was absorbed
by Oak Forest with earlier settlements abandoned
and forgotten. The earliest reference to the community
as "Oak Forest" (probably so named for
its proximity to nearby forest preserves and mature
oak trees throughout and surrounding the area)
is in an 1893 Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific
Railway timetable. Oak Forest was incorporated
as a village in 1947, and then incorporated as
the City of Oak Forest in 1971. It became a Home
Rule Community in 1981. The first Oak Fest Celebration
- now an eagerly anticipated annual event - was
first held in 1987. |
