Location 0205

Cedar Lake was established in May of 1886 when a post office opened. The name was shortly changed to Armour in 1899 after the famous brother who owned a meat packing business in Chicago. They had developed an ice cutting business at the lake. Armour was a residential area in the 1870’s and thrived until the 1920’s. Ice barns were constructed and the Armour Brothers cut ice and shipped it to Chicago. Other Chicago businessmen, like Cudahy and Oscar Meyer, soon followed and ice harvesting became a big industry. Cedar Lake was also the starting point for a shoemaker named Scholl. This Scholl was the grandfather of Dr. Scholl, of foot care products fame.

Bartlett Depot, early 1920's. This depot was on the site of the original Armour Town depot and was often called the "second Armour Town depot."

The Bartlett Family of Chicago developed a resort on the north end of Cedar Lake. In 1924, Bartlett bargained with the Monon and he built a depot at Armour Town. This depot was built by Bartlett and, of course, named for him. This depot almost resulted in Armour Town to lose its name and recognition. For five years, from 1924 to 1929, there was a very treacherous grade grossing just south of the Bartlett depot. In 1929 the hazzard was removed when the main road, Lake Shore Drive, was paved and the underpass was constructed. The depot fell into disuse during the 1930's because of the depression. The dream of Samuel Bartlett faded forever when the depot and his resort went under. For more on the Bartlett Family and their Cedar Lake enterprise, visit Bygone Places Along The Monon .

Cedar Lake was also the home to one of the first theme parks. There was no direct route between what is now known as Cedar Lake into Chicago by rail until 1882. The Monon railroad considered a more direct route to Chicago and insisted that the rails be laid parallel to the shoreline. John Sweeney, builder of the Monon railroad, camped along the railroad right-of-way as he supervised the building of this stretch of rails that was soon to transform the lake's tranquil shores to those of an era of hotel industries and ice farming. The view of the lake’s shores would afford the passengers some scenic beauty during their trip to Chicago. The railroad acquired the land need for the right of way, then they turned their attention to the local land owners in an effort to make their dreams a reality. One of the first deals was with a Robert Hunter and his associates. They agreed to construct a hotel and park for the entertainment of visitors. The price, $2,500.00 at 8% interest. Part of the deal was that Hunter agreed to aid John DuBreuil to secure a depot and all necessary railroad offices on DuBreuil land as seen fit. As a result of these transactions, a 100 room Hunter Hotel was built in southeastern Armour Town and the DuBreuil Hotel was built on the mid-western shoreline adjoining what is now Noble Oaks Park.Two depots were established. Armour Town, named for the Armour Brothers on the north side, and Paisley on the south side

Cedar Lake depot, circa 1930's. This depot eventually replaced both the Armour and Paisley depots. It was located right on the lake, south of Monon Park.

Cedar Lake itself was not incorporated until 1969. John Sweeney, builder of the Monon railroad, camped along the railroad right-of-way as he supervised the building of this stretch of rails that was soon to transform the lake's tranquil shores to those of an era of hotel industries and ice farming. The first post office opened in 1890 under the name of Paisley. In 1899 it was changed to Cedar Lake, The community was established a a resort town. The lake was originally called "Lake of the Red Cedars", because of a large number of red cedar trees along the shore line. Originally there were 42 hotels around the lake. The "hotel era" lasted from 1890 until the beginning of the Great Depression. Cedar Lake was a popular spot during the 1920’s for people from Chicago. They flocked to the lake for swimming, fishing and dancing at the pavilion on the lake behind the Monon Hotel, at Monon Park.

Monon Park Dance Pavillion, circa 2002. Also known as Torry Auditorum. It was recently added to the National Register Of Historic Places.

During one winter, part of a hotel was moved across the ice to the other side of the lake. It was also a popular spot for employers to bring their employees. Marshall Fields, in 1907 brought 7,000 employees to the lake on an outing.

Mainline running at Cedar Lake, before the line was relocated west of the lake shore in 1948.

Left: Ribbon cutting ceremony openning the new cut off in 1948. Right: When the line was relocated away from the lake, there was a need for a new depot. Pictured is the Cedar Lake depot, circa 1950.

Crossing the Paisley Trestle, circa 1946.

One of the McDoel betterments, the Paisley Trestle. Robert McDoel and the Trustees of the Chicago, Indianapolis and Louisville Railway, commissioned Samuel M. Felton to report on the condition of the railroad. Felton found the railroad generally in good condition. He made several recommendations and management undertook many of his revisions. The Felton revision proved relatively simple. Many were slight easing of the existing curves. One of his revisions proved to be very extensive and quite major. In order to straighten the line north of Lowell made building through a bog between Creston and Cedar Lake. The intentions were to build a solid fill, however the bog proved bottomless and all the fill material kept sinking. As a result, the CI & L chose to cross the bog with a floating wooden structure, 963 feet long, which was called the Paisley Trestle. Originally the trestle was considered a clever engineering accomplishment. Eventually it became a major potential problem. In the event of any derailment, any car or locomotive that went off the trestle and into the bog would have been impossible to recover. The trestle was abandoned after the mainline was relocated to higher ground west of the lake in 1948.