York Center, Illinois

York Center is an unincorporated community in York Township, DuPage County, Illinois, United States. York Center is located by Meyers Road and 16th Street, near the southern border of Lombard, and the western border of Oakbrook Terrace. York Center has an elementary school established in 1958 [2] and a fire protection district,[3] which covers unincorporated areas of Lombard, Villa Park, Oak Brook, and Oakbrook Terrace.

York Center, Illinois
Unincorporated community
York Center, Illinois
Coordinates: 41°51′25″N 87°59′16″W
CountryUnited States
StateIllinois
CountyDuPage
TownshipYork
Elevation
722 ft (220 m)
Time zoneUTC-6 (Central (CST))
 • Summer (DST)UTC-5 (CDT)
ZIP code
60148
Area code(s)630 & 331
GNIS feature ID422172[1]

The York Center Cooperative (Co-op) community was founded immediately after World War II as a co-op on the principles of shared ownership "to promote and develop good will, high moral values, wholesome cooperative activities and healthy civic spirit." Louis Shirky, who also established a Church of the Brethren in York Center, purchased the Goltermann farm for the housing cooperative. [4] At its founding the co-op was an experiment in what was then considered radical living.[5] Chicagoans who wanted to escape the prejudice and confinement of the city to build affordable homes in the suburbs flocked to what was then a bucolic farm, which the people of the co-op purchased and subdivided. Members learned to tout the 100 acres of communally-owned property as an economically mixed community that was tolerant of all races, religions and ethnicities.[6] Many, but not all, of early residents, including Louis Shirky, were members of the York Center Church of the Brethren. The purpose was to establish a new kind of community, a housing cooperative based on open membership "to all persons of good will."[7]

Archivist Dennis Bilger of the Truman Library in Independence, Mo., has stated, ``It is probably true that the York Center Cooperative was, if not the first, one of the very earliest integrated housing developments in the United States.`[8] In 1949, President Harry Truman issued an executive order declaring racial discrimination illegal in the granting of Federal Housing Administration loans. The watershed edict came after York Center Co-op members teamed up with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in a test case.[9]

Girl Scouting was an important aspect of life in York Center. The Northern Illinois Council now serves the area which was led by R. Hopley "Hop" Roberts in the days it was part of the DuPage County Council.[10]

The York Center Cooperative was legally dissolved in 2010. [11]

References
  1. U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: York Center, Illinois
  2. "York Center Elementary School". Public School Review. Retrieved 2 May 2013.
  3. "About Us". York Center Fire Protection District. Retrieved 2 May 2013.
  4. History of DuPage County, "Archived copy". Archived from the original on January 7, 2015. Retrieved June 4, 2014.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) "York Center is a co-op divided" Ted Gregory.Chicago Tribune. November 08, 2001.
  5. Kirkpatrick, Truman. History of York Center Cooperative, Inc. 1976."An accurate portrayal of the 'early days' of the Co-op [1945-]"--Pref. Typescript (photocopy), unbound..Earlham College Libraries Lilly Library Richmond, IN 47374 United States.
  6. "Now, York Center Cooperative Confronts An Age-old Problem." June 24, 1993.By Jennifer Lenhart Chicago Tribune.http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1993-06-24/news/9306240126_1_co-op-photo-album-houses
  7. "Cooperation Is The Glue Of York Center." August 14, 1988. By Betty Lundy.Chicago Tribunehttp://articles.chicagotribune.com/1988-08-14/features/8801230018_1_co-op-housing-legal-details.
  8. "Cooperation Is The Glue Of York Center." August 14, 1988.By Betty Lundy.Chicago Tribunehttp://articles.chicagotribune.com/1988-08-14/features/8801230018_1_co-op-housing-legal-details.
  9. "Dupage Housing Co-op Marks 50 Years Of Diversity" Chicago Tribune April 21, 1995|By Lynn Van Matre. http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1988-08-14/features/8801230018_1_co-op-housing-legal-details/2
  10. R. Hopley "Hop" Roberts. December 18, 1997. Chicago Tribune. http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1997-12-18/news/9712180165_1_lombard-hop-mrs-roberts
  11. "All About York Center Co-op." Lombard Historical Society, June 16, 2020.
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