2445 High Street (built c. 1854)

Joshua P. Young, a native of New York, arrived in Blue Island in 1854. In 1856 Young purchased 80 acres of land bounded by Western Avenue, Vermont Street, Maple Avenue, and Burr Oak Avenue from Carlton Wadhams – which became the choicest residential and business section in Blue Island.  Young was a major real estate developer, and as president of the Blue Island Land and Building Company was instrumental in developing the communities of Morgan Park, Beverly Hills, Harvey, Englewood, Homewood, South Holland, and Washington Heights. In 1869, the BIL&BC purchased 1,360 acres from the Morgan family and organized the Village of Morgan Park.

With his brother-in-law Hardin B. Brayton, Young was engaged in the commission business in the Wigwam in Chicago, the building in which Abraham Lincoln was nominated for President.

Young served as Village Trustee and as Village President from 1878 to 1880. He also followed Wadhams as the second owner of the American House, a popular tavern and hotel on Western Avenue.

This remarkable home, one of the best preserved of its era, is listed in the Inventory of Historic Structures in Cook County and has the distinction of being the only Blue Island residence listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

continue the tour –> 6. William Henke House

Photo Credits: Christine L. Hawley