Lake County was a Free Soil Stronghold

Lake County was a stronghold for the Free-Soil Party (Abolitionists) before the Civil War of America.

In this 1850 political cartoon, the artist attacks abolitionist, Free Soil and other sectionalist interests of 1850 as dangers to the Union.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_Soil_Party

Lake County Stats

Some information on Lake County (I'm going to try and blog about each town/city eventually).  From Wikipedia:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_County,_Illinois

Lake County, Illinois
Naval Station Great Lakes
Seal Logo
Location in the U.S. state of Illinois
Illinois's location in the U.S.
Founded	March 1, 1839
Named for	Lake Michigan
Seat	Waukegan
Largest city	Waukegan
Area
• Total	1,368 sq mi (3,543 km2)
• Land	444 sq mi (1,150 km2)
• Water	925 sq mi (2,396 km2), 67.6%
Population
• (2010)	703,462
• Density	1,586/sq mi (612/km2)
Congressional districts	6th, 10th, 14th
Time zone	Central: UTC−6/−5
Website	www.lakecountyil.gov

Lake County is a county in the northeastern corner of the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 703,462,^[1] making it the third-most populous county in Illinois. Its county seat is Waukegan.^[2] Originally part of McHenry County, the townships composing Lake County were carved out into a separate county in 1839.

Lake County is one of the collar counties of the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI Metropolitan Statistical Area. It is located along the shore of Lake Michigan.

According to the 2000 census, Lake County is the 31st richest county by per capita income. The lakefront communities of Lake Forest, Lake Bluff, and Highland Park are part of the affluent North Shore area.

Naval Station Great Lakes is located in the city of North Chicago in Lake County. It is the United States Navy's Headquarters Command for training, and the Navy's only recruit training center.

Oldest Train Depot in Lake County - Lake Zurich

This train depot for the old Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Railway, was built in 1895, is the oldest train depot in Lake County, Illinois and it is currently privately owned (thus don't trespass).  Hope it stays around for quite awhile.

Newspaper article regarding it:

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1990-08-10/news/9003070132_1_depot-hanson-isn-t-paving

The Old Lake County Discovery Museum

I have visited the Lake County Discovery Museum many times when it was located in Wauconda, Illinois.  It has now been moved to the Dunn Museum in Libertyville, Il.  Here are some photos from the old Discovery Museum.  What a great museum it was.

https://www.lcfpd.org/museum/

A Visit to the Cook House

I just recently stopped by the Cook House in Wauconda for a quick tour.  It was very informative.  I've always thought I would like to have lived during pioneer times but there were many things that would have been difficult including lack of running water, electricity, antibiotics, IVs, and indoor privy.  The pioneers were a different breed of Europeans who created America and came from Europe with nothing. They were so talented and knew how to make so many things from scratch to create a wonderful living space that was functional and ornate.  Here are some photographs from the preserved home that was built around 1850.

http://www.wauconda-history.org/CookHouse.html