Sun Valley Farm

          In Huntley, there is a farm that stands out from the rest. Known as the Sun Valley Farm, its history goes back. I mean, way back. In fact, it is believed to be the oldest barn in McHenry County, and the homestead is one of a limited amount of buildings that date to about 1840. But the age is not the only thing that adds to the uniqueness of the site, and after being able to tour the site, I was able to see what made this site so special for a Midwestern town.

          But first, some history. The first structure believed to have been constructed on the site was the barn, which was constructed somewhere between 1838 and 1840.  This actually was common practice to construct the barn before the house (how else are you going to make any money to put food on the table and clothes on your back).  After the barn was constructed, the family lived in the barn along with the livestock until they had enough money to construct the homestead.  The wood in the barn was from old-growth white oak, with some timbers measuring over 8 inches by 12 inches.  These timbers were cut and squared on site, and then constructed and raised into place with the help of "neighbors" (this is where neighbors would mean the next few farms down the road, with the farmsteads being spread out by miles). The beams still retain much of the original bark, and the structure is put together using oak pegs instead of nails. Much of the details of this barn are similar to those found in New England states, not the Midwest, and thus has brought barn enthusiasts to the site to observe this barn.

          In the early 1840s, the original portion of the house was constructed. Like the barn, it was also constructed of white oak, and is post-and-beam construction.  Some of the beams in the upper floor of the structure also contain the 170 year old bark, as only one side was hewn flat for the roof.  The house has had other additions, dating from the 19th and 20th century, and the porch was later enclosed.

          Other structures on the site include a stone smoke house, corn crib, chicken coop, and a later garage.  The smoke house is a rare for the county, and still shows sign of the smoke in the interior.  The corn crib also has some interesting details, like the fact that it was constructed using square nails instead of wire nails, which may put the crib's construction from before 1880.

           Two of the most prominent people to own the site were John S. Cummings and Edwin F. Deicke. Cummings, who came to Illinois in 1838, and to Huntley in 1841, was also the first mayor of Huntley when the town was incorporated in 1872.  Edwin F. Deicke was a later owner, purchasing the farm in the 1940s.  It was then he established The Sun Valley Farms, a group of 5 farms in the Huntley area.  A prominent figure in DuPage County, he was the president of a couple different insurance firms in Wheaton IL (Suburban Casualty Company and Pioneer Insurance Company), and also set up a foundation in his name to help others. He donated money for many different projects, and in 1965, Edwin and his wife Lois donated $35,000 to purchase part of Donahue Woods and create a park (the first public park in Huntley since Oakland Park closed in 1925).  Park district meetings were first held at this farm once the park was created.  The farm was eventually purchased at the turn of the 21st century by the park district and they have made key renovations to the site, with the plan to have it as a possible museum or living history farm.

          I have been able to tour the site twice. The first time I was awed by the construction of the structures and with how complete the site is. About a year later, I had returned to do a more in depth search of part of the site.  On the second floor of the house, I found that one side of a wall used to be covered by newspapers for insulation. Only scraps remain, but some scraps are very telling. One looks to have been from the turn of the last century from a prominent paper, The Prairie Farmer. Another, which had multiple scraps near the base of the wall still intact, was a German newspaper with a date of 8 April, 1873. In the basement, I started looking through two rusting file cabinets. Most of the drawers were empty except for empty manila folders. In a (no longer) stuck bottom drawer, however, there stacks of letter heads, mostly from Edwin Deicke's businesses. They were from the insurance business he was president of, and even included some from the farm itself. Other items like an advertisement wallet from a Lombard insurance company were found in the bottom of another cabinet, and other little discoveries popped up that day (hooray for possessing a stronger flashlight than last time).  It's only a matter of time before more discoveries are made. But for now, here are the pictures from the first two visits. Enjoy!