History Hunters Uncover Buried Treasures

Members of the Midwest Historical Research Society uncover artifacts at the 157-year old historic Chicago District Campground in Des Plaines, IL as part of historic sustainable community preservation project.

Predating the civil war, this historic site is under redevelopment as a modern day Chautauqua, serving as a model for Sustainable Community Development through Service Learning Projects with local academic, historic, faith-based and “green” organizations. Funding for the project is coming from donations and foundation grants.

As part of the early stages of redevelopment, vetted members from the Midwest Historical Research Society were granted a limited permit to help uncover the sites historic treasures. To date they've identified late 19th and 20th Century; coins, artifacts, tokens, jewelry and more. All items are documented, cleaned, photographed, and cataloged for future educational programming initiatives in partnership with the Des Plaines History Center.

These artifacts offer a treasure trove of data that can shed light on Des Plaines early history. In order to protect the state’s cultural heritage , local not-for-profit, Shift2Green aims to bring a network of state and local agencies, historians, architects, and academic institutions together to model how to do more with less.