๐บ๐ธ Woodstock is a city in (and the county seat of) McHenry County, Illinois, United States. It is located 41 miles (66ย km) north-west of Chicago making it one of the city's outer-most suburbs. The city's historic downtown district and turn-of-the-century town square is anchored by the landmark Woodstock Opera House and the Old McHenry County Courthouse. In 2007 Woodstock was named one of the nation's Dozen Distinctive Destinations by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
1History Woodstock was originally known as Centerville because of its location at the geographic centre of McHenry County. It was chosen as the county seat on September 4, 1843. Early settler Alvin Judd developed a plat for the town, which incorporated a two-acre public square, near which a 2-story frame courthouse and jail were constructed the following year by George C. Dean and Daniel Blair.
In 1845, prominent resident Joel Johnson proposed that Centerville be given a more original name, and the town was renamed Woodstock after Johnson's hometown of Woodstock, Vermont. The town was still listed as "Center" on the 1850 Federal Census. In 1852, Woodstock was incorporated as a village with Judd as president. In response to a growing population following the end of the Civil War, Woodstock was incorporated as a city in 1873.
John S. Wheat was elected as Woodstock's first mayor. A vital artery for the growing town was the train line to and from Chicago, which allowed for a substantial industrial presence early in the town's history.
1Eugene V. Debs' prison stay In 1895, Eugene V. Debs served a short federal prison sentence in the Woodstock Jail following the 1894 Pullman labor strike in Chicago. Debs, the former president of the American Railway Union, was held in Woodstock instead of Chicago because federal officials feared that he would be surrounded with too many sympathizers in a Chicago prison and therefore could have still incited further unrest. Debs was instead assigned to a cell in the newly constructed Woodstock Jail, which occupied the lowest floor of the Woodstock Courthouse on the town square.
During his time in the jail, Debs received several influential socialist visitors and encountered the works of Karl Marx. He is said to have considered the Woodstock Jail one of the "greatest school[s]", and passed his time reading and writing many letters from his cell. By the time he was released in November 1895 (to great fanfare and before crowds of onlookers assembled in the Woodstock Square), Debs had become a socialist and a national celebrity. He later ran for the United States Presidency five times between 1900 and 1920 as the candidate for the newly formed Social Democratic Party.
1"Typewriter City" During the early part of the 20th century, Woodstock had become "Typewriter City" and was home to factories of both the Emerson Typewriter Company and the Oliver Typewriter Company. Woodstock workers had built more than half the world's typewriters by 1922. The companies were very much a part of civic life in Woodstock during this time. Both factories had active social clubs, baseball teams that competed against one another, and Emerson had a well-regarded band that played at public events.
In 1919, Emerson Typewriter became the Woodstock Typewriter Company. The city grew and flourished with increasing demand for Woodstock typewriters through and after World War II. Initially the company sold typewriters for use in the war effort both domestically and abroad, but after the war's end returning servicemen, now familiar with the Woodstock brand, chose these models for their households. The factory was in use until 1970, and has since been converted into lofts.
1Orson Welles and the Todd School for Boys Woodstock had an important role in the creative development of Orson Welles. In 1926, in the midst of a chaotic upbringing, he enrolled at the Todd School for Boys in Woodstock at age 10. His five-year stay there was his only formal education, and the town and school made an impression on the young Welles. Years later, in 1960, when asked where he thought of as his hometown, he replied "I suppose it's Woodstock, Illinois, if it's anywhere. I went to school there for four years. If I try to think of a home, it's that".
At Todd School, the young Welles came under the positive influence and guidance of Roger Hill, a teacher who later became the school's headmaster. Hill provided Welles with an educational environment that supported his creativity, allowing Welles to concentrate on subjects that interested him. Welles performed and staged his first theatrical experiments and productions at Todd. He also performed at the downtown Woodstock Opera House, where the stage โ the site of his American debut as a professional theatre director โ is now dedicated to him.
Welles returned to Woodstock periodically after leaving school. In July 1934 at the age of 19, he coordinated the Todd Theatre Festival, a six-week summer festival at the Woodstock Opera House that featured Hilton Edwards and Micheรกl MacLiammรณir of Dublin's Gate Theatre. His short film The Hearts of Age was shot on the Todd School campus during the festival.
Todd School for Boys closed in 1954. Several original buildings were purchased at auction and reused by Marian Central Catholic High School and Christian Life Services. Welles' former dormitory was demolished in 2010.
1Local newspaper The Woodstock Independent is the award-winning local paper of record and is delivered weekly to subscribers. Published on Wednesdays, The Independent covers community news, events as well as local government and schools. The Independent also publishes The Torch, a feature-oriented magazine delivered free to all Woodstock residents 8 or 9 times a year.
1Culture: Music Woodstock has become an important destination for live music in McHenry County and the region with venues featuring local, national, and international artists.
A number of organizations support and promote live music in Woodstock: โข Liquid Blues โข Jazz on the Square โข Off Square Music โข Opera Woodstock โข RIFF Productions โข Woodstock Folk Festival โข Woodstock City Band โข Potts & Pans Steelband
1Religion Woodstock is home to many Protestant and Catholic churches, a Jewish congregation and The Blue Lotus Buddhist Temple since 2002.
1Education Woodstock's public schools are part of Woodstock Community Unit School District 200, which was formed in 1969. The district operates 1 early learning centre (Verda Dierzen), 6 elementary schools (Dean Street, Greenwood, Mary Endres, Olson, Prairiewood and Westwood), two middle schools (Northwood and Creekside) and two high schools (Woodstock High School and Woodstock North High School). The three newest buildings, Prairiewood, Creekside and WNHS, were approved in a March 2006 referendum to address crowding in schools due to the area's growth between the mid-1990s and 2008.
Woodstock is served by private educational institutions: St. Mary Catholic grade school (K-8) is located in town. Students often continue on to Marian Central Catholic High School, also located in Woodstock.
Residents pursuing an associate degree normally do so at McHenry County College in neighboring Crystal Lake. Loyola University Chicago owns and operates a large property on Woodstock's eastern edge as its Retreat and Ecology Campus. Aurora University also operates its Woodstock Center downtown.
1Top employers[ed According to Woodstock's Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, among the top employers in the city include: 1 McHenry County; 2 Woodstock Community Unit School District 200; 3 Northwestern Memorial Hospital; 4 Catalent; 5 Charter Dura-Bar; 6 Claussen Pickle Company; 7 Walmart; 8 Berry Plastics; 9 Other World Computing; 10 Menards.
1Public transit Woodstock's railroad station is the penultimate passenger stop on Metra's Union Pacific Northwest Line, which originates from Ogilvie Transportation Center in downtown Chicago and ends in Harvard, Illinois. At Woodstock, Metra offers passengers 9 daily trains to Chicago on weekdays, with 11 returning outbound. Between 400 and 500 passengers use the train daily for travel to Chicago or other suburban communities along the line.
This direct link to the city was historically instrumental in Woodstock's growth as a city, and remains an attractive option for local commuters and residents to reach Chicago. As a result, Woodstock's use of the system is greater than that of nearly half of the Metra system's other outlying stations, many of which serve larger or geographically nearer communities.
Other public ground transportation is limited to Pace bus route 807, which connects downtown Woodstock with downtown McHenry.
1Transport: Road U.S. Route 14 once took drivers through the heart of downtown Woodstock, but a modern bypass now curves around the city's south-west border. Illinois Route 47 runs through the city in the northโsouth direction. Illinois Route 120's western terminus is in north-west Woodstock, and continues east past Woodstock's downtown and into rural McHenry County.
1Woodstock has a population of over 25,240 people. Woodstock also forms the centre of the wider McHenry County which has a population of over 310,229 people. It is also a part of the larger Chicago area. Woodstock is situated 66 km north-west of Chicago.
To set up a UBI Lab for Woodstock see: https://www.ubilabnetwork.org Twitter: https://twitter.com/UBILabNetwork
Twin Towns - Sister Cities Woodstock has links with:
๐ฒ๐ฝ Zacatecas, Mexico๐บ๐ธ Battle Creek 42.319
๐บ๐ธ Northampton 42.325
๐บ๐ธ Dorchester 42.292
๐บ๐ธ Libertyville 42.284
๐ช๐ธ La Baรฑeza 42.283
๐ง๐ฌ Kyustendil 42.283
๐บ๐ธ Crystal Lake -88.333
๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ณ๓ ฃ๓ ด๓ ฟ Elgin -88.284
๐บ๐ธ Champaign-Urbana -88.241
๐บ๐ธ Plainfield -88.233
๐ธ๐ป Ciudad Romero -88.45
๐บ๐ธ Fond du Lac -88.45
๐บ๐ธ Pascagoula -88.547
๐บ๐ธ New London -88.728
Locations Near: Woodstock -88.4333,42.3
๐บ๐ธ Crystal Lake -88.333,42.217 d: 12.4
๐บ๐ธ McHenry -88.221,42.357 d: 18.6
๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ณ๓ ฃ๓ ด๓ ฟ Elgin -88.284,42.04 d: 31.5
๐บ๐ธ Hanover Township -88.2,42.017 d: 36.9
๐บ๐ธ Geneva -88.31,41.89 d: 46.7
๐บ๐ธ Schaumburg -88.083,42.017 d: 42.7
๐บ๐ธ Libertyville -87.961,42.284 d: 38.9
๐บ๐ธ Arlington Heights -87.979,42.112 d: 42.8
๐บ๐ธ Buffalo Grove -87.95,42.15 d: 43.1
Antipodal to: Woodstock 91.567,-42.3
๐ฆ๐บ Bunbury 115.637,-33.327 d: 17687.9
๐ฆ๐บ Mandurah 115.721,-32.529 d: 17632.7
๐ฆ๐บ Rockingham 115.717,-32.267 d: 17616.6
๐ฆ๐บ City of Cockburn 115.833,-32.167 d: 17601.3
๐ฆ๐บ Vincent 115.834,-31.936 d: 17586.5
๐ฆ๐บ Perth 115.857,-31.953 d: 17585.8
๐ฆ๐บ Wanneroo 115.803,-31.747 d: 17576.7
๐ฆ๐บ Guildford 115.973,-31.9 d: 17573.5