Hazel Avenue Prospect Avenue Historic District

Hazel Avenue and Prospect Avenue in Highland Park, Illinois, form a district of about 50 acres that gathers some of the city's oldest buildings. Its houses range from the 1847 Stupey log cabin, the oldest standing structure in town, to Victorian mansard and Queen Anne homes of the 1870s to 1890s, shingle houses attributed to Howard Van Doren Shaw, and Colonial Revival and French Provincial houses of the 1920s. Inventor Elisha Gray, who filed a telephone patent on the same day as Alexander Graham Bell, lived at 461 Hazel and worked in a nearby cottage at 333 Hazel. The Wildwood compound, built as a summer residence for Hyde Park families, reflects the area's days as a resort community. Civic buildings, including the 1930 limestone City Hall and the 1931 Tudor-style public library, anchor the western edge. Together the buildings illustrate the home styles typical of the years 1870 to 1930.