Wooster Lake

Wooster Lake, Illinois
Unincorporated community
Wooster Lake, Illinois Wooster Lake, Illinois
Coordinates: 42°21′53″N 88°08′58″W / 42.36472°N 88.14944°WCoordinates: 42°21′53″N 88°08′58″W / 42.36472°N 88.14944°W
Country	United States
State	Illinois
County	Lake
Elevation	741 ft (226 m)
Time zone	Central (CST) (UTC-6)
• Summer (DST)	CDT (UTC-5)
ZIP	60041
Area code(s)	847 & 224
GNIS feature ID	421501[1]

Wooster Lake is an unincorporated community in Lake County, Illinois, United States. Wooster Lake is located near Illinois Route 134 and Wilson Road, predominantly in unincorporated Ingleside, Illinois northeast of the Village of Volo, northwest of the Village of Round Lake, and southeast of the Village of Fox Lake.^[2]

Identification of Wooster Lake

The Lakes Management Unit of the Lake County Health Department provided a 2003 Summary of Wooster Lake highlighting Wooster is a glacially-formed, non-public (aka "private") lake encompassing approximately 98.9 acres with a shoreline of 2.03 miles. It is reported to have a 29.8' maximum depth and a 16.3' average depth, 4th deepest (on average) of the inland, private lakes in Lake County, Illinois. It is part of the Fish Lake drainage of the Fox River watershed. The Fish Lake Drain flows from Fish Lake into Fischer Lake then into Wooster. Water leaves Wooster by small creek along the northern shoreline and flows into Duck Lake, eventually draining into the Fox River.

Though the private lake has significant depth, in February 2005, Lakes Management - a division of the Lake County Health Department - provided a slide deck presentation highlighting by month the total phosphorus (TP) levels recorded as spilling into Wooster Lake. During significant rain events (such as in June 2004), 20.5 pounds (9.3 kilograms) of phosphorus per day were recorded as spilling in at just this one measured location.

History along Wooster Lake

As reported including by the Lake County Historical Museum's Diana Dretske, Jacob L. Beilhart founded the communitarian group called the Spirit Fruit Society on the shores of Wooster Lake, after purchasing 90 acres- a tract known as the Dahlziel Farm - in 1905. About a dozen established members of the Spirit Fruit Society moved with Beilhart to Illinois, along with a few new members. Over the next two years the society built a spacious house and later a large barn entirely by hand. The 2½-story residence had 32 rooms, a full basement, and modern (for the time) conveniences. The dining room accommodated up to 100 people. The society continued to live peacefully in Ingleside for several years. They provided for themselves from what came to be known as the "Spirit Fruit Farm", opened the farm and temple to visitors, and produced their newsletter. Beilhart continued to speak to groups in Chicago promoting the ideals of the society.

In November 1908, Beilhart became ill from acute appendicitis. Despite attention from a surgeon who performed an appendectomy, Beilhart developed peritonitis and died three days later. In keeping with the society's beliefs in simplicity, Beilhart was buried in a plain coffin in an unmarked grave overlooking Wooster Lake. None of the buildings remain, having been covered by a housing development, although Beilhart's grave remains in a brush-obscured corner of the tract.^[3][4][5]

As of 2016, in dispute are recorded association declarations, recorded lake property titles, and a recorded village ordinance filed at the Lake County Recorder of Deeds Office, of which advertise and claim Wooster Lake's properties are restricted, creating disputes over the legal use of the lake.</ref><ref name=Wooster>Lake, Wooster. "Wooster Lake Fish Tales". Wooster Lake Fish Tales, Lake County, Illinois. Retrieved March 30, 2016.

References

1. "Wooster Lake". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey.
2. Lake County General Highway Map (PDF) (Map). Illinois Department of Transportation. 2011. Retrieved July 25, 2012.
3. Murphy, James L. (1989). The Reluctant Radicals. Lanham, MD: University Press of America. ISBN 978-0-8191-7423-9.
4. Dretske, Diana. "Beilhart's Spirit Fruit Society". Illuminating Lake County, Illinois History. Retrieved March 28, 2011.
5. "Father Jacob Dies". The Ottawa Free Trader -. 27 November 1908. Retrieved 21 May 2012.

• The Local View - Gurnee, Illinois
• Village of Round Lake depository of meeting minutes & audio
• Bill HB3441 of the Illinois General 95th Assembly