Forest Preserve District of Cook County Records: Home

The Forest Preserve District of Cook County records

The Forest Preserve District of Cook County (FPDCC) was created in 1914 with a mandate to “protect and preserve” the forested lands in Cook County. The district became one of the most extensive systems of wildlife reserves near a large metropolitan area. By 2011, it had had acquired nearly 68,000 acres and now entertains as many as 40 million visitors each year.

The FPDCC records contain documents the history of the district, the people who founded it, some of its day-to-day operations, and its planning, construction, and development. The records include correspondence, memoranda, reports, financial records, legal files, construction plans and blueprints, minutes of meetings of the Board of Forest Preserve Commissioners and of advisory bodies, and photographic prints, negatives, and glass "lantern slides." The collection was processed thanks to a generous grant from the Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation.

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