Ravenswood Manor Improvement Association Records

For many years, Native Americans lived in the area along the North branch of the Chicago River that we know as Ravenswood Manor. After the Civil War, farmers began settling in the small communities surrounding the Manor, yet no one incorporated the land just west of the river until after 1900. From 1908-1912 real estate developer William Elmer Harmon purchased 80 acres from the Northwest Land Association. He laid out streets, installed sidewalks, curbs, gutters, gas mains, sewers, and water lines. He planted elm and maple trees and "walled in" the subdivision of Ravenswood Manor and Ravenswood Gardens by placing trellises over sidewalks at major entrances to the community. Harmon set strict property restrictions to ensure the subdivision would develop into and remain predominantly a community of single-family residences.

The boundaries of Ravenswood Manor are Lawrence Avenue on the north, Montrose Avenue on the south, Sacramento Avenue on the west and the north branch of the Chicago River on the east. The Ravenswood Manor Improvement Association has been a major factor in maintaining Harmon's property restrictions. Following a call to organize on August 27, 1914, Manor residents met in Harmon's real estate office on September 1, 1914 and formed the Ravenswood Manor-Gardens Community Club. In December 1916 the group's name was changed to the Ravenswood Manor-Gardens Improvement Association. In April 1947 its name changed once again to Ravenswood Manor Improvement Association after Ravenswood Gardens established its own homeowners' association. The group remains active as of 2023.