Kurt Begalka

Kurt Begalka: Brothers George and Robert Richardson, together with their wives and children, want to disassemble and relocate the former Hatch barn to their Richardson Adventure Farm, at 909 English Prairie Road in Spring Grove.

On Saturday, May 13, Friends of the Old Courthouse will host its last Dusty Boots tour before the courthouse and sheriff’s house reopen to the public.

One of the first newspaper articles Kurt Begalka wrote for the Woodstock Daily Sentinel was about migrant farm workers in Harvard. He still remembers the back-breaking scene of men cutting cabbages under a hot sun – stooping, knife in hand, over row upon row.

The news around the unknown objects shot down reminded Kurt Begalka of another event nearly 85 years ago when a rendition of H.G. Wells’ book, “War of the Worlds,” aired on the radio.

McHenry County Historical Society & Museum will turn off the lights on its holiday display after Friday, administrator Kurt Begalka writes.

Park Ridge’s Pickwick, a former vaudeville house dating to 1928, is in danger of closing for good … or worse, being converted into an alternative use, writes Kurt Begalka, the administrator of the McHenry County Historical Society & Museum.

The exterior of the 1876 octagonal horse barn near Spring Grove is not all that impressive. But step inside and look up, and the ceiling appears almost cathedral-like.

It is estimated that up to 60 million American bison wandered the Great Plains and beyond, including Illinois. However, by the late 1800s, these bison were nearly driven to extinction.

During National Poetry Month, while war continues to rage in Ukraine, McHenry County Historical Society administrator Kurt Begalka decided to share the work of some Ukrainian poets.

In the rush to exploit 5G technology, those living in unincorporated McHenry County have been left in the lurch, waiting for a promised expansion that may never arrive, McHenry County Historical Society administrator writes.

As late as November 1941, Japanese representatives reiterated that their government’s desire for peace and claimed Japan had “never pledged itself to a policy of expansion.” Less than two weeks later, on Dec. 7, Japan bombed Pearl Harbor.

As we in the history game like to say, Richmond has “bones.” And those bones could support an amazing transformation … if it is done right.

Cary’s effort to save the former senior center, built in 1888 as a schoolhouse, is another example of historical buildings getting another life.

Learning that the village of Cary had worked out a deal with McHenry County to save the current village hall and repurpose it as a police training facility was encouraging, especially as historic preservation can be hard to come by.

In 1969, 48% of students in kindergarten through eighth grade walked or biked to school in 1969, according to the North Carolina-based National Center for Safe Routes to School. Forty years later, that number had fallen to 13%.

Those of us who witnessed the scene play out live on television, will never forget that grainy image of a Boeing 767 slamming into the south tower of New York’s World Trade Center – minutes after an American Airlines jet struck the north tower.

The McHenry County Historical Society administrator hopes some of the remnants of Camp Lakota in Woodstock – its lodge, climbing tower, program center, shower house, shelters and 16 wooded camp sites so far remain – can be repurposed.

The 1838 structure housed the county’s courthouse before a split with Lake County led to the county seat moving farther west

It is time – indeed, way past time – for Richmond village officials to disclose what residents will receive in return for the sale of Memorial Hall, McHenry County Historical Society administrator says

Richmond’s Memorial Hall was originally a gift to residents of Richmond. That should be kept in mind as village, new owner considers next steps

Village Board OK’d sale of landmark but area residents propose nonprofit to keep it in public hands

McHenry County Historical Society administrator weighs in on legislation that could limit access to the vote and how it fits into U.S. history

‘(T)he great advance of women in the last century – moral, intellectual and economic – has been made without the vote, which goes to prove that it is not needed for their further advancement along the same lines,’ one opponent wrote

Speed limits were not imposed until around the turn of the previous century

Sugar beet juice allows salt to work better at lower temperatures, also means ice-melt mixture doesn’t need to be applied as often

McHenry County Historical Society to offer five-part, bite-sized educational series on the history of particular foods

McHenry County Conservation District staff recommend maintaining just six of the 27 historic structures it owns