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Harvard is a city located in McHenry County in the northeastern corner of the U.S. state of Illinois, approximately south of the Illinois/Wisconsin border. The population was 9,447 at the 2010 census. The city is from the Chicago Loop, and it is the last stop on the Union Pacific/Northwest Line. == History == The original owners of the land which came to be Harvard, Illinois, were Abram Carmack and Jacob Davis, who obtained it from the government in 1845 and sold it to Gilbert Brainard shortly afterward. Upon Gilbert Brainard's death the land was purchased by Amos Page, Otis Eastman, and Eldridge G. Ayer. These three men planned the layout of the town and named it "Harvard" in honor of Harvard, Massachusetts. The plat was signed by Judge J. M. Strode in Woodstock, Illinois, on November 25, 1856. Shortly afterward Amos Page and Otis Eastman sold their shares of the property to Eldridge G. Ayers. Mr Ayers's involvement came out of his business interest in the extension of the Chicago and North Western Transportation Company railroad west from Cary, toward Janesville, Wisconsin. The newly platted town of Harvard was located directly on the route of the extension, and in April 1856 the railroad accepted Ayers's offer of land to build a station in the town.〔Harvard - 150 Years, 1856-2006, Harvard Sesquicentennial Committee May 2006〕 In 1856 Mr. Wesley Diggins built a hotel for Mr. H. C. Blackman, who sold it to Mr. Ayer in 1859. Mr. Ayer built additional floors to raise it to a height of three stories and added a wing and a veranda. During the Civil War, sick and wounded soldiers passing through Harvard were lodged at the hotel with no charge for their meals. In 1925 the Ayer Hotel was purchased by Mr. S. J. Noble and renamed the Noble Hotel. When he could not maintain mortgage payments it was purchased in 1937 by Mr. P. G. Allen and renamed the Hub Hotel. The building was destroyed in a fire on December 22, 1960. As railroad employment expanded, Harvard's population grew. On April 18, 1869, voters incorporated the community and elected Ayer as the first village president.〔http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/567.html Retrieved September 23, 2006〕 The first ordinance adopted required every able-bodied citizen between the ages of 18 and 60 to perform one day of labor for the town. Harvard was turned from a town into a city when citizens voted to do so (with a vote of 550 to 5) on April 6, 1891. With this change Harvard was no longer a town administered by a village president. It became a city administered by a mayor. Motorola opened a mobile telephone manufacturing and distribution facility on Harvard's north side in 1997. The plant employed more than 5,000 at its peak. However, a combination of factors, including a significant decline in Motorola's business in the early 2000s, compelled the company to shutter the facility in 2003.〔(Happy end for Harvard? | Northwest Herald )〕 In 2012, the 1.5 million square foot facility was sold to Optima Ventures,〔(Chicago Tribune: " Motorola campus in Harvard has a buyer - Miami-based real estate investment firm looking at plans to lease shuttered facility" By Carolyn Starks and Jeff Long ) August 15, 2008〕〔(Daily Herald: "Miami firm buys former Motorola plant in Harvard" By Lenore T. Adkins ) August 14, 2008〕 a Miami-based real estate investment firm led by Chaim Schochet and 2/3rd owned by the Privat Group, one of Ukraine's largest business and banking groups.〔(Cleveland Plain Dealer: "The most important guy you've never heard of: Chaim Schochet, 25, builds downtown Cleveland empire" By Michelle Jarboe McFee ) February 04, 2012〕 In 2006, Harvard held a year-long Sesquicentennial Celebration.〔(harvard150.com )〕 The Greater Harvard Area Historical Society is located on Hart Street. The society identifies and marks historical sites in the area. It also works to obtain histories of Harvard families, businesses, and farms which have been in operation for more than 100 years. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Harvard, Illinois」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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