It was only later (1928) that Edward Ryerson, of the Ryerson Steel family, after spending some quality time in his friend, David Dangler's place here, brought property to create a get-away for his family. Soon, a cadre of nature-loving friends followed the Ryersons and built modest cabin type homes at a time when many other captains of industry were building huge mansions on Lake Geneva, Wisconsin.

It's fair to say there were no ordinary "woodsmen." Among the notable cabin dwellers were: Architect Ambrose Cramer, who worked under David Adler and later designed the Brushwood Farm homestead for the Ryersons; Painter Ivan Albright (whose work I referenced in my Barcelona journal) joined the group when he built a cabin here in 1950; Hermon Dunlap Smith, founder of the Newberry Library and Chicago Historical Society, was also a Ryerson woods devotee. His wife, Ellen, founded the woman's board of the Field Museum and authored "Birds of Chicagoland." The Smith Sympsium is named for these important benefactors to Chicagoland. Five of the original nine cabins used by the distinguished people mentioned earlier are still on site. Two have been relocated from their original locations deep within the woods and are the cabins used by for the nature programs.

After the Ryerson's summer home in Massachusetts was destroyed by a hurricane in 1938, they rebuilt a Classical Revival substitute on their Illinois property designed by friend, Ambrose Cramer. The design was taken from an 1840's Greek Revival farmhouse, similar to those on display at the Naper Settlement. Using old pink bricks from a woolen mill in Galena, floorboards and fixtures salvaged from other old buildings, they gave their 1942 home historical significance immediately. The Ryerson's home is used currently as the visitor's center and is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Before building the house, the Ryerson's had already bought the adjacent farmland from descendents of the Wrights in 1938 when they feared the property would be sold to developers. Instead, they hired Brookfield Zoo architect, Edwin Hill Clark, to build them a farm. Dairy cattle, Yorkshire pigs and Arabian horses soon became the newest residents to share the acreage with the Ryersons. In their continued desire to maintain this piece of wilderness for future generations, they began in 1966 to donate lands to the Forest Preserve. The other families owning property and cabins here followed suit. As a result of their love for the land and generosity, we can show our thanks by enjoying the 552 environmentally protected acres where most of Illinois' rare high quality floodplain forest is located and is carefully protected by the Illinois Nature Preserves System.