Harlem Village Remembered, Honored in Ceremony

By Margaret Downing, REPORTER

 On a foggy morning, Nov. 3, past residents and natives of Harlem Village, along with a number of local officials, met for the unveiling and dedication of a two-ton granite memorial constructed and placed by Muraski Monument Co. of Rockford. It is located at Forest Hills and Harlem Roads. The spot is where a schoolhouse stood for many years. Woodward Inc. now owns the land and that company was generous enough to provide funding for the $15,000 memorial and landscaping of the site.

Over three-dozen people gathered together and heard about the work done for the past two or three years by a 14-member committee of dedicated former Harlem Village and history loving residents. One man who was very involved and dedicated was John Clifford Nelson, who passed away in August. Though not there in body, his nephew Bob Burden was sure he was there in spirit. Burden, who is Loves Park’s City Clerk, gave a talk thanking those who attended the unveiling and also gave a short history on Harlem, which is inscribed on the memorial:  “This marker commemorates the history of a thriving community and the many families who called Harlem Village their home. “The Village of Harlem, named by early settlers from the Harlem area of New York State, was originally located west of this site near what is now N. Alpine and Harlem Roads. It was moved to this location in about 1859 to be near a new railroad line that was built between Rockford, Illinois and Kenosha, Wisconsin by Kenosha Railroad. “Among the early founders of Harlem Village were farmers Asa Taylor and Lewis Fabrique. About 1845, Asa Taylor donated land from his farm, which he obtained by a land grant from U.S. President James Polk, for the construction of the Harlem Methodist Church and for the cemetery at Alpine and Harlem Roads. As many as ten trains a day served the community with mail, freight, and passenger services. A train wreck occurred there in October of 1911, and train service ended on May 3, 1937.

MARGARET DOWNING, PHOTO – The Journal.
Barry Nelson and Bob Burden had the honor of unveiling the Harlem Village Memorial, which is situated on the northeast corner of Harlem and Forest Hills Road.

“Through the years, Harlem Village grew to become a small center of commerce, transportation, education, and worship, serving the mostly agricultural surrounding area. Along with a railroad depot, villagers built a grain elevator, grocery store with post office, blacksmith shop, town hall, and a school around the community’s only water well.

“Harlem Village also included homes and a stagecoach stop. Farmers and village residents forged a close-knit community, and Harlem Village endured for well over a century. “The Village was annexed to the City of Loves Park in March 1982. In 2013, Woodward, Inc. purchased the land where parts of the Village once stood to build their Rock Cut Campus facility, which opened in the spring of 2015.”

Former Harlem Village native, Lori Briggs, now of Machesney Park, very graciously shared a poem she wrote about her former home:

“I was raised on a farm in the Village of Harlem

I still think of it as my home, as I relive it in this poem.

We were poor, but richly blessed, as you will see, as I tell you the rest.

The white church on Harlem Road was Methodist at that time.

The cemetery beside it holds many relatives of mine.

Bill Roger’s store was a gathering place where all the old men met

To discuss the price of corn and hogs, argue politics and vent.

The two-room schoolhouse sat on this very spot

It was the hub of the Village, and the events held here were certainly a lot.

We kids of the Village – teenagers or tots, knew we were safe when at school or not.

Many of the buildings that were here may be gone, but one thing’s for sure,

The memories will always live on!”