Legacy Village Ohio

The Harvey Legacy

Harvey Avenue and Barron Boulevard are streets in the village of Grayslake. They and many others are named for pioneer families of the area. 

Cyrus E. Harvey, his wife, Adeline Parks Barron Harvey, and their two children came from Burton, Ohio, in about 1845 and settled on land that now is part of Grayslake’s Manor subdivision. Seven more children were born before Adeline died in 1877 and Cyrus remarried. He had five more children with his second wife. Cyrus died in 1893, but the Harvey name continued with the historical contributions to Grayslake made by his children and grandchildren.

Son Henry Harvey was a Civil War veteran who returned to the area after the war to marry Parthena Taylor. Parthena once lived on the land that became the subdivision of Grays Lake in 1886. 

Son Anthony Wayne Harvey farmed and was an Avon Township assessor for more than 30 years. Son Cyrus B. Harvey was an Avon Township supervisor and a Grayslake village trustee in addition to being a farmer. 

A Harvey farmhouse once stood where Grayslake Central High School lies along Lake Street. It was moved across the street to make room for the high school, which opened in 1946.

Cyrus B.’s son Earl studied dentistry at Northwestern University and returned to his hometown not only to be the local dentist, but also to serve as a village trustee. He purchased land on the north shore of Grays Lake from the Knickerbocker Ice Company and developed Harvey’s subdivision in 1921.

The streets in the subdivision are named for members of the Harvey family: Burton, Cecelia, May and Augusta. Earl’s first wife was Kate White, daughter of Amarias White, the first mayor of Round Lake. 

Earl’s twin sister Emma’s husband Frank Fritsch was a Grayslake marshal. An 1851 map of Avon Township shows that Grayslake’s Lake Street once was known as Harvey Road.

There are 26 Harvey relatives buried in the Grayslake Cemetery on Lake Street. Their stories are found in the award-winning publication, Absent But Very Present, published in 1997 for the Grayslake Historical Society.