This page was created by Jane Darcovich. The last update was by Dan Harper.
The 1914 Referendum, Success at Last
The provisions of this act differed significantly from the laws that had been passed in 1905 and 1909. Those laws would have created an independent Forest Preserve Board. The 1913 law, on the other hand, provided that any new board be headed by county commissioners. This change addressed opponents’ fear that an independent, unelected government body might levy taxes “arbitrarily.” The new law expanded the scope of a new forest preserve district, so that any district would cover an entire county. That feature answered the state supreme court's objection that the 1909 law favored only particular parts of a county.
This new measure came up for a referendum vote in Cook County in November 1914. While Perkins’s Forest Preserve District Association took the lead in rallying voter support, others helped the effort. Mayor Carter Harrison of Chicago, for example, called on citizens to vote yes. The Chicago Plan Commission, formed to promote the adoption of Daniel Burnham’s Plan of Chicago, also endorsed a yes vote. Charles H. Wacker, who sat on the commission, urged citizens to help fulfill Burnham’s vision by making “possible the acquiring of land for the people of great forest playgrounds outside but close to the city.”
These endorsements did not hurt, but the election was never truly in doubt. Voters again approved a forest preserve district, this time by a margin of more than 100,000 votes. The Forest Preserve District of Cook County was created.
