Popular Shopping Section

Shopping in Fox Lake
The downtown business sections of Fox Lake and Ingleside were very popular shopping areas during the resort heyday period. With its own railroad station, a main highway and its proximity to the Nippersink boat landing, Fox Lake’s business section expanded rapidly. During its first 70 years, Fox Lake’s business sector supported multiple grocery, hardware and clothing stores, bakeries and more. The businesses particularly thrived during the busy summer season. For decades, many of the resorts were only open during the summer.

Long before there were decent roads and reliable automobiles, the areas near the railroad stations proved to be major hubs of activity. Retailers opened their stores in the vicinity to take advantage of the thousands of visitors arriving by train. When the passengers alighted from their trains, they were met by horse-drawn bus lines and boat taxis waiting to take them to their destinations.

The demand for more stores led to filling in Dollar Lake, paving the way for the construction of the Lakeland Shopping Plaza (opened in 1963). Later, when the Big Hollow area was annexed into the Village, it marked the beginning of the new Route 12 commercial corridor.

Through the decades, Fox Lake has been one of the leaders in this part of northern Illinois for shoppers of transportation — boats and automobiles. Its prime location in the Heart of the Chain has made it fertile ground for car dealers, marinas and boat sales outlets. The Village’s sales tax revenue clearly demonstrates Fox Lake’s leadership in those categories.

Ingleside
After the railroad station was opened on Washington Street in 1899, Ingleside developed a busy commercial sector. Horse-drawn buses gathered there to take passengers to their destinations. The Grant Township Hall was a popular place, where meetings, dances, movie shows and parties were conducted. Other businesses included a general store, restaurant, saloon, pool hall, church, blacksmith shop, bottling plant, livery stable, firehouse, grocery store, ice cream parlor, beer distribution center, and barber shop.

Farther down Washington was the Kaping House (more recent site of ZaZa’s Restaurant), one of the best-known resort hotels, complete with its own paddle-wheel steamboat. Immediately south of the tracks on Duck Lake there was a large icehouse with an adjoining rooming house for the seasonal ice harvest workers.

Ingleside’s downtown area annexed into Fox Lake shortly after the Village incorporated. Ingleside’s downtown commercial sector began a slow decline as the main road leading into Fox Lake was improved into a highway to be known as Route 12. With its own railroad station, a main highway and its proximity to the Nippersink boat landing, Fox Lake’s business section grew as Ingleside’s gradually diminished.

Post World War II
The post World War II era brought a period of prosperity to the country. The Fox Lake resorts that survived the Depression experienced some renewal, although never achieving their former resort heyday status. The downtown business section thrived for a few years, but the malls eventually took their toll on the downtown shopping experience.

Even with the renewed prosperity, it became obvious that the previous resort model was no longer working. The hotels were decades old and without the modern amenities now expected by the public. Fox Lake was no longer a “vacation destination” where families would spend a week or more. With improved transportation, people now visited for the day and returned home, especially the new breed of boaters. There were more boaters than ever, but very few required hotel rooms.

Additionally, the State virtually eliminated gambling as an attraction and revenue source.

The remaining resorts catered to the new face of the tourists, the boaters. Improved transportation also opened the door to more permanent residents. The trains that previously served the vacationers were now filled with commuters. The summer cottages were replaced by year-round residences. Fox Lake was now a recreational residential community.