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In 1928, William F. McCarthy of Chicago
purchased the Greer farm and developed
the Honey Lake subdivision. The three
lakes... Honey Lake, Lake Tahoe and
DelMonte Lake.. .were developed with
Sugar Creek and Honey Creek and numer-
ous springs providing the water. It was
sometimes referred to as Molasses Junction
and received its name from the honey
bees along Honey Creek and because of
the number of beekeepers in the area,
Honey Lake was a summer place of typical
cottages for Chicagoans with mothers and
children staying the summer and fathers
joining the family on weekends. Only six
families stayed the entire winter. During the
summer, ice was provided by the
Scheunert Bros., who cut ice during the win-
ter and stored it for summer use in the ice
house in nearby Vienna. The private com-
munity was entered through gates at the
entrances. The homes had running water
from the central well and water tower on
the hill. The beach house was the center of
the community and dances were popular.
After the crash in 1929, the plan was not
carried through and lots were sometimes a
giveaway to encourage subscription to the
Chicago Tribune. In 1938, Harry Allen pur-
chased Honey Lake from William F.
McCarthy's son and built a concrete dam
to bring up the lakes water level. The pub-
lic areas were deeded to the Honey Lake
Improvement Association who governed
the community. In the  1970's, the
Department of Natural Resources pur-
chased adjacent wetlands for wildlife
preservation and the Hogansons donated
hundreds of acres to Nature Conservancy.
In the early 1980's, the Honey Lake Lake
District was formed to dredge the lakes
with work completed in 1993. Today, about
800 people enjoy Honey Lake and the
abundance of its natural beauty and its
wildlife.
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