Our story
A neighborhood launched in 1942 between Clarendon Hills and Westmont that built its own infrastructure, traditions and enduring sense of place.
Black Hawk Heights opened as a residential subdivision in April 1942 and grew through the wartime and postwar years. Before becoming part of Clarendon Hills, it was recognized as a distinct community between Clarendon Hills and Westmont—with its own builder, water system, civic organization and neighborhood traditions.
A notice in the April 10, 1942 edition of Berwyn Life announced that builder Anton Dudek was opening Blackhawk Heights that week. It located the new subdivision between Clarendon Hills and Westmont, just south of the continuation of 47th Street—then identified as Chicago Avenue—and described it as convenient to the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy railroad.
The first advertisements offered “all face brick” homes on 60-foot lots for $6,000 to $7,000. Eleven homes were already complete or nearing occupancy, with water, gas, sewer, sidewalks and street improvements included. Buyers could choose a lot and house style, use FHA financing with 10 percent down, and make payments advertised as low as $34.05 per month.
The new community was marketed directly to people employed in defense plants. By October 1942, a Chicago Sunday Tribune article reported that 36 homes had been sold and occupied and that Blackhawk Builders planned 35 more. A November advertisement said 66 additional homes had been approved by the FHA and were under construction nearby. In August 1944, another Tribune report stated that 80 Blackhawk Heights homes had been built within two years.
Blackhawk Builders continued expanding the neighborhood through the 1940s and early 1950s. A 1946 advertisement addressed “civilians and veterans” and reported 68 buildings already occupied with 54 more being erected on 60-by-132-foot lots. Later advertisements list homes at $13,000–$19,000 in 1948 and $11,000–$16,000 in 1949, while promoting brick ranch, Cape Cod and one- and two-story designs, garages, oil or coal heat and build-to-order options. By 1954, the company advertised a five-room brick ranch with an attached garage and a 25-year loan.
Property and legal descriptions show that Black Hawk Heights grew through multiple recorded phases rather than as a single one-time subdivision. Records identify the original/1st Addition, a 2nd Addition, a 3rd Addition and a 4th Addition. Surviving homes in these areas also help establish the development sequence: construction was underway in the early 1940s, with houses dating to 1942 and 1943 in areas later associated with the 2nd Addition, while houses in the 3rd Addition appear by 1947. Construction continued through the late 1940s and early 1950s.
Modern legal descriptions place the additions across streets including Indian, Mohawk, Iroquois, Hiawatha and portions of Burlington Avenue. The precise recording date and boundary of each original plat still need to be confirmed from DuPage County Recorder records, so this history treats the sequence as documented while leaving exact plat dates open for archival research.
Resident-contributed photographs put individual addresses and a real streetscape behind the early sales copy. Two annotated views from about 1949 identify 102, 104 and 106 Iroquois Drive and 30 Norfolk Avenue. They show newly built brick houses, young lawns and trees, fresh sidewalks and period automobiles at the intersection of Iroquois and Norfolk.
A broader midcentury view—whose exact street and date have not yet been identified—captures the neighborhood while its trees were still young. Together, these photographs show the mix of Cape Cod, ranch and two-story forms that gave Black Hawk Heights its early architectural character.
A September 1951 Tribune feature provides an unusually detailed view of an early neighborhood home. The red-brick ranch at 131 Indian Drive had four and a half rooms, a full basement, hardwood floors, a 12-foot picture window, a flagstone terrace and oil heat. Its plans allowed a rear wing to be added later—an example of how modest houses were designed to expand as families and budgets grew.
Two later photographs document 20 Iroquois Drive in 1964 and again in 1971. The house remains recognizable, but the contrast is striking: a spare winter view gives way seven years later to a summer façade framed by mature evergreens and dense ivy. The pair demonstrates how quickly the young subdivision’s landscaping grew into the established, tree-lined neighborhood residents know today.
Community organization appeared early. The Blackhawk Heights Woman’s Club, organized in November 1947, reported 60 members by May 1948. Its members formed a Brownie Scout troop, donated clothing to a veterans hospital, ran monthly scrap-paper collections and organized social and educational programs. A surviving December 1948 notice records one such gathering at the Community House in Hinsdale.
By 1951, a Blackhawk Heights Civic Association was representing residents before the Illinois Commerce Commission. Its opposition to a proposed change in the water supply shows residents acting collectively on neighborhood concerns more than a decade before the Halloween Parade began.
The neighborhood's civic identity continued into the 1960s. The Blackhawk Heights Civic Group began the annual Halloween Parade in 1965. A 2015 retrospective published by Shaw Local, drawing on Village information and neighborhood organizers, states that Black Hawk Heights was annexed into Clarendon Hills in the early 1970s. The exact annexation ordinance number and adoption date have not yet been located in digitized Village records, so this page preserves the documented timeframe without assigning an unverified exact date.
Newspaper coverage from 1951 describes Black Hawk Heights as an unincorporated community of 288 lots on an 80-acre tract, with about 240 homes. Blackhawk Heights Water Supply, Inc., associated with the developer, bought water from Westmont and resold it to residents. The company sought state approval to switch to wells, but the Civic Association argued that Westmont’s water was softer and less expensive.
Material shortages and the projected $34,000 cost led the company to withdraw that proposal in late 1951. In May 1952, the Illinois Commerce Commission ordered Blackhawk Builders to explain why it had been operating the system without a state certificate; contemporary coverage then described a community of approximately 250 homes.
One of the clearest later accounts comes from the Illinois State Water Survey. In an entry dated July 7, 1958, the agency described Black Hawk Heights as “a subdivision located between Clarendon Hills and Westmont.” That wording is important because it confirms that, well into the 1950s, Black Hawk Heights retained an identity separate from either neighboring municipality.
The state report says that Black Hawk Heights ultimately constructed its own well and water-treatment plant in 1953. Layne-Western Company of Aurora drilled the well to a depth of 295 feet, with a reported capacity of about 200 gallons per minute.
Illinois Municipal Water Company purchased the system in 1955 and operated it as the Black Hawk Heights Water Company. The state report recorded 270 metered services that year—evidence that Black Hawk Heights was already a substantial residential community by the mid-1950s.
Village engineering records add another layer to that story: much of the Black Hawk Heights water-main network dates to the 1940s. The center six blocks were laid out with mains running through rear yards, while additional mains serve the outside ring of the neighborhood. That unusual arrangement still shapes infrastructure work in Black Hawk Heights today.
“A subdivision located between Clarendon Hills and Westmont.”
Illinois State Water Survey, field record dated July 7, 1958
In 1965, the Blackhawk Heights Civic Group launched the neighborhood Halloween Parade. The goal extended beyond a holiday celebration: organizers wanted neighbors to meet one another, strengthen community ties and build neighborhood pride.
The parade survived the neighborhood’s annexation into Clarendon Hills in the early 1970s and became its defining annual tradition. Beginning in 2001, it also collected donations for a local food pantry. Black Hawk Heights celebrated the parade’s 50th year in 2015 and its 60th annual parade and block party in 2025.
Other gatherings have carried that community spirit forward. A surviving logo from the 2019 Rock the Heights Block Party combines the initials “BHH” with a vintage microphone—a compact piece of neighborhood history linking music, design and resident-led celebration.
Local historical reporting places the annexation of Black Hawk Heights into Clarendon Hills in the early 1970s. An exact date should remain open until the original annexation ordinance or Village Board minutes are located. What is clear is that annexation changed the neighborhood’s municipal home without erasing its identity. Resident-led events, the Blackhawk name and the close relationship with nearby Westmont continued.
The Clarendon Blackhawk Mosquito Abatement District, established in 1968, also preserves evidence of this earlier geography. The separate taxing district continues to serve properties both inside and outside Clarendon Hills.
The neighborhood’s original water arrangements resurfaced three decades later. Court records from Pelley v. Illinois Municipal Water Co. show that the private utility was still serving Blackhawk Heights in the early 1980s. After a sharp rate increase in 1983, Clarendon Hills agreed to purchase the system for $150,000. The transaction closed on December 28, 1983.
Residents challenged aspects of the sale, arguing that some water mains were already Village property. The resulting litigation reached the Illinois Appellate Court in 1986 and traced disputed infrastructure rights back to January 13, 1953. More than seventy years after the original well was built, the connection continues: in 2025, the Village advanced engineering work for a major Blackhawk Heights water-main replacement project.
Municipal annexation did not place Blackhawk Heights in the same school systems as much of Clarendon Hills. In 2000, some residents petitioned to detach the 286-home subdivision from Westmont Community Unit School District 201 and join Hinsdale-area Elementary District 181 and High School District 86. The Tribune’s coverage documented competing views within the neighborhood and among the affected districts. Whatever the outcome, the episode illustrates how Blackhawk Heights continued to occupy a practical borderland between neighboring communities.
Milestones
Anton Dudek announces the opening of Blackhawk Heights. Eleven homes are complete or nearing occupancy, priced from $6,000 to $7,000.
Thirty-six homes are reported sold and occupied, with dozens more planned or under construction for the growing wartime community.
Tribune coverage reports that 80 Blackhawk Heights homes have been built within two years.
Black Hawk Heights expands in multiple recorded additions. Property records identify the original/1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th Additions; surviving houses show development continuing across the decade.
Advertisements document continued construction for civilians and veterans and an expanding range of brick ranch, Cape Cod and two-story homes.
The Blackhawk Heights Woman’s Club forms and grows to 60 members, sponsoring civic, service and social activities.
DuPage County tax records contain a Blackhawk Heights address on Mohawk Drive.
Newspapers describe 288 lots on 80 acres and about 240 homes. Residents organize through the Civic Association during a dispute over a proposed well system; a Tribune feature documents the expandable ranch at 131 Indian Drive.
The Illinois Commerce Commission calls on Blackhawk Builders to answer questions about its authority to operate the water system.
Black Hawk Heights builds a water-treatment plant and a 295-foot well drilled by Layne-Western Company.
Illinois Municipal Water Company acquires the system and operates it as Black Hawk Heights Water Company; 270 metered services are recorded.
The Illinois State Water Survey documents Black Hawk Heights as a subdivision between Clarendon Hills and Westmont.
The Blackhawk Heights Civic Group begins the annual neighborhood Halloween Parade.
The Clarendon Blackhawk Mosquito Abatement District is established.
Black Hawk Heights is annexed into the Village of Clarendon Hills. The exact ordinance number and adoption date remain under archival research.
Clarendon Hills purchases the water system for $150,000; the transaction closes December 28.
The Illinois Appellate Court issues its decision in the resulting Pelley water-system litigation.
A resident petition seeks to change the subdivision’s school-district boundaries, highlighting its continuing position between Clarendon Hills and Westmont institutions.
The Halloween Parade begins incorporating food-pantry collections.
The neighborhood celebrates the parade’s 50th year.
Black Hawk Heights marks its 60th annual Halloween Parade and Block Party, while the Village advances a major neighborhood water-main project.
The neighborhood’s core identity is associated with Algonquin, Indian, Mohawk, Iroquois and Hiawatha. Historical local descriptions also include portions of Burlington Avenue and Norfolk Street. Future plat research should clarify the exact boundaries of the original subdivision and each addition.
The public record tells only part of the story. Family photographs, block-party flyers, newspaper clippings, plats, homebuilding records and memories from longtime residents can help preserve the lived history of the neighborhood.
Have an old neighborhood photograph, map, invitation, plat, building record or story? Residents can now share material for possible inclusion in the neighborhood archive.
Share a Photo or Neighborhood History →Aerial photography
The University of Illinois Map Library holds approximately 206 federal aerial photographs flown in September 1961. Its online record includes a two-sheet photomosaic index. Reuse rights have not been evaluated, so the collection is linked rather than copied here.
Explore the 1961 collection →Local photographs
The Historical Society’s gallery includes maps and photographs that provide broader village context. Black Hawk Heights-specific permissions and identifications should be confirmed before copying images into this archive.
Explore the Historical Society gallery →Editorial note: This page will be revised as additional primary records and resident-contributed materials become available. Accessed September 2026.