The Birth of Sunnyland

The Sunnyland area is a little bit of everything—part Washington, part East Peoria, part neither. This identity crisis has led to Sunnyland's proud independence from both towns while at the same time feeling ostracized. Its residents will defend it to the end, but how did this wonderful East Peoria/Washington hybrid get its start?

Farmers had been living in the area long before any organized development took place. Development of the Sunnyland area began in 1932. That year, George Doering of East Peoria purchased a forty-acre farm owned by George Stahl with the intention of laying out a residential addition.  Doering laid out a two-street addition (Doering Street and Stahl Street) and also opened a gas station on Route 8.  Doering Street was later renamed Cherry Street.  George Doering started to build houses for rent on the streets, as well as selling his lots for people to build their own.

Four years after Doering, in 1936, Albert Bruning of Joliet purchased a ninety-acre farm from Henry Esser adjoining the Doering addition to the east. Bruning called the area Sunnyland and sold out the lots as small farms. This addition included the streets Theodore, Berry, Albert, and later Esser and Loren. These small farms have been subdivided into a strictly residential neighborhood over time.

The residents of Washington itself didn’t quite understand these new additions.  Farming was one thing, but a residential subdivision in the middle of nowhere was a foreign concept to them.  It was editorialized in a 1937 Washington newspaper: “The houses are not so commodious.  We should think people would rather build in Washington, where so many more advantages are offered in every way.”

In 1938, two years after the Sunnyland addition was laid out, Bruning purchased another tract of land from farmer Adam Vohland, three miles west of Washington.  This 173-acre area was south of Route 24 and was originally known as “Gobbler’s Knob,” but later came to be known as Beverly Manor.  The “small farm” format was introduced, as it was with the Sunnyland addition, and subdivision of those original properties occurred here as well.

In the 1940s, the area's incorporation began to be discussed (including the Doering Park and Sunnyland additions, but not Beverly Manor).  Businesses had started to pop up, and the population had grown to around 900 people and 260 homes.  Incorporation would require a name change, as there was already a “Sunnyland” incorporated in Will County, Illinois.  Advantages included the power to levy taxes on the residents to improve infrastructure.  Opponents claimed that the increased taxation for village status would far outweigh any advantages, especially given the cost of purchasing a water system, which would run approximately $50,000.

On April 23, 1949, the residents took the first official vote on incorporation. It was defeated by a 265-105 margin, with 75% of eligible voters participating.

During the post-war construction boom, Caterpillar Tractor Company in East Peoria was growing rapidly.  That coincided with an explosion of development in Sunnyland, where hundreds of affordable homes were constructed in new subdivisions in the 1950s, filling in Route 24 on both sides from the western boundary of the township to Summit Drive.  Sunnyland housed a tremendous number of Caterpillar employees during that time, to the point that during the two-week Caterpillar vacation, Sunnyland businesses would be virtually dead and sometimes closed.

In 1960, W.G. Best and Carl Symmonds purchased a combined 180 acres from the Andrew Smith estate, which became Rolling Meadows and the Sunnyland Plaza.

In 1968, the incorporation issue was raised again, and it became a complicated issue that deeply divided the community.

Washington had publicly stated that annexing the area would be too expensive for them to consider at that time, mainly because the area needed a new sewer treatment plant.  Many Sunnylanders, already hurt by the impression Washington gave throughout its history by discounting it, saw this as just another example.

A faction of Sunnyland favored incorporation on its own, while another group favored annexation to East Peoria.  The debate raged on for months, with conflicting surveys and data to support every possible position.  One survey said that 75% of respondents were against annexation to East Peoria. The difference of opinion weakened those who were for incorporation because they needed strength in numbers to fight off the big cities surrounding them.

In August 1968, over 500 residents of Doering Park and Melrose Park signed a petition to annex to East Peoria.  After months of discussion and legal wrangling, East Peoria annexed this area and its 750 residents in early 1969.

This move awakened city officials in Washington, but they were still not in a position to annex any property.  Their only recourse was to offer support by passing a resolution establishing a sanitary sewer district for the area. These actions showed concern for the area, a concern heretofore lacking among Washington officials. The City Planning Commission and the Washington High School Board of Education passed similar resolutions.

In 1969, developer Howard Spurgeon muddied the waters by circulating a petition in the “Old Sunnyland” area (between the area annexed to East Peoria and Summit Drive) to connect people to his private sewer utility.  There was also a petition circulating in that area to follow the Doering Park/Melrose Park lead and annex to East Peoria.

In July 1969, East Peoria City Attorney Carl Reardon petitioned to annex the “Old Sunnyland” area.  East Peoria was moving quickly and bullishly, wanting to force the people to make a choice, which they did, and most of the area became East Peoria.

This annexation was the last straw for Washington.  In 1970, they begrudgingly headed west and annexed part of Hillcrest subdivision, Felkers Addition, and Beverly Manor subdivision.

In 1971, Washington was on the move again, looking to go west of School Street, annexing Faith Lutheran Church and the General Telephone building. By 1973, it had annexed the Rolling Meadows subdivision.

In 1978, the Colonial Manor subdivision, north of Rolling Meadows, was first brought forth for approval.  Originally, access to this area was limited to Rolling Meadows itself, but through conversations with city officials, it was agreed that Lexington Drive would connect to School Street and, later, Summit Drive.   Later in the year, it was annexed to the city, along with Sunnyland Plaza.

In retrospect, it seems that the failure of the most logical solution, complete annexation to Washington, left the area with no solutions that were appealing.  The residents were in Washington Township, and their students attended Washington schools, but the city of Washington either didn’t want to or was not financially able to complete the annexation.  In recent years, Washington has shown a greater interest in Sunnyland with the revitalization of Sunnyland Plaza, while East Peoria has done very little to revitalize its area.