For many years, summer block parties have been in Riverside to introduce residents to newcomers and to renew friendships. They are most beloved by the children who delight in a chance to ride their bikes and play in the forbidden streets, closed to traffic during the block party.

An example of a midsummer block party with historic names is the one on Sunday, Aug. 3, hosted by Mary Carol Creadon Murphy and her husband, Dan. The Murphy family lives at the far western edge of historic Lawton Road, which is named after the Laughton family, the first settlers in this village in 1836, and the historic Laughton Tavern so important in the western movement in the mid-1800s.

According to “Riverside Then and Now,” the first stagecoach route from Chicago to St. Louis ran by way of Laughton’s Tavern in Riverside. David Laughton received a grant on Jan. 29, 1833, for a quarter section now known as Riverside’s First Division. Whether Barney Laughton’s tavern was placed here, there or elsewhere, the important fact is that the Laughton Tavern was somewhere in the area now known as Riverside.

Sometime after 1869, a home was built for the Ronan family at 220 Lawton Road, which became the site of the Creadon Dairy Farm. Francis and Lawrence Creadon were raised on that farm, their descendants still remain in the village of Riverside. That brings full circle the Laughton and Creadon families, and the historic melding of those two families at the Aug. 3 Block Party.

What makes a name live in history?

Many names of historic people live in the Chicago area, notably the Eisenhower Expressway, the Stevenson Expressway, the Dan Ryan Expressway (named after the former county commissioner) and the Kennedy Expressway.

Then there are others, well known around the world. One of these is Al Capone, but nary a street or building has been named for him.

Frederick Law Olmsted lent his name to a street, Olmsted Road, but his partner, Calvert Vaux, was never honored. Gage Road is named after David Gage, who sold the 1,600 acres he owned in Riverside to the Riversider Improvement Co. The Gage Farm, for five or six years before to the Chicago Fire of 1871, was a popular rendezvous for fashionable Chicagoans.

All streets named after novelists were named by Olmsted to reflect his love of literature. Michaux Road is named after F. Andre Michaux, and Nuttall Road for Thomas Nuttall. Michaux was sent to this country by the French government to study its trees, and Nuttall finished his work. Addison Road is named for English essayist Joseph Addison, and Herbert Road is named for George Herbert, an English poet. Cowley Road remembers Abraham Cowley, another English poet.

Black Hawk Road and Scottswood Road were both named after an incident between the Indian Chief Black Hawk and General Winfield Scott. Black Hawk refused to give up his lands after a treaty was signed. Scott, and his 12 troops, ordered to rid the area of the “renegade” Black Hawk, rested his troops in the area known as “Scott’s Woods,” where the troops recovered from malaria. Bourbon Springs, an early name for the area, was used to cool the bourbon and lemons prescribed to bring the troops back to health.

The Riverside Hotel was built under the direction of William T. Allen, Seneca Kimbark and Henry Seeley, but only the name of Kimbark is honored by a street name, Kimbark Road.

Ezra L. Sherman built his home in 1869. Among his descendants is Riversider Judy West Jisa. The Coonley family, Avery and his wife, Queene, were honored by a street named after them, and although the house at 181 Longcommon is known as the Schofield Gross residence, built by William LeBaron Jenney, it is no longer occupied by the Gross family, Schofield and his wife Sue, who now live on Lawton Road. Neither the Gross family nor the architect Jenney are honored by street names.

For a more complete history of the village of Riverside, its founders, pictures of important early residences and landmarks, visit the Riverside Public Library or the Riverside Historical Commission.

The history of North Riverside will be published later this month.