The Riverside Historical Commission on March 9 unveiled a new exhibit of 39 photographs of the village, titled “Images of Riverside,” at the Riverside Historical Museum’s main center in the east well house, 10 Pine Ave., in Centennial Park in downtown Riverside.
Commissioners dedicated the exhibit, which will be on display indefinitely, to the late Judith Cizek, who was the Riverside Historical Commission’s chairwoman from 2009 until her death in December 2013.
The photos were selected from the book Images of America: Riverside, published by Arcadia Books in 2012 and written by Lonnie Sacchi and Constance Guardi.
Guardi, who was named chairwoman of the Historical Commission in January, and commission member Kim Jacobs selected the photos from the book to be used in the exhibit. The enlarged images were reproduced by Diane Ruzevich.
“We wanted to show a range of what’s in the book,” said Guardi.
The photos are grouped roughly into categories, including sports and education, early Riverside, local disasters, businesses, interesting characters and, in honor of this winter, several snow scenes.
Among the more notable images in the exhibit are shots of long-forgotten Fourth of July traditions, a photo of the inside of Henninger Drugs when it was located in what is now Riverside Plumbing on Longcommon Road, a photo of the train station after it was demolished by a runaway train, the old “calaboose” where policeman Charlie Lang would temporarily lock up kids if they misbehaved, and the Gypsy camp in Lyons.
The Riverside Historical Museum is open Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. or by appointment. For more information contact the museum at 708-447-2542.
—Bob Uphues
