When it comes to Hinsdale history, Mary Sterling wrote the book.
Actually, make that three books. Sterling, a longtime Hinsdale Historical Society volunteer, recently finished “Hinsdale Historic Homes,” a two-volume series of vignettes on village residences and their owners. The books will be published in soft cover later this month.
Earlier, Sterling and her son, Tom, an attorney, collaborated on “Hinsdale and the World: One Hundred Years,” now in its second printing.
“Hinsdale has a fascinating history,” said Sterling, who will sign books and chat about bygone days at a Mayslake Landmark Conservancy fundraiser Oct. 29 at the Hinsdale Community House. “For years, it was what I like to call a village of bankers and bakers, where people of all financial backgrounds lived side by side and thrived.”
Sterling, who moved to Hinsdale in 1968 as a young newlywed, began researching homes more than a decade ago to raise funds for the Historical Society. She has researched nearly 120 houses to date.
For Sterling, the families who lived in a home often are as interesting as a house’s architectural features. One of her favorite figures in Hinsdale history is Deming H. Preston, a bank president, community leader and squirrel fancier.
In 1903, concerned by an apparent lack of squirrels in Hinsdale, Preston persuaded Village Board members to declare the creatures a protected species. The banker then arranged for large quantities of gray and fox squirrels to be shipped to Hinsdale by rail from Texas and Colorado, according to Sterling, who learned of Preston’s pro-squirrel crusade through a vintage newspaper report.
Sterling preferred to remain upbeat about Hinsdale houses and their owners.
“Actually, my favorite source of information on people is old newspaper obituaries,” Sterling said. “They give you such a positive view of a person’s life.”
