Haish Estate Now History

The below article was printed in the December 2, 1959, edition of the DeKalb Daily Chronicle:

Haish Estate Now History
- - -
Last Large Holding of Industrialist Changes Hands

The once sprawling real estate empire of Jacob Haish, DeKalb industrialist and pioneer who died February 19, 1926, passed quietly into history about 11 a.m. Tuesday.

The deed to the last piece of real estate remaining in the estate --- the big Haish farm on Annie Glidden Road just north of DeKalb --- was quietly passed to Joseph Katz of DeKalb by attorneys for the sole surviving trustee of the estate, P.A. Nehring.

Katz purchased the farm at auction September 24 for a record price of $1,035 an acre, or $277,380 for the entire farm. This was approved by Circuit Judge Mel Abrahamson of Naperville October 30.

The deed was exchanged for the final check in the offices of the Chicago Title & Trust Company in Sycamore shortly before noon Tuesday.

Katz said that he planned to start subdividing portions of the farm as soon as practicable, but would also continue to operate the farm as a farm until it is sub-divided or otherwise disposed of in some manner.

The first step in the subdividing of the estate will be about 15 acres in the extreme southeast corner of the big farm which lies adjacent to the city of DeKalb near the north end of Normal Road.

Katz said that this block of land which extends west along the south line of the farm and will be about three streets wide to the north will be subdivided immediately as soon as annexation problems to DeKalb, the DeKalb Sanitary District, and zoning problems are settled.

The area will be called Rolling Meadows and will contain around 50 to 60 homes.

For the present, traffic from the new subdivision will be by way of Normal Road, although Katz said he had future plans for extending Hillcrest Drive westwards to the area and ultimately to Annie Glidden Road.

Katz discussed his plans with the DeKalb City Plan Commission Tuesday night, but purely in a preliminary stage. He said plans were not sufficiently developed to make a definite announcement.