Perhaps the most enduring memories of Diamond Lake in Mundelein are of summer days gone by, when scores of frolicking visitors from Chicago and elsewhere enjoyed the resorts, dance pavilions and other lakefront attractions.
A special exhibition, “Lost and Found Artifacts of Diamond Lake,” is being extended through next year at the Mundelein Heritage Museum.
Brian Hill/[email protected]
Indeed, a rail spur line at one point ran to the southern shore to accommodate visitors, and the area that eventually became the far south side of Mundelein has a colorful history as a destination for recreation, entertainment and more.
But there is more to see and know about the spring-fed lake, carved by retreating glaciers about 14,000 years ago.
That history is now on display through “Lost and Found Artifacts of Diamond Lake,” a special exhibit at the Mundelein Heritage Museum.
Pendants are among the items on display as part of “Lost and Found Artifacts of Diamond Lake” at the Mundelein Heritage Museum. The items are on loan from John Hynds, a retired firefighter who’s located dozens of artifacts in and along the lake.
Brian Hill/[email protected]
The exhibit includes arrow points, hand tools, belt buckles, oar locks, coins, keys, jewelry, vintage bottles and an array of other items metal-detector enthusiast John Hynds has uncovered from the shore and lake bottom.
While the compact museum housed in a renovated former rail station long has had images and memorabilia focused on Diamond Lake’s dance hall days, the special display of items on loan from Hynds has been so popular it is being extended through next year.
John Hynds, a retired firefighter and metal-detector enthusiast, has pulled hundreds of items from Diamond Lake in Mundelein.
Courtesy of Mundelein Heritage Museum
“It takes you through the eras and some of the key points,” said Mike Flynn, president of the Mundelein Historical Commission. “We have a lot of people coming by just to see this. Everybody finds it fascinating.”
John Hynds, a retired firefighter and metal detector enthusiast, discusses the items he has pulled from Diamond Lake in Mundelein, now part of a special exhibit at the Mundelein Heritage Museum.
Brian Hill/[email protected]
Hynds, a retired Hoffman Estates firefighter, took up metal detecting as a hobby in 2017.
“The more success (I had), the more I wanted to find better and older things,” he said.
A longtime resident of Sylvan Lake in unincorporated Fremont Township, Hynds said he was a former lake manager and big into fishing and ecology. About five years ago, he happened upon the book “Our Gem: A History and Stewardship Guide for Diamond Lake,” and decided to try his skills there.
John Hynds has pulled hundreds of items from Diamond Lake in Mundelein. A special exhibition, “Lost and Found Artifacts of Diamond Lake,” is being extended through next year at the Mundelein Heritage Museum.
Brian Hill/[email protected]
Early on, he unearthed an 1860s button from a Union Civil War coat.
He later found a pocket watch thought to have belonged to John Singer, of the Singer sewing machine family. Singer in the 1890s converted a home into a resort on the lake’s east shore, near what is now a public beach operated by the Mundelein Park & Recreation District.
Some of the Civil War-era buttons that John Hynds has pulled Diamond Lake in Mundelein.
Brian Hill/[email protected]
“This is where the archaeology came in,” Hynds said. “That really piqued my interest.”
He began accumulating a variety of items, including some dating to the mid-1800s.
“I never know what I’m going to find. That’s the fun part and I learn about history that way,” Hynds said. “It’s like an archaeological dig to learn who was where and what they were doing.”
Hynds said he knew of the Mundelein Heritage Museum but had never visited. As his number of Diamond Lake finds multiplied, he decided that time had come.
“He brought a couple of things just to show us. We said, ‘Wow.’” Flynn recalled.
Curated by historical commission member Barb Zander to include explanatory text, the exhibit represents a visual record demonstrating how native people, current and past residents, and visitors have utilized and flourished on the 153-acre lake.
So far, Hynds has focused his searches from the boat house at the public beach north and east to the former Singer resort site.
“I haven’t gone to the other parts (of the lake) but I plan on it,” he said.
The museum at 601 Noel Drive is open to the public from 4 to 7 p.m. Wednesdays and 1 to 4 p.m. Saturdays. It closes for the season Dec. 14 and will reopen in mid-March. There is no admission charge.
A bottle made for the Singer family and found by John Hynds is on display as part of the “Lost and Found Artifacts of Diamond Lake,” exhibit at the Mundelein Heritage Museum.
Brian Hill/[email protected]