Park Forest (meteorite)

Park Forest Plaza was a shopping center located in the planned community of Park Forest, Illinois, United States, that opened in 1949. The center was developed by Philip M. Klutznick, (1907-1999), who was also a prominent leader in the national Jewish community and later served as U.S. Secretary of Commerce under 39th President Jimmy Carter. The architects were Loebl, Schlossman and Bennett.Park Forest Plaza was one of the first major regional shopping centers in the United States of the post-World War II era and it served as the downtown to the adjacent village. Klutznick followed many of same principles and concepts in architecture, land use and design espoused by nationally famous developer James W. Rouse (1914-1996) of Baltimore. The distinctive clock tower in the open courtyard became the symbol of both the shopping center and the village. The grass and tree-lined courtyard gave the center an airy attractiveness which was popular much of the year. The mall was anchored by a Marshall Field's, Sears, and Goldblatt's department storesCompetition from a new larger indoor mall in nearby Matteson, Illinois three decades later in the early 1970s ultimately doomed Park Forest Plaza. The mall did survive until 1996 when Field's closed and Sears moved to nearby Lincoln Mall. The village has now converted what was left to a "regular" downtown area with local services, including retail stores, a banquet hall, a cultural arts center, a dance studio, a movie theater, a senior residential community and the Village Hall. Single-family homes are also being built on the outskirts of the downtown area.

Park Forest is a village located south of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, with a small southern portion in Will County, Illinois, United States. The village was originally designed by Loebl Schlossman & Bennett as a planned community for veterans returning from World War II. As of the 2020 census, the village had a population of 21,687. Park Forest has multiple public and private schools. In addition to the arts and culture scene including Tall Grass Arts Association and the Illinois Theatre Center, residents also have access to a myriad of recreational opportunities for both children and adults such as the Park Forest Aqua Center. Notable people from Park Forest include the former artistic director of the Illinois Theatre Center, Etel Billig. Park Forest is bordered by Olympia Fields to the north, Chicago Heights to the east, University Park to the south, and Richton Park and Matteson to the west.

Sauk Trail Woods are located within the Cook County Forest Preserves in Park Forest and Chicago Heights, Illinois. They are part of the Thorn Creek Trail System. They contain miles of paved bike trails and off-trail dirt paths. Sauk Trail Woods contains Sauk Lake and Thorn Creek. The topography is fairly hilly, featuring ravines and steep, eroded hillsides. The elevation is the highest on the outskirts of the preserve. Then, as one goes into the Thorn Creek River Valley, you descend steep hills and sandy bluffs. There is an abundance of ravines that have been cut by creeks flowing into the valley. Many of the ravines are surprisingly deep near the bottom of the valley. Most of the Sauk Trail Woods Preserve is covered by dense woods, however there are some open prairie areas. In the northwest section of the woods, there is a fairly large marsh, that is surrounded by thick pampas grass and shallow bogs. The woods are located on the Valparaiso Moraine, which accounts for the hilliness of the area. There are many parking lots with pavilions situated throughout the preserve.

Sauk Lake (also known as Sauk Trail Lake) is a small, freshwater lake located in Cook County, Illinois, between the municipalities of Park Forest, Illinois and Chicago Heights, Illinois. It is an enlarged portion of Thorn Creek created by a dam on the south side of 26th Street, which borders the lake to the north. It is surrounded by steep, sandy bluffs on the east and west sides. It lies within the Sauk Trail Woods Forest Preserve. Fish in this lake include yellow and black bullhead, bluegill, crappie, largemouth bass, channel catfish and common carp. Ice fishing is not allowed on the lake.

Thorn Creek Woods Nature Center and Preserve is located in Will County, Illinois, near the municipality of Park Forest, Illinois. It is part of the Forest Preserve District of Will County. The entranceway to Thorn Creek Woods Nature Preserve is located at 247 Monee Road, approximately 0.25-mile (400 m) north of Stunkel Road, in Park Forest. The preserve is open 8:00 a.m. - dusk daily; the Nature Center is open 12:00 - 4:00 p.m. Friday- Sunday. At 830 acres (3.4 km2), Thorn Creek Nature Preserve lies at the headwaters of Thorn Creek and consists of bottomlands, ravines, and white-oak forests interspersed with marsh and meadows. The actual nature center is located inside of an old church right off Monee Road. It is two stories and contains a nature library and nature exhibits. The trail starts behind the church and heads east into the woods. The topography varies. The trail starts off on high land before dropping down into the Thorn Creek River Valley. It then crosses the creek and goes up and out of the valley, again. The terrain is pretty rugged, especially near the river and its tributaries, because they have cut many gorges and ravines.

Matteson is one of two commuter rail stations along the Main Branch of the Metra Electric line which serve Matteson, Illinois. It is located at 215th and Main Streets, and is 28.2 miles (45.4 km) away from the northern terminus at Millennium Station. In Metra's zone-based fare system, Matteson station is in zone F. As of 2018, Matteson is the 86th busiest of Metra's 236 non-downtown stations, with an average of 591 weekday boardings.Matteson station was the terminus of the IC Electric line until 1946, when it was extended to Richton Park, in order to bring the cars closer to the south end of the "IC Electric" coach storage yard. Originally built in 1863, and rebuilt in 1912, it was the southernmost station to be built before the line was electrified in 1926. Matteson is built on elevated tracks near the embankment of a bridge over Front Street. This bridge also carries the Amtrak line that runs parallel to it, carrying the City of New Orleans, Illini, and Saluki trains. Parking is available on both sides of the tracks on the south side of Front Street and a parallel bicycle path. The west side parking lot is along Main Street between the Front Street and Main Street bridges, while the larger east side parking lot is within the Village of Matteson but is actually operated by the Village of Park Forest and located on the corner of North Street, Homan Avenue, and Front Street. A pedestrian tunnel which runs beneath the tracks, is also elevated and has staircases on each end connects the two parking lots. No bus connections are available at this station, but the Old Plank Road Trail offers a human-powered right-of-way going east and west. There is evidence of another island platform to the east of the current platform. This served the IC long-distance trains on a non-electrified double track line—the same tracks used by Amtrak today.

211th Street (Lincoln Highway) is a commuter rail station along the Main Branch of the Metra Electric line in Olympia Fields, Illinois. It is located at 211th Street between Olympian Way and Olympian Circle, and is 27.6 miles (44.4 km) away from the northern terminus at Millennium Station. In Metra's zone-based fare system, 211th Street station is in zone F. As of 2018, the station is the 95th busiest of Metra's 236 non-downtown stations, with an average of 527 weekday boardings. This station actually straddles three cities. The northern part of the platform and northern parking lot lies in Olympia Fields, the eastern parking lot in Park Forest, and the western parking lot and bus station in Matteson. The station is named after both of the names for US 30 in Park Forest; Lincoln Highway, and 211th Street. The only other station to be given two street names in one is 147th Street (Sibley Boulevard). 211th Street is built on elevated tracks near the embankment of a bridge over US 30. This bridge also carries the Amtrak line that runs parallel to it, carrying the City of New Orleans, Illini, and Saluki trains. Parking is available on westbound US 30 between the railroad bridge and Olympian Way, and along eastbound US 30 on the southeast corner of the bridge, which is accessible from Homan Avenue via Indiana Street in Park Forest.

Richton Park is the penultimate station along the main branch of the Metra Electric line, in Richton Park, Illinois. It is located on Sauk Trail, east of Governor's Highway, and is 29.3 miles (47.2 km) away from the northern terminus at Millennium Station. In Metra's zone-based fare system, Richton Park is in zone F. As of 2018, Richton Park is the 47th busiest of Metra's 236 non-downtown stations, with an average of 1,059 weekday boardings. The station has two tracks and one island platform, with one of the tracks ending at the station. Richton Park was originally built by the Illinois Central Railroad in 1946, in order to be in close proximity to the south end of the "IC Electric" coach storage yard. It served as the terminus of the line until 1977, when the Illinois Regional Transportation Authority funded the construction of University Park station. Today, Richton Park station is a far more modern-looking structure. Parking is available on Sauk Trail between Governor's Highway and Richton Square Road, on Richton Road, Mill Drive, and along Tower Road.

The 1933 Women's Western Open was a golf competition held at Olympia Fields Country Club, the 4th edition of the event. June Beebe won the championship in match play competition by defeating Jane Weiller in the final match, 3 and 2.

Olympia Fields is a village and a south suburb of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 4,718 as of the 2020 census. The municipality grew up around the prestigious Olympia Fields Country Club, originally established in 1915. Olympia Fields is noteworthy as one of the wealthiest and best educated, majority African-American communities in the United States. The village's zip code (60461) is one of three majority African American communities which rank among the top five percent in the U.S. for median household income and share of adults with college degrees, and Olympia Fields also has the highest black homeownership rate in the country among majority-black municipalities.

The 1961 PGA Championship was the 43rd PGA Championship, played July 27–31 at the North Course of Olympia Fields Country Club in Olympia Fields, Illinois, a suburb south of Chicago. Jerry Barber, age 45, won his only major title in an 18-hole Monday playoff by one stroke over Don January, 67 to 68. It was the fourth edition as a stroke play event and the first playoff.Rain washed out the second round on Friday afternoon with only about one-third of the field completing their rounds. The scores were scrapped and the second round was replayed on Saturday, with 36 holes on Sunday. Barber led at the midway point with a 136 (−4), two shots ahead of January and Doug Sanders. A top putter of the era, Barber sank 120 feet (37 m) of putts on the last three holes of the final round to erase a four-stroke deficit to January and force a Monday playoff. At the 72nd hole, January had a two-stroke lead, but put his tee shot into the sand. With Barber on the green but an improbable 60 feet (18 m) away, January played conservatively for the bogey. Barber drained his third lengthy putt in as many holes (birdie-par-birdie) to even it up at the end of regulation.In the playoff, the two were tied at three-under after 16 holes, following January's birdie. Both had pars at the 17th, which effectively turned the 18th hole into sudden-death. Both tee shots found fairway bunkers, and Barber hit a 3-iron onto the green, 18 feet (5.5 m) from the cup. January found another bunker short of the green and could not save par from 15 feet (4.6 m).At age 45, Barber became the oldest winner of the PGA Championship, whose previous champions were all under age 40, with several at age 39. At the time, the only older major winner was Old Tom Morris at age 46 in 1867. Barber was surpassed in 1968 by Julius Boros at age 48. It was the third major championship at Olympia Fields Country Club; it previously hosted the PGA Championship in 1925 (Courses 3 & 4) and the U.S. Open in 1928 (Course 4). The four 18-hole courses at Olympia Fields were reduced to two in the 1940s when the club sold half of its property. Course 4 became the North course, and the South course is a composite of holes form the other three. The North Course later hosted the U.S. Open in 2003, won by Jim Furyk.

The 2003 United States Open Championship was the 103rd U.S. Open, held June 12–15 at the North Course of Olympia Fields Country Club in Olympia Fields, Illinois, a suburb south of Chicago. Jim Furyk won his only major championship, three shots ahead of runner-up Stephen Leaney. With a total score of 272, Furyk tied the record for the lowest 72-hole score in U.S. Open history, also achieved in 2000, 1993 and 1980 (and since lowered to 268 in 2011). Another record was equalled by Vijay Singh, who tied Neal Lancaster's 9-hole record of 29 on the back nine of his second round. This was the fourth major held at Olympia Fields; it hosted the U.S. Open in 1928 and the PGA Championship in 1925 and 1961.