Brad L. Bettenhausen This is Me

 View all 78 references Web References

1. 1. Village of Tinley Park

   www.tinleypark.org/government/ - [Cached]

   Published on: 6/29/2008   Last Visited: 6/29/2008

   Brad L. Bettenhausen: Treasurer

2. 2. Legend Behind 'ostentatious' Tinley Home May Not Be True

   www.bachelorsgrove.com/Archive - [Cached]

   Published on: 5/2/2003   Last Visited: 7/3/2008

   That's according to one of Tinley Park's foremost regional historians, Brad L. Bettenhausen.He has spent years, off and on, researching aspects of its history.
   
   Now leased for office suites, the two-story brick structure is considered one of the finest examples of the Italianate style left in the south suburbs.
   
   "That building was an anomaly in the town because of its size, because of its design and because it's made of brick and limestone," said Bettenhausen, village treasurer and longtime president of the Tinley Park Historical Society.
   
   His work sets out to correct some faulty research done on the building over the years.
   ...
   Bettenhausen contends the house was built by John Lewis, a bachelor, or possibly by his brother Allen Cleveland Lewis, a widower.
   ...
   At various times, they owned more than 5,000 acres in Bremen, Frankfort, Orland, Rich and Worth townships, Bettenhausen said.
   ...
   Bettenhausen believes a railroad storage track near the house may have been used to haul materials to construct the house.
   
   "The limestone used in the foundation most likely came from Joliet, and the bricks from Blue Island, both on the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad line which passes through what is now Tinley Park," he wrote in an historical society article about the house.
   
   It was built at the major crossroads in town, where the railroad crossed a dirt road called Bachelor Grove Road, now Oak Park Avenue.
   
   "It's built like a large plantation home, and where it's built it's at a crossroads ... so anyone passing through town , coming on the railroad or by horse and wagon , would pass by and see how prosperous the owner was.It's a little ostentatious," Bettenhausen said.
   
   John Lewis had tax troubles that likely affected the new house, and at some point his brother bailed him out, Bettenhausen said.
   ...
   When the building was renovated into offices 11 years ago, Bettenhausen toured the interior and took photos.Though it was converted into a four-unit apartment building in 1912, many original features remained, and Bettenhausen found no structural evidence that it was a hotel.
   ...
   Oddly, Bettenhausen and local historians have been unable to find any early photos of the Vogt house.
   
   In the paper he wrote about the house, Bettenhausen cites other interesting tales:
   ...
   Bettenhausen said Tinley's former mayor, Kenneth Fulton, was born in the house.

3. 3. Village of Tinley Park

   www.tinleypark.org/government/ - [Cached]

   Last Visited: 6/29/2008

   Village Staff Liaison, Brad Bettenhausen