variety of social and literary clubs. Among these was the Wilmette Woman's Club, which was founded in 1891 as a reading club but quickly expanded to embrace a wide variety of philanthropic activities. Another was the Sunday Evening Supper Club, which would host such prominent speakers as William Jennings Bryan and Jane Addams. Referendums were held in 1894 and 1897 over whether Wilmette should seek to be annexed by neighboring Evanston. Proponents wanted to take advantage of Evanston's then superior fire, police, and water services, as well as Evanston Township High School. One annexation referendum lost by a vote of 168 to 165; three others also failed. Following the result of these votes, the village improved its own services. Among the efforts at improving the village's services was the construction of a central fire station in 1899. Paving of the village streets with specially made bricks began in earnest at this time, as well. New Trier High School, built in Winnetka but also drawing students from Wilmette, was opened in 1901. A series of new schools were built in the nineties to serve Wilmette's growing community. In 1892 an eight-classroom brick school building was built to house Central School, replacing the previous one-room structure. Logan school was opened in 1893 on Kline Street as a one-room school house. Its building would subsequently be expanded. Today, McKenzie Elementary School stands at the former site of Logan School. 20th century Early 20th century Sheridan Road opened on October 8, 1900. This opened up the North Shore to automobiles, providing a north-south arterial roadway along the lakeshore. In 1900, by a margin of 62 to 52, village residents approved a referendum to establish a free public library, thus establishing the Wilmette Public Library. In 1905, with the assistance of funds from Andrew Carnegie, the village was able to erect a new building for its library at the corner of Park and Wilmette Avenues. The North Shore Channel, which terminates in Wilmette, was a crucial part of the huge engineering and sanitary project to reverse the course of the Chicago River in order to carry Chicago's sewage away from Lake Michigan. In 1907, upon beginning construction of the North Shore Channel, Sanitary District of Chicago president Robert R. McCormick noted that the construction of the canal would ultimately create approximately twenty-two acres of landfill from excavated materials next to the mouth of the canal.