of Colonel. It is unclear exactly how Hodgkins' name came to replace Gary as the village's moniker. Throughout its history, Hodgkins has been known by several different names. In the years before settlers began to arrive, the Potawatomi people lived in the area near the Des Plaines River. From 1836 transient workers were brought to the area to work on the I&M Canal; however, it was not until 1860, when the United States government deeded property to a local settler, Hurls Polk, that the name "Polk" was given to the area. When the Santa Fe Depot was built in 1887, the name of the stop was "Novak". By 1890, the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad listed the stop in present-day Hodgkins as "Gary". this designation would stick until July 1, 1896, when the village of Hodgkins was incorporated. Quarrying continues today at the Vulcan Materials Company McCook Quarry, with a total of in Hodgkins and McCook. Immanuel Lutheran Church Thoughts of organizing a Lutheran congregation at Hodgkins were entertained as far back as the 1880s. At that time there were several Lutheran families living in what would later be the village of Hodgkins who were members of the Lutheran churches of La Grange (St. John) and Willow Springs (Trinity). A local merchant named John Witsan organized a Sunday school in Hodgkins about this same time. The development of the Sunday school amplified, for the Lutheran families, the inconvenience of sending their children to the Lutheran day schools and Sunday schools in La Grange and Willow Springs, and thoughts of a stand-alone congregation in Hodgkins began to materialize. Two representatives from the Lutheran churches in La Grange and Willow Springs, Reinhardt Leu and Henry Bloedorn, approached Reverend Alex Ullrich of LaGrange with the proposition of establishing a Lutheran congregation in Hodgkins. A conference was held after this meeting with Reverend Herman Meyer of Willow Springs. Reverend Meyer was strongly in favor of the movement and immediately set about to conduct the first Lutheran worship services in Hodgkins, in the old Village Hall in the spring of 1911. On April 23, 1911, twenty-six men gathered together in the same hall, along with Reverend Ullrich and Reverend Meyer, and formally organized Immanuel Evangelical Lutheran Church of Hodgkins, Illinois. The newly formed congregation adopted a constitution and called Reverend Meyer as its pastor. Reverend Ullrich was called as the assistant pastor. Fire protection