(currently closed off) and watch his horses run. When tired of the fad of his stable, he disposed of his horses by holding an elaborate sale. The Doles lived in the mansion until the late 1890s when the property was sold to his son-in-law for $1.00. During the early 1900s, the property was owned and operated by several different ice companies. Ice was harvested from Crystal Lake and shipped by rail to nearby Chicago. The advent of refrigeration brought about the decline of the ice business. After laying vacant for several years, the property was sold in 1922 to the Lake Development Company. The building was purchased by the First Congregational Church of Crystal Lake in 1977. The annex portion of the structure was renovated by thousands of hours of volunteer work. The Church named the facility “Lakeside Center” and operated it as a community activities center, hosting Friendship House Day Care Center for children, church offices, meeting rooms, reception hall, and retreat facilities. Today the Dole Mansion is owned by the Lakeside Legacy, along with Lakeside center, which is the building connected to the Dole Mansion. Dole Mansion is located along the lake, and there is a festival held on the grounds every year. Eliza Ringling Ringling Road is an east-west road which curves from Country Club Road back up to Lake Avenue. There are less than one dozen houses that claim a Ringling Road address; but those houses range from a small, stone cottage to large, imposing mansions. It is no mistake that Ringling Road provides the northern boundary for the Dole Mansion property. The road was named after Eliza "Lou" Ringling who, as founder of the Lake Development Company, purchased the Dole Mansion in 1922 and converted it into the first Crystal Lake Country Club. The transaction involved nearly a half million dollars and was one of the largest real estate deals handled in the area. The original Crystal Lake Country Club faltered in the stock market crash of 1929, and Mrs. Ringling, with her group of investors (the Lake Development Company) subdivided much of the large Dole estate into what is known as the Country Club Additions subdivision parts of which are in the neighboring village Lakewood, Illinois. Eliza "Lou" Ringling was the widow of the oldest Ringling brother, Albert, of circus fame. Teco pottery The American Terra Cotta Tile and Ceramic Company was founded in