1775 Vista Walk
Hoffman Estates, IL 60169, USA

Sunderlage Farm Smokehouse - National Register of Historic Places

Statement of Significance:

The Sunderlage Smokehouse is the only surviving physical reminder In Hoffman Estates of the period of American history which Is characterized by largely self-sufficient homesteaders who settled on the rich farmland of northern Illinois. The contribution of these pioneers can be more clearly understood and appreciated by today's citizens when buildings such as this one is preserved and maintained.

The preservation of meat by smoking has been practiced for centuries. Prior to the Invention of refrigeration. It was one of the few techniques available for the preservation of meat. Smokehouses were fairly common throughout the eastern half of the United States and many are preserved today.5 They were constructed of various materials including stone, logs and lumber, as well as brick. Other "smokehouses" can be found in northeastern Illinois. For example, a rural survey conducted by the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency revealed a total of 44 "smokehouses" In nearby Kane County. However, there Is little evidence to Indicate that these buildings are still used as smokehouses. Another study^ indicates that most surviving "smokehouses' are in very poor repair. If not actually dilapidated. Many are now used as storage buildings. The Sunderlage Smokehouse has not suffered this kind of distress.

Smokehouses were, and some still are, used for curing and storing meat. The process of smoking preserves the meat and improves the flavor by exposure to the chemical creosote, which results from Imperfect combustion of wood. In order to facilitate this process, a smokehouse must be designed to permit careful control of the fire which must be regulated so as to give off the greatest amount of smoke. Windows and doors must be tightly fitted and operable in a manner which permits just the right amount of air for proper burning of the wood fuel. The Sunderlage Smokehouse was designed in that manner with a tightly fitted door in the gable end and Interior shutters on the windows, which permitted control of ventilation during the smoking process. These shutters could be opened to provide light during the storage phase. Meat was hung over smoldering fires for a period of several days and then stored, usually in the smokehouse, for later consumption. Evidence of this process Is clearly evident In the Sunderlage Smokehouse. The fire pit, smoke hood, and timbers with Iron pins for hanging the meat have all survived. The chimney flue was fitted with a damper to control the flow of smoke and ensure that the smoke filled the entire Interior space and thoroughly permeated the meat. Years of use have permanently marked the inferior with alternate layers of black soot and whitewash on the walls and ceiling. The Sunderlage Smokehouse remains an excellent example of how farm families used a specially designed structure for preserving meat by smoking. Modern agricultural activities no longer include this activity, even in areas where farming is still the principal means of livelihood.

The Sunderlage Farm, with Its farmhouse and smokehouse, provides the only extant example of the early history of the Village of Hoffman Estates. It Is the oldest remaining homestead in the area, which includes Schaumburg Township of Cook County, Illinois, an area which has been Intensively developed in the past two decades. It is the only property in the Village of Hoffman Estates set aside as a park which retains some evidence of the heritage of an early Illinoi s settlement. The original farmhouse on the same property has recently been adapted as a Village Cultural Center. The other farm buildings have been either removed or altered and only the smokehouse remains intact and in near original condition. The Sunderlage Smokehouse is an essentially unaltered example of utilitarian and vernacular architecture.

1. This blending of stylistic elements often occurred due to various pattern books published in the mid-nineteenth century which were copied in part by local builders.
2. The smokehouse Is believed to have been built circa 1856 by Hiram Thurston, then the president of Palatine, Illinois. This Information has been provided by Mrs. Marilyn Lind, President of the Poplar Creek Historical Society and resident of Hoffman Estates, Illinois.
3. Research In 1977 concerning the Sunderlage Farmhouse established Its date of construction as 1856. Its present form, however. Is the result of Its adaptation as a local civic cultural center. Many "improvements" made in the late 19th and early 20th centuries have been removed and It has been returned to a condition closely approximating that of a 19th century farmhouse. It Is used for small community events. The entire 1.59-acre farmstead site. Including the smokehouse site. Is now a village park.
4. Hoffman Estates today Is totally developed. No farmland or farm buildings, other than those of the Sunderlage Farm, have survived.
5. Kauffman, Henry J. The American Farmhouse. Hawthorne Books, Inc., New York, N.Y.: 1975, pp. 221-230. An excellent, well-Illustrated text covering smokehouses of the same general type as the Sunderlage Smokehouse.
6. Weir, Elizabeth. Smokehouses. Springfield, Illinois: 1974. This paper reviews twelve smokehouses in Illinois, only four of which were built of brick.
7. Noble, Allen G. Wood, Brick, and Stone, The North American Settlement Landscape, Volume 2: Barns and Structures. University of Massachusetts Press, Amherst: 19^4, pp. 88-90. An excellent discussion of the design and function of farm smokehouses. easterly on the south line of said lot two, a distance of 373.92 ft., said line having an assumed bearing of north 85°-55'-ll " east; thence southerly perpendicular to the las t described course, on a bearing of south 4°-04'-49" east, a distance of 75.0 ft. to the point of beginning; thence continuing south 4°-04'-49" east, a distance of 95-0 ft. to the north line of Poplar Creek Club Homes Unit No. Three, according to the plat thereof recorded June 17, 1985 as Document No. 85063430; thence, south 85°-55'-11" west on the aforementioned north line of Poplar Creek Club Homes Unit No. Three a distance of 130.0 ft.; thence north 85°-55'-ll " east, a distance of 130.0 ft. to the point of beginning, all In Cook County, Illinois.