(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Saturday marks the 175th anniversary of the Chicago Board of Education buying the farm that eventually became the Chicago High School for Agricultural Sciences.
The property on the city’s Southwest Side is the last working farm in the city. Educators spent $79 on the property, near 111th and Pulaski, in an 1846 sheriff's auction.
Despite financial challenges over the years, the board resisted selling the farm, where the Ag School opened in 1985.
Principal William Hook said the school provides unique opportunities for city teens to learn where food comes from and to discover career paths they might never have considered.
“We don’t produce very many farmers,” he said. “But we do produce a lot of graduates who go on into careers in agricultural industry.”
Hook said the farm also gives people a unique opportunity to see a part of the Chicago that has remained unchanged.
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