Tag Archives: Ft. Sheridan

Twenty-eight miles north of Chicago, Highwood was home to a large, Italian-immigrant community from the early 20th century up to the late 1980s. Many families from our home province of Modena settled there. As is usually the case in mass immigration, it started with families calling connected families, who in turned called others to their new home. Highwood was a place that offered plentiful job opportunities for men with trade backgrounds — that was because of Fort Sheridan. Fort Sheridan was home to the United States Fifth Army, a base supporting 5,000 military and civilian personnel at its peak. It …