Lake Forest is a picturesque city built on the shores of Lake Michigan and has been home to Chicago's capitalist families, who developed estates around beautiful Lake Forest College. For over 150 years, the Lake Forest Central Business District has been the heart of the community.

In Downtown Lake Forest, Susan L. Kelsey and Shirley M. Paddock have assembled never-before-published photographs from personal collections, the estate of Griffith, Grant and Lackie, the City of Lake Forest, and others.