Landmarks: Palos Preserves get overdue attention in ‘biggest project ever’ in Cook County

There are plenty of scenic elements in the Palos area Forest Preserves — oak savanna forests where one can see through the trees, wet lowlands leftover from ice age glaciation and ravines eroded over thousands of years through the rolling hilltops of the Valparaiso moraine system.

But a 19th century barkeep operating an establishment not far from the town of South Mount Forest chose to focus on something different.

The Red Gate Tavern was situated across busy Archer Avenue from a...