Ernest Houston Stewart and John Jurko purchased land around the creek and opened a dance hall in 1928.[4] It became a regular stop for acts during the Big Band era including Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey, Artie Shaw, Benny Goodman, Cab Calloway, Count Basie, and Duke Ellington.Famous gangsters of the era like John Dillinger may have even visited the ballroom.[5] Although the popular swimming lake was drained in 1979, Yankee Lake has been reinvented to host motocross races, a successful seafood buffet, classic rock concerts and a banquet hall.[4] According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 0.51 square miles (1.32 km2), all land.