Barrington, Illinois
Encyclopedia
Barrington is a suburban village in Cook County, Illinois
Cook County, Illinois
Cook County is a county in the U.S. state of Illinois, with its county seat in Chicago. It is the second most populous county in the United States after Los Angeles County. The county has 5,194,675 residents, which is 40.5 percent of all Illinois residents. Cook County's population is larger than...

 and Lake County, Illinois
Lake County, Illinois
Lake County is a county in the northeastern corner of the state of Illinois, on the shore of Lake Michigan. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 703,462, which is an increase of 9.2% from 644,356 in 2000. Its county seat is Waukegan. The county is part of the Chicago metropolitan area...

. The population was 10,327 at the 2010 census. Located approximately 32 miles (51.5 km) northwest of Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

, the area features wetlands, forest preserves
Nature reserve
A nature reserve is a protected area of importance for wildlife, flora, fauna or features of geological or other special interest, which is reserved and managed for conservation and to provide special opportunities for study or research...

, parks and horse trails in a country-suburban setting. The Barrington area ZIP code
ZIP Code
ZIP codes are a system of postal codes used by the United States Postal Service since 1963. The term ZIP, an acronym for Zone Improvement Plan, is properly written in capital letters and was chosen to suggest that the mail travels more efficiently, and therefore more quickly, when senders use the...

, 60010, is the seventh wealthiest ZIP code in the country among areas with a population of 20,000 or more.

Barrington is part of the Chicago metropolitan area and serves as the hub of activity for the surrounding 90 square miles (233.1 km²) region which consists of 7 independent villages including Barrington Hills
Barrington Hills, Illinois
Barrington Hills is a village located about northwest of Chicago in the U.S. state of Illinois. It straddles approximately over four counties, Cook, Kane, Lake, and McHenry. The population was 4,209 at the 2010 census...

, Lake Barrington
Lake Barrington, Illinois
Lake Barrington is a village in Lake County, Illinois, United States. The population was 4,757 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Lake Barrington is located at ....

, Port Barrington
Port Barrington, Illinois
Port Barrington is a village in Lake and McHenry Counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. It was formerly known as Fox River Valley Gardens. Fox River Valley Gardens' village board voted 4-3 in September 2002 to change the community's long-winded name to Port Barrington...

, North Barrington
North Barrington, Illinois
North Barrington is a village in Lake County, Illinois, United States. The population was 2,918 at the 2000 census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of , of which, of it is land and of it is water.-Neighborhoods:There are a few neighborhoods in...

, South Barrington
South Barrington, Illinois
South Barrington is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States south of Barrington, Illinois. The population was 3,760 at the 2000 census. South Barrington is a wealthy suburb of Chicago and home to the famous megachurch Willow Creek Community Church. The village is known throughout the area...

, and Tower Lakes
Tower Lakes, Illinois
Tower Lakes is a village in Lake County, Illinois, United States. The population was 1,310 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Tower Lakes is located at ....

, as well as small portions of Carpentersville
Carpentersville, Illinois
Carpentersville is a village in Kane County, Illinois, United States. The population was 30,586 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Carpentersville is located at ....

, Deer Park
Deer Park, Illinois
Deer Park is an affluent village in Lake and Cook Counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. The population was 3,200 at the 2010 census. The village is one of the few left in the Chicago area that enjoy a green belt which is bordered by two large natural areas providing outdoor recreation and open...

, Hoffman Estates
Hoffman Estates, Illinois
Hoffman Estates is a northwestern suburb of Chicago in Illinois. The village is located primarily in Cook County with a small section in Kane County, Illinois. As of the 2000 census, the village population was 49,495 and estimated to be 52,520 in 2003...

, and Inverness
Inverness, Illinois
Inverness is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States, near Chicago. The population was 6,749 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Inverness is located at ....

. The village's motto is "a great place to live, work, and play!"

Early history

The original settlers of the Barrington area were the indigenous peoples of the native American Prairie Potawatomi
Potawatomi
The Potawatomi are a Native American people of the upper Mississippi River region. They traditionally speak the Potawatomi language, a member of the Algonquian family. In the Potawatomi language, they generally call themselves Bodéwadmi, a name that means "keepers of the fire" and that was applied...

 or Mascoutin tribes, which later divided into the Potawatomi, Chippewa, and Ottawa
Odawa people
The Odawa or Ottawa, said to mean "traders," are a Native American and First Nations people. They are one of the Anishinaabeg, related to but distinct from the Ojibwe nation. Their original homelands are located on Manitoulin Island, near the northern shores of Lake Huron, on the Bruce Peninsula in...

 tribes. Many local roads still in use today, including Algonquin Road, Rand Road
U.S. Route 12
U.S. Route 12 or US 12 is an east–west United States highway, running from Grays Harbor on the Pacific Ocean, in the state of Washington, to downtown Detroit, for almost . As a thoroughfare, it has mostly been supplanted by I-90 and I-94, but remains an important road for local travel.The...

, Higgins Road, and St. Charles Road, were all originally Native American trails. For many years, Barrington was considered part of the Northwest Territory
Northwest Territory
The Territory Northwest of the River Ohio, more commonly known as the Northwest Territory, was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 13, 1787, until March 1, 1803, when the southeastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the state of Ohio...

, then the Illinois Territory
Illinois Territory
The Territory of Illinois was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 1, 1809, until December 3, 1818, when the southern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Illinois. The area was earlier known as "Illinois Country" while under...

.

19th Century

By treaty dated September 26, 1833 ending the Black Hawk War
Black Hawk War
The Black Hawk War was a brief conflict fought in 1832 between the United States and Native Americans headed by Black Hawk, a Sauk leader. The war erupted soon after Black Hawk and a group of Sauks, Meskwakis, and Kickapoos known as the "British Band" crossed the Mississippi River into the U.S....

, the Chippewa, Ottawa and Potawatomi tribes ceded to the United States all lands from the west shore of Lake Michigan
Lake Michigan
Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America and the only one located entirely within the United States. It is the second largest of the Great Lakes by volume and the third largest by surface area, after Lake Superior and Lake Huron...

 west to the area that the Winnebago
Ho-Chunk
The Ho-Chunk, also known as Winnebago, are a tribe of Native Americans, native to what is now Wisconsin and Illinois. There are two federally recognized Ho-Chunk tribes, the Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin and Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska....

 tribe ceded in 1832, north to the area that the Menominees had previously ceded to the United States, and south to the area previously ceded by an 1829 treaty at Prairie du Chien, a total of approximately 5000000 acres (20,234.3 km²). Through this treaty, the Sacs, Fox, Winnebago, Chippewa, Ottawa and Pottawatomi tribes ceded all title to the area east of the Mississippi River
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...

. Between 1833 and 1835, the U.S. Government paid approximately $100,000 in annuities and grants to the Potawatomi, Ottawa, and Chippewa tribes, presumably as payment for the land.

Following this treaty, pioneers traveling from Troy, New York
Troy, New York
Troy is a city in the US State of New York and the seat of Rensselaer County. Troy is located on the western edge of Rensselaer County and on the eastern bank of the Hudson River. Troy has close ties to the nearby cities of Albany and Schenectady, forming a region popularly called the Capital...

 via Fort Dearborn
Fort Dearborn
Fort Dearborn was a United States fort built in 1803 beside the Chicago River in what is now Chicago, Illinois. It was constructed by troops under Captain John Whistler and named in honor of Henry Dearborn, then United States Secretary of War. The original fort was destroyed following the Battle of...

 (newly renamed the city of Chicago) settled in what later became Cuba Township
Cuba Township, Lake County, Illinois
Cuba Township is a township in Lake County, Illinois, USA. As of the 2000 census, its population was 15,749. Cuba Township was originally named Troy Township, but was renamed at about the time of the Spanish American War.-Geography:...

 in Lake County
Lake County, Illinois
Lake County is a county in the northeastern corner of the state of Illinois, on the shore of Lake Michigan. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 703,462, which is an increase of 9.2% from 644,356 in 2000. Its county seat is Waukegan. The county is part of the Chicago metropolitan area...

. The first white
White people
White people is a term which usually refers to human beings characterized, at least in part, by the light pigmentation of their skin...

 pioneers
American pioneer
American pioneers are any of the people in American history who migrated west to join in settling and developing new areas. The term especially refers to those who were going to settle any territory which had previously not been settled or developed by European or American society, although the...

 known to have settled in Barrington township were Jesse F. Miller and William Van Orsdal of Steuben County
Steuben County, New York
Steuben County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2010 census, the population was 98,990. Its name is in honor of Baron von Steuben, a German general who fought on the American side in the American Revolutionary War, though it is not pronounced the same...

, New York, who arrived in 1834, before the three year period which had been given the Native Americans to vacate the region, and before local land surveys. Other settlers, primarily from Vermont
Vermont
Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...

, upper New York State and Berkshire County, Massachusetts
Berkshire County, Massachusetts
Berkshire County is a non-governmental county located on the western edge of the U.S. state of Massachusetts. As of the 2010 census, the population was 131,219. Its largest city and traditional county seat is Pittsfield...

, settled in what is now the northwest corner of Cook County
Cook County, Illinois
Cook County is a county in the U.S. state of Illinois, with its county seat in Chicago. It is the second most populous county in the United States after Los Angeles County. The county has 5,194,675 residents, which is 40.5 percent of all Illinois residents. Cook County's population is larger than...

.

The combined settlement of these pioneers, located at the intersection of Illinois Route 68
Illinois Route 68
Illinois Route 68 is an east–west state highway in northeast Illinois. It runs east from Illinois Route 72 in the Dundee area to the Interstate 94/U.S. Route 41 concurrency in Glencoe. This is a distance of ....

 and Sutton Road, was originally called Miller Grove due to the number of families with that surname but later renamed Barrington Center because it "centered" both ways from the present Sutton Road and from Algonquin and Higgins roads. Although residents and historians agree that the name Barrington was taken from Great Barrington
Great Barrington, Massachusetts
Great Barrington is a town in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 7,104 at the 2010 census. Both a summer resort and home to Ski Butternut, Great Barrington includes the villages of Van...

 in Berkshire County, Massachusetts
Berkshire County, Massachusetts
Berkshire County is a non-governmental county located on the western edge of the U.S. state of Massachusetts. As of the 2010 census, the population was 131,219. Its largest city and traditional county seat is Pittsfield...

, and that many settlers immigrated to the area from Berkshire County, there is currently no evidence that settlers emigrated from Great Barrington itself. In addition, several original settlers, including Miller, Van Orsdal, and John W. Seymour, emigrated from Steuben County, New York
Steuben County, New York
Steuben County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2010 census, the population was 98,990. Its name is in honor of Baron von Steuben, a German general who fought on the American side in the American Revolutionary War, though it is not pronounced the same...

, which also features a town named Barrington
Barrington, New York
Barrington is a town in Yates County, New York, United States. The population was 1,396 at the 2000 census.The Town of Barrington is located in the south part of the county and is south of Geneva, New York.- History :...

 founded in 1822. However, it is currently unknown whether any settlers emigrated from Barrington, New York itself or whether the New York settlement influenced the naming of Barrington, Illinois.
Much of the history of Barrington since its settlement parallels the development of railroad lines from Chicago's growing port facilities. The area's rich soil and ample water supply naturally attracted a growing number of farming families throughout the 1830s.
In 1854, the Chicago, St. Paul & Fond du Lac Railroad (now known as the Union Pacific/Northwest Line
Union Pacific/Northwest Line
The Union Pacific/Northwest is a commuter rail line provided by Metra and operated by the Union Pacific Railroad in Chicago, Illinois, and its surrounding suburbs...

), led by William Butler Ogden
William Butler Ogden
William Butler Ogden was the first Mayor of Chicago.Ogden was born in Walton, New York. When still a teenager, his father died and Ogden took over the family real estate business...

, extended the train line to the northwest corner of Cook County
Cook County, Illinois
Cook County is a county in the U.S. state of Illinois, with its county seat in Chicago. It is the second most populous county in the United States after Los Angeles County. The county has 5,194,675 residents, which is 40.5 percent of all Illinois residents. Cook County's population is larger than...

 and built a station named Deer Grove.

In 1854, Robert Campbell, a civil engineer working for the railroad, purchased a farm 2 miles (3.2 km) northwest of the Deer Grove station and platted a community there; he did not situate it near Barrington Center itself out of concerns that the railroad would bring too many saloons and Irish Catholics to the area. However, local Deer Grove residents protested, and at Campbell's request, the railroad later moved the Deer Grove station near its current location, which Campbell named Barrington after Barrington Center. In 1855, the village's first lumber
Lumber
Lumber or timber is wood in any of its stages from felling through readiness for use as structural material for construction, or wood pulp for paper production....

 facility began operations on Franklin Street.

By 1863, population growth during the Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

 era increased the number of Barrington residents to 300. In order to provide a tax mechanism to finance improvements, Barrington submitted its request for incorporation in 1863. Delays due to the Civil War resulted in the appropriate incorporation deeds not returning to Barrington for nearly two years. The Illinois legislature granted Barrington's charter on February 16, 1865. The Village held its first Board meeting on March 20, 1865 and appointed resident Homer Wilmarth as Mayor for one year.

"Lest we forget the fortitude, the fearless courage, the determination, the frugal living, the hard work with none of the facilities that are so abundant today, this history has been written as a record of the success of those who left the comforts of civilization in the East and came west to a wild country, and of those who came to America talking a strange language, having very little equipment but bare hands and willing hearts, to wrest from a wilderness or an uncultivated country a living for a large family in a land where they could enjoy freedom from oppression and from pursuit."
--Foreword
Foreword
A foreword is a piece of writing sometimes placed at the beginning of a book or other piece of literature. Written by someone other than the primary author of the work, it often tells of some interaction between the writer of the foreword and the book's primary author or the story the book tells...

 from Arnett C. Lines' "A History of Barrington, Illinois."

In 1866, resident Milius B. McIntosh became the first elected Village President. The village prospered as many Chicago grain merchants whose homes were destroyed in the Great Chicago Fire
Great Chicago Fire
The Great Chicago Fire was a conflagration that burned from Sunday, October 8, to early Tuesday, October 10, 1871, killing hundreds and destroying about in Chicago, Illinois. Though the fire was one of the largest U.S...

 of 1871 constructed opulent Queen Anne
Queen Anne Style architecture
The Queen Anne Style in Britain means either the English Baroque architectural style roughly of the reign of Queen Anne , or a revived form that was popular in the last quarter of the 19th century and the early decades of the 20th century...

-style residences along Barrington's tree-shaded streets.

In 1889, the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Railway (the "EJ&E") was built through Barrington, crossing what is now the Union Pacific/Northwest Line northwest of town. In the late nineteenth century, a series of fires damaged numerous downtown buildings. In 1890, fire swept along the north side of East Main Street east of what is now the Union Pacific/Northwest Line, destroying several buildings. In 1893, another fire destroyed most of the block that is now Park Avenue, and in 1898, a fire destroyed several buildings along the north side of Main Street from Hough Street to the Northwest Line railroad tracks. As a result of these fires, residents replaced the burned frame structures with more substantial brick and stone buildings, many of which remain in use today (albeit with substantially altered facades).

20th century

The village continued to serve agriculturally-based trading interests into the twentieth century, including dairy farming on the meadows and woodlots surrounding the community. At the beginning of the 1900s, the village streets were unpaved although the downtown area had wooden slat sidewalks, with some on elevated platforms. The downtown area also featured hitching post
Hitching post
A hitching post is a post to which a horse may be tethered to prevent it from straying. The term can also refer to:* The "hitching post", a contentious punishment in the case of Hope v...

s for tethering horses as well as public outhouses. Meanwhile, fenced residential backyards in the village often contained livestock and barnyard animals.

In 1907, the village began replacing its wooden sidewalks with cement pavement. Then, following World War I, a number of Chicago business leaders built their residences on large woodland tracts around the village, bringing an end to dairying. In 1929, the Jewel Tea Company built a new office, warehouse, and coffee
Coffee
Coffee is a brewed beverage with a dark,init brooo acidic flavor prepared from the roasted seeds of the coffee plant, colloquially called coffee beans. The beans are found in coffee cherries, which grow on trees cultivated in over 70 countries, primarily in equatorial Latin America, Southeast Asia,...

 roasting facility northeast of the village center, creating hundreds of local jobs despite the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...

.

After World War II, Barrington's large estate acreage, which tended to remain in family hands decade after decade, protected Barrington from the densely packed residential developments that came to neighboring communities in the 1950s and 1960s. As a result, Barrington's population grew very little—from 3,213 in 1930 to only 5,435 in 1960.

The last major fire in downtown Barrington occurred on December 19, 1989. The fire completely destroyed Lipofsky’s Department Store, then one of the oldest continually operating businesses in the village.

The Battle of Barrington

On November 27, 1934, a running gun battle between FBI
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...

 agents and Baby Face Nelson
Baby Face Nelson
Lester Joseph Gillis , known under the pseudonym George Nelson, was a bank robber and murderer in the 1930s. Gillis was known as Baby Face Nelson, a name given to him due to his youthful appearance and small stature...

 took place in Barrington resulting in the deaths of Special Agent
Special agent
Special agent is usually the title for a detective or investigator for a state, county, municipal, federal or tribal government. An agent is a worker for any federal agency, and a secret agent is one who works for an intelligence agency....

 Herman "Ed" Hollis
Herman Hollis
Herman Edward "Ed" Hollis was an American law enforcement official and Federal Bureau of Investigation special agent. As an FBI special agent in the 1930s, Hollis worked with agents Melvin Purvis, Samuel P. Cowley and others fighting bank robbers, gangsters and organized crime in the Chicago area...

 and Inspector Samuel P. Cowley
Samuel P. Cowley
Samuel P. Cowley was an agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation who was killed in the line of duty in a gunfight with Lester Gillis in 1934 on Route 14 in Barrington, Illinois....

. Nelson, though shot 9 times, escaped the gunfight in Hollis's car with his wife, Helen Gillis. Nelson succumbed from his wounds at approximately 8 p.m. that evening and was unceremoniously dumped near a cemetery in Niles Center (now Skokie), Illinois. Infamous for allegedly killing more federal agents than any other individual, Nelson was later buried at Saint Joseph Cemetery in River Grove, Illinois
River Grove, Illinois
River Grove is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 10,668 at the 2000 census.-Geography:River Grove is located at .According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of ....

. A plaque near the entrance to Langendorf Park, part of the Barrington Park District, commemorates the agents killed in the gunfight.

21st Century

In April 2009, in a non-binding referendum
Referendum
A referendum is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal. This may result in the adoption of a new constitution, a constitutional amendment, a law, the recall of an elected official or simply a specific government policy. It is a form of...

, residents voted in favor of permitting Barrington township
Township
The word township is used to refer to different kinds of settlements in different countries. Township is generally associated with an urban area. However there are many exceptions to this rule. In Australia, the United States, and Canada, they may be settlements too small to be considered urban...

 officials to begin looking into seceding from Cook County
Cook County, Illinois
Cook County is a county in the U.S. state of Illinois, with its county seat in Chicago. It is the second most populous county in the United States after Los Angeles County. The county has 5,194,675 residents, which is 40.5 percent of all Illinois residents. Cook County's population is larger than...

 in part to Cook County's increased sales tax, now the highest in the country. (See Government section below.) Today, Barrington and its nearby villages are considered to be some of the wealthiest in the country.

Opposition to Canadian National Railway Purchase of EJ&E Railway

Since 2008, Barrington has made national news for its opposition to the purchase of the EJ&E
Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway
The Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway is a Class II railroad that operates in the suburbs surrounding Chicago. The railroad is a link between Class I railroads in northeast Illinois and northwest Indiana...

 by Canadian National Railway
Canadian National Railway
The Canadian National Railway Company is a Canadian Class I railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec. CN's slogan is "North America's Railroad"....

, known as "CN," a purchase that may drastically increase the number of freight trains passing through the village daily. The EJ&E intersects at grade with eight major roads in the Barrington area, including Northwest Highway
U.S. Route 14
U.S. Route 14 , an east–west route, is one of the original United States highways of 1926. It currently has a length of 1,398 miles , but it had a peak length of 1,429 miles . For much of its length, it runs roughly parallel to Interstate 90.As of 2004, the highway's eastern terminus is in...

, Illinois State Route 59 and Lake Cook Road
Lake Cook Road
Lake Cook Road is a major east–west highway in Cook, Lake, McHenry, and Kane Counties in Illinois. For much of its length, it marks the border between Cook and Lake Counties, hence the name of the road...

 in downtown Barrington, as well as the Metra
Metra
Metra is the commuter rail division of the Illinois Regional Transportation Authority. The system serves Chicago and its metropolitan area through 240 stations on 11 different rail lines. Throughout the 21st century, Metra has been the second busiest commuter rail system in the United States by...

 Union Pacific line. By 2012, CN is expected to run at least 20 trains on the line per day. In summer 2008, President Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...

, then a U.S. Senator for Illinois, voiced opposition to the purchase, vowing to work with affected communities to make sure their views were considered.


On October 15, 2010, the CN railroad crossing at U.S. Route 14
U.S. Route 14
U.S. Route 14 , an east–west route, is one of the original United States highways of 1926. It currently has a length of 1,398 miles , but it had a peak length of 1,429 miles . For much of its length, it runs roughly parallel to Interstate 90.As of 2004, the highway's eastern terminus is in...

, as well as rail crossings at Lake Zurich Road and Cuba Road, were blocked for over one and half hours during the early afternoon rush hour due to a stopped 133-car CN southeast bound freight train. At times during the incident, the Hough Street crossing was also blocked. The stopped train also caused back-ups on the commuter rail service of the Union Pacific-Metra Northwest Line. That same day, U.S. Rep. Melissa Bean
Melissa Bean
Melissa Luburich Bean is a former U.S. Representative for the who served from 2005 until 2011. She is a member of the Democratic Party.-Early life, education and career:...

 (D-8th) and U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) released a statement that Barrington will receive a $2.8 million grant to fund the planning, design and engineering of a grade separation
Grade separation
Grade separation is the method of aligning a junction of two or more transport axes at different heights so that they will not disrupt the traffic flow on other transit routes when they cross each other. The composition of such transport axes does not have to be uniform; it can consist of a...

 at the U.S. Route 14
U.S. Route 14
U.S. Route 14 , an east–west route, is one of the original United States highways of 1926. It currently has a length of 1,398 miles , but it had a peak length of 1,429 miles . For much of its length, it runs roughly parallel to Interstate 90.As of 2004, the highway's eastern terminus is in...

 and CN railroad crossing. Construction of any grade separation at that intersection is estimated to cost approximately $69 million; the source(s) of any such funding are currently unknown, and there are currently no plans to design or construct grade separations at any of the other seven Barrington area CN railroad crossings.

150th Anniversary

Barrington will officially celebrate its sesquicentennial (150th) anniversary in 2015. The village is currently planning a series of celebrations to commemorate the milestone and has established a Sesquicentennial Committee to plan the festivities. The village has announced that celebrations will actually begin in 2013 to celebrate the 1863 referendum and request for incorporation.

Architecture

The village of Barrington has the largest residential historic district
Historic district
A historic district or heritage district is a section of a city which contains older buildings considered valuable for historical or architectural reasons. In some countries, historic districts receive legal protection from development....

 in Illinois and is noted for its Victorian
Victorian architecture
The term Victorian architecture refers collectively to several architectural styles employed predominantly during the middle and late 19th century. The period that it indicates may slightly overlap the actual reign, 20 June 1837 – 22 January 1901, of Queen Victoria. This represents the British and...

, Victorian Gothic, Queen Anne
Queen Anne Style architecture
The Queen Anne Style in Britain means either the English Baroque architectural style roughly of the reign of Queen Anne , or a revived form that was popular in the last quarter of the 19th century and the early decades of the 20th century...

, and other popular late-nineteenth century forms of architecture. (See http://www.bahsil.org/VillageofBarringtonTour1.pdf for self-guided tour.) Among Barrington's notable buildings is the Octagon House
Octagon House (Barrington, Illinois)
The Octagon House, also known as Hawley House, in Barrington, Illinois is a mid-19th century residence listed on the National Register of Historic Places.-History and features:...

, also known as the Hawley House. Built around 1860, the Octagon House is listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

; although initially a residence, it now serves as a commercial property.


The downtown area is also home to the historic Catlow Theater
Catlow Theater
The Catlow Theater is a historic single-screen movie theater located in the heart of downtown Barrington, Illinois. Wright Catlow opened the theater in May 1927. Betts & Holcomb served as the architects and the interiors were designed by Prairie School sculptor and designer Alfonso Iannelli...

, which features interiors by noted Prairie School sculptor and designer Alfonso Iannelli
Alfonso Iannelli
Alfonso Iannelli was an Italian-American sculptor, artist, and industrial designer.Based in Chicago for most of his life, Iannelli was born in Andretta, Italy on February 17, 1888. He came to America in 1898...

. Built in 1927, the Catlow is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

 and continues to operate as one of the few remaining single-screen theaters in the area.
Another historic building in the village, the Ice House Mall, is located just northwest of the town's center. Originally built in 1904 for the Bowman Dairy, the brick structure, with its turn-of-the-century styling, served as an actual ice house
Icehouse (building)
Ice houses were buildings used to store ice throughout the year, prior to the invention of the refrigerator. Some were underground chambers, usually man-made, close to natural sources of winter ice such as freshwater lakes, but many were buildings with various types of insulation.During the...

 for 68 years. Renovations and additions beginning in the 1970s have transformed the original building into a collection of local specialty shops.

The Michael Bay
Michael Bay
Michael Benjamin Bay is an American film director and producer. He is known for directing high-budget action films characterized by their fast edits, stylistic visuals and substantial practical special effects...

 2010 re-make of A Nightmare on Elm Street
A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010 film)
A Nightmare on Elm Street is a 2010 American slasher film directed by Samuel Bayer, and written by Wesley Strick and Eric Heisserer. The film stars Jackie Earle Haley, Kyle Gallner, Rooney Mara, Katie Cassidy, Thomas Dekker and Kellan Lutz...

was partially filmed in Barrington, using the village's residential architecture as a backdrop
Filming location
A filming location is a place where some or all of a film or television series is produced, in addition to or instead of using sets constructed on a movie studio backlot or soundstage...

.

Parks and recreation

The Barrington area features numerous parks and nature preserves. The Arbor Day Foundation has recognized Barrington as a Tree City USA
Tree City USA
Tree City USA is a tree planting and tree care program sponsored by the National Arbor Day Foundation for cities and towns in the United States.- Requirements :...

 every year since 1986, in part due to the village's Tree Preservation and Management Ordinance governing the proper care for trees within the area. The Barrington Park District administers several Barrington area parks including Citizens Park, Langendorf Park, Miller Park, and Ron Beese Park. Langendorf Park features tennis courts, playgrounds, outdoor and indoor basketball courts, baseball fields, meeting/activity rooms, and "Aqualusion," a water park
Water park
A waterpark is an amusement park that features waterplay areas, such as water slides, splash pads, spraygrounds , lazy rivers, or other recreational bathing, swimming, and barefooting environments...

 that includes a zero-depth pool
Swimming pool
A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, or simply a pool, is a container filled with water intended for swimming or water-based recreation. There are many standard sizes; the largest is the Olympic-size swimming pool...

, lap pool, and diving
Diving
Diving is the sport of jumping or falling into water from a platform or springboard, sometimes while performing acrobatics. Diving is an internationally-recognized sport that is part of the Olympic Games. In addition, unstructured and non-competitive diving is a recreational pastime.Diving is one...

 area. Northeast of town is Cuba Marsh Forest Preserve, a 782 acres (3.2 km²) wetlands preserve featuring 3 miles (4.8 km) of crushed-gravel trail offering views of the adjacent marsh. The preserve is named for Cuba Road, which provides the park's northern boundary. It is administered by Lake County Forest Preserves. In 2011, Barrington received a $65,000 grant from the Northwest Municipal Conference for preliminary engineering of a bike path along Northwest Highway
U.S. Route 14
U.S. Route 14 , an east–west route, is one of the original United States highways of 1926. It currently has a length of 1,398 miles , but it had a peak length of 1,429 miles . For much of its length, it runs roughly parallel to Interstate 90.As of 2004, the highway's eastern terminus is in...

. However, a timetable for the project has not yet been set.

Annual celebrations and events in Barrington include the Memorial Day
Memorial Day
Memorial Day is a United States federal holiday observed on the last Monday of May. Formerly known as Decoration Day, it originated after the American Civil War to commemorate the fallen Union soldiers of the Civil War...

 parade, a Fourth of July parade and evening fireworks display, Concours d'Elegance (an auto show
Auto show
An auto show, or motor show, is a public exhibition of current automobile models, debuts, concept cars, or out-of-production classics. It is commonly attended by automobile manufacturers. Most auto shows occur once or twice a year...

), and a Homecoming
Homecoming
Homecoming is the tradition of welcoming back alumni of a school. It most commonly refers to a tradition in many universities, colleges and high schools in North America...

 parade associated with Barrington High School
Barrington High School (Lake County, Illinois)
Barrington High School is a public four-year high school located in Barrington, Illinois, a northwest suburb of Chicago, Illinois, in the United States. It is part of Barrington Community Unit School District 220.-Original structure:...

. In addition, the village hosts a "Barrington Brew Fest," a mid-summer event showcasing Midwest microbrewers and local entertainment, as well as the "Great Taste Fest of Barrington," a food festival
Food festival
A food festival is a festival, usually held annually, that uses food, often produce, as its central theme. "These festivals have always been a means of uniting communities through celebrations of harvests and giving thanks for a plentiful growing season...

 exhibiting fare from local restaurants. During the fourth weekend of every September, Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital hosts "Art in the Barn," a juried fine arts show that featuring the exhibition and sale of fine art. Started in 1974 with only 30 artists, the event now attracts over 6,500 visitors and features live entertainment and pony rides for children in addition to the art exhibits. A fundraising event, Art in the Barn has generated more than $2.5 million dollars for Good Shepherd Hospital.

Barrington also hosts a variety of charity functions, including Barrington CROP Hunger Walk, now in its 28th year; Relay for Life
Relay For Life
Relay For Life is the main volunteer-driven cancer fundraising event of the American Cancer Society. Originating in the United States, the Relay For Life event has spread to 21 countries. Relay events are held in local communities, campus universities, military bases, and in cyberspace...

 by the American Cancer Society
American Cancer Society
The American Cancer Society is the "nationwide community-based voluntary health organization" dedicated, in their own words, "to eliminating cancer as a major health problem by preventing cancer, saving lives, and diminishing suffering from cancer, through research, education, advocacy, and...

 held at Barrington High School
Barrington High School (Lake County, Illinois)
Barrington High School is a public four-year high school located in Barrington, Illinois, a northwest suburb of Chicago, Illinois, in the United States. It is part of Barrington Community Unit School District 220.-Original structure:...

; and the "Hospice Duck Race," a rubber duck race, now celebrating its 17th year, held to benefit Hospice of Northeastern Illinois.

The only golf course
Golf course
A golf course comprises a series of holes, each consisting of a teeing ground, fairway, rough and other hazards, and a green with a flagstick and cup, all designed for the game of golf. A standard round of golf consists of playing 18 holes, thus most golf courses have this number of holes...

 within village limits is Makray Memorial Golf Club. Located southeast of the village center on Northwest Highway
U.S. Route 14
U.S. Route 14 , an east–west route, is one of the original United States highways of 1926. It currently has a length of 1,398 miles , but it had a peak length of 1,429 miles . For much of its length, it runs roughly parallel to Interstate 90.As of 2004, the highway's eastern terminus is in...

, the 18-hole course totals 7,000 yards and includes four sets of tees per hole. In addition to its downtown
Downtown
Downtown is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's core or central business district ....

 area, the village is also home to several shopping centers, including the Ice House Mall as well as The Foundry located northwest of town.

Banking and industry

Although relatively small in population, Barrington features seven separate bank
Bank
A bank is a financial institution that serves as a financial intermediary. The term "bank" may refer to one of several related types of entities:...

ing institutions, some with multiple branches. Bank of America
Bank of America
Bank of America Corporation, an American multinational banking and financial services corporation, is the second largest bank holding company in the United States by assets, and the fourth largest bank in the U.S. by market capitalization. The bank is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina...

, the Barrington Bank & Trust Company, Chase, Fifth Third Bank
Fifth Third Bank
Fifth Third Bank is a U.S. regional banking corporation, headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio and is the principal subsidiary of holding company Fifth Third Bancorp ....

, Harris Bank
Harris Bank
BMO Harris Bank is a subsidiary of Montreal-based Canadian bank Bank of Montreal. Today the bank holding company is formally named BMO Bankcorp, Inc....

, the Northern Trust Company and TCF Bank
TCF Bank
TCF Bank is the wholly owned banking subsidiary of TCF Financial Corporation, a bank holding company headquartered in Wayzata, Minnesota. TCF Bank is nationally chartered and operates 440 bank branches....

 all have locations within the village.

The Barrington Area Chamber of Commerce
Chamber of commerce
A chamber of commerce is a form of business network, e.g., a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to advocate on behalf of the business community...

 was founded in 1969 to support local businesses. Currently, the organization lists over 750 members; its stated function is "serving as an agent of change, taking the lead in providing leadership for the benefit of the business community by promoting economic opportunities, advocating the interests of business, providing Members with education and resources, and encouraging mutual support."

Barrington receives much of its sales tax
Sales tax
A sales tax is a tax, usually paid by the consumer at the point of purchase, itemized separately from the base price, for certain goods and services. The tax amount is usually calculated by applying a percentage rate to the taxable price of a sale....

 revenue from its half-dozen car dealerships. State sales tax figures indicate that Barrington's auto sales, gasoline sales and state-taxable auto repairs accounted for $2.1 million in sales taxes for the village in 2008, or approximately 56 percent of its sales-tax income. Local dealerships include Barrington Volvo, Marquardt of Barrington Buick Pontiac GMC, Motor Werks of Barrington (offering BMW
BMW
Bayerische Motoren Werke AG is a German automobile, motorcycle and engine manufacturing company founded in 1916. It also owns and produces the Mini marque, and is the parent company of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. BMW produces motorcycles under BMW Motorrad and Husqvarna brands...

, Cadillac
Cadillac
Cadillac is an American luxury vehicle marque owned by General Motors . Cadillac vehicles are sold in over 50 countries and territories, but mostly in North America. Cadillac is currently the second oldest American automobile manufacturer behind fellow GM marque Buick and is among the oldest...

, Honda
Honda
is a Japanese public multinational corporation primarily known as a manufacturer of automobiles and motorcycles.Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, as well as the world's largest manufacturer of internal combustion engines measured by volume, producing more than...

, Infiniti
Infiniti
is the luxury division of automaker Nissan. Infiniti officially started selling vehicles on November 8, 1989 in North America. Marketing operations have since grown to include the Middle East, South Korea, Russia, Taiwan, China, Ukraine and the United Kingdom. Infiniti began sales in additional...

, Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz is a German manufacturer of automobiles, buses, coaches, and trucks. Mercedes-Benz is a division of its parent company, Daimler AG...

, Porsche
Porsche
Porsche Automobil Holding SE, usually shortened to Porsche SE a Societas Europaea or European Public Company, is a German based holding company with investments in the automotive industry....

, and Saab
Saab
Saab AB is a Swedish aerospace and defence company, founded in 1937. From 1947 to 1990 it was the parent company of automobile manufacturer Saab Automobile, and between 1968 and 1995 the company was in a merger with commercial vehicle manufacturer Scania, known as Saab-Scania.-History:"Svenska...

 models), and Wickstrom Auto Group (featuring Chrysler
Chrysler
Chrysler Group LLC is a multinational automaker headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan, USA. Chrysler was first organized as the Chrysler Corporation in 1925....

, Dodge
Dodge
Dodge is a United States-based brand of automobiles, minivans, and sport utility vehicles, manufactured and marketed by Chrysler Group LLC in more than 60 different countries and territories worldwide....

, Fiat
Fiat
FIAT, an acronym for Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino , is an Italian automobile manufacturer, engine manufacturer, financial, and industrial group based in Turin in the Italian region of Piedmont. Fiat was founded in 1899 by a group of investors including Giovanni Agnelli...

, Ford, Jeep
Jeep
Jeep is an automobile marque of Chrysler . The first Willys Jeeps were produced in 1941 with the first civilian models in 1945, making it the oldest off-road vehicle and sport utility vehicle brand. It inspired a number of other light utility vehicles, such as the Land Rover which is the second...

, Lincoln
Lincoln (automobile)
Lincoln is an American luxury vehicle brand of the Ford Motor Company. Lincoln vehicles are sold mostly in North America.-History:The company was founded in August 1915 by Henry M. Leland, one of the founders of Cadillac . During World War I, he left Cadillac which was sold to General Motors...

, and Mercury
Mercury (automobile)
Mercury was an automobile marque of the Ford Motor Company launched in 1938 by Edsel Ford, son of Henry Ford, to market entry-level luxury cars slotted between Ford-branded regular models and Lincoln-branded luxury vehicles, similar to General Motors' Buick brand, and Chrysler's namesake brand...

 models). In May 2009, Chrysler informed the Wickstrom location that it would not be among the 40 dealerships closed in Illinois.

The Gatorade
Gatorade
Gatorade is a brand of sports-themed food and beverage products, built around its signature product: a line of sports drinks. Gatorade is currently manufactured by PepsiCo, distributed in over 80 countries...

 Sports Science Institute, often featured in the company's commercials, is located in Barrington just west of downtown, across the street from Barrington High School
Barrington High School (Lake County, Illinois)
Barrington High School is a public four-year high school located in Barrington, Illinois, a northwest suburb of Chicago, Illinois, in the United States. It is part of Barrington Community Unit School District 220.-Original structure:...

. Barrington also serves as the headquarters for GE Healthcare
GE Healthcare
GE Healthcare is a division of GE Technology Infrastructure, which is itself a division of General Electric . It employs more than 46,000 people worldwide and is headquartered in Little Chalfont, Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom. GE Healthcare is the first GE business segment to be headquartered...

 IT, which provides clinical & financial information technology solutions. Other notable businesses include defense contractor ISR Systems, part of the Goodrich Corporation
Goodrich Corporation
The Goodrich Corporation , formerly the B.F. Goodrich Company, is an American aerospace manufacturing company based in Charlotte, North Carolina. Founded in Akron, Ohio in 1870 as Goodrich, Tew & Co. by Dr. Benjamin Franklin Goodrich. The company name was changed to the "B.F...

 (formerly known as Recon Optical
Recon Optical
Recon Optical was a privately held defense contractor founded in 1922 by Eugene W. Fuller as Chicago Aerial Survey Company; it was later known as Chicago Aerial Industries...

), and commercial real estate developer GK Development, Inc. For many years, the village was home to the Jewel Tea Company; its former headquarters
Headquarters
Headquarters denotes the location where most, if not all, of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. In the United States, the corporate headquarters represents the entity at the center or the top of a corporation taking full responsibility managing all business activities...

 was razed
Demolition
Demolition is the tearing-down of buildings and other structures, the opposite of construction. Demolition contrasts with deconstruction, which involves taking a building apart while carefully preserving valuable elements for re-use....

 in the early 21st century for redevelopment
Redevelopment
Redevelopment is any new construction on a site that has pre-existing uses.-Description:Variations on redevelopment include:* Urban infill on vacant parcels that have no existing activity but were previously developed, especially on Brownfield land, such as the redevelopment of an industrial site...

 as Citizens Park.

Library and Historical Society

The Barrington Area Library
Barrington Area Library
The Barrington Area Library, located in Barrington, Illinois, USA serves the approximately 42,127 residents of the Barrington Public Library District...

, located northeast of the village's center on Northwest Highway
U.S. Route 14
U.S. Route 14 , an east–west route, is one of the original United States highways of 1926. It currently has a length of 1,398 miles , but it had a peak length of 1,429 miles . For much of its length, it runs roughly parallel to Interstate 90.As of 2004, the highway's eastern terminus is in...

, contains over 226,000 book volumes and 27,000 audiovisual items. Originally established in 1915, the library moved to its current site in the mid-1970s. Through various additions, most recently in 1993, the building was expanded to its current size of approximately 60000 square feet (5,574.2 m²). The library also currently features exhibits by local artists, including an outdoor sculpture garden.

The Barrington Area Historical Society, located on Main Street in downtown Barrington, is dedicated to preserving the history and culture of the Barrington area. Founded in 1968, the Society operates from two restored Victorian
Victorian architecture
The term Victorian architecture refers collectively to several architectural styles employed predominantly during the middle and late 19th century. The period that it indicates may slightly overlap the actual reign, 20 June 1837 – 22 January 1901, of Queen Victoria. This represents the British and...

 houses. In 1999, village officials relocated a blacksmith
Blacksmith
A blacksmith is a person who creates objects from wrought iron or steel by forging the metal; that is, by using tools to hammer, bend, and cut...

 shop to the area behind the Society; a barn
Barn
A barn is an agricultural building used for storage and as a covered workplace. It may sometimes be used to house livestock or to store farming vehicles and equipment...

, forge
Forge
A forge is a hearth used for forging. The term "forge" can also refer to the workplace of a smith or a blacksmith, although the term smithy is then more commonly used.The basic smithy contains a forge, also known as a hearth, for heating metals...

, and lobby area were added to create a historical setting. Combined with a one-room school
One-room school
One-room schools were commonplace throughout rural portions of various countries including the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom, Ireland and Spain in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In most rural and small town schools, all of the students met in a single room...

house, these buildings complete the museum complex known as "Old Barrington Center."

Medical and emergency

Located 3 miles (4.8 km) north of town, Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital, known as "Good Shepherd," has served the village and surrounding communities since 1979. Prior to the opening of Good Shepherd, the area's closest major hospitals were located in Elgin
Elgin, Illinois
Elgin is a city in northern Illinois located roughly northwest of Chicago on the Fox River. Most of Elgin lies within Kane County, Illinois, with a portion in Cook County, Illinois...

, Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire, Illinois
Lincolnshire is a village in the Vernon Township region of Lake County, in the U.S. state of Illinois. The village is a suburb of Chicago, a city in the adjacent Cook County. Its population was 6,108 at the time of the 2000 census. Lincolnshire was incorporated on August 5, 1957, from the...

 and/or Arlington Heights
Arlington Heights, Illinois
Arlington Heights is a village in Cook and Lake counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. A suburb of Chicago, it lies about 25 miles northwest of the city's downtown. The population was 75,101 at the 2010 census....

. In 1927, residents established a "Barrington General Hospital" in a house located near the intersection of Hough Street and Lincoln Avenue; however, this hospital closed in 1935. Various resident petitions and fundraising during the 1960s and 1970s renewed interest in a local hospital, and Good Shepherd officially opened on October 17, 1979.

The American College of Surgeons
American College of Surgeons
The American College of Surgeons is an educational association of surgeons created in 1913 to improve the quality of care for the surgical patient by setting high standards for surgical education and practice.-Membership:...

 has designated Good Shepherd's Emergency Department as a Level II trauma center. The hospital's medical specialties are Cardiology
Cardiology
Cardiology is a medical specialty dealing with disorders of the heart . The field includes diagnosis and treatment of congenital heart defects, coronary artery disease, heart failure, valvular heart disease and electrophysiology...

, Cancer/Oncology
Oncology
Oncology is a branch of medicine that deals with cancer...

, Emergency Services, "Fitness and Wellness," Imaging
Medical imaging
Medical imaging is the technique and process used to create images of the human body for clinical purposes or medical science...

, Obstetrics
Obstetrics
Obstetrics is the medical specialty dealing with the care of all women's reproductive tracts and their children during pregnancy , childbirth and the postnatal period...

, Pediatric Emergency Medicine, and Women's Health, and the renovated Emergency Department includes a "Fast Track" center for less serious treatment needs, such as stitches.

As of November 2009, the Barrington Police Department had 23 full-time police officers; as of March 2007, the Barrington Fire Department had 38 full-time firefighters. The Village has adopted an Emergency Operations Plan as well as a community notification system
Reverse 911
Reverse 911 is a public safety communications system developed by Cassidian Communications, formerly PlantCML, a unit of EADS North America. It is used by public safety organizations in Canada and the United States to communicate with groups of people in a defined geographic area...

 called Connect-CTY. Connect-CTY allows authorized Village officials to record and deliver voice messages quickly to individual phones in the notification database in urgent situations. Examples of messages that may be sent over the Connect-CTY service include severe weather warnings and updates, hazardous traffic or road conditions inside the Village or affecting local routes, and any other urgent situations impacting the Village's safety, property, or welfare. Barrington is also National Incident Management System
National Incident Management System
The National Incident Management System is emergency management doctrine used nationwide to coordinate emergency preparedness and incident management and response among the public and private sectors.NIMS is a comprehensive, national approach to incident management that is applicable at all...

 compliant.

Houses of worship

Numerous Christian houses of worship are located in Barrington, including Baptist
Baptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...

, Christian Science
Christian Science
Christian Science is a system of thought and practice derived from the writings of Mary Baker Eddy and the Bible. It is practiced by members of The First Church of Christ, Scientist as well as some others who are nonmembers. Its central texts are the Bible and the Christian Science textbook,...

, Episcopal
Episcopal Church (United States)
The Episcopal Church is a mainline Anglican Christian church found mainly in the United States , but also in Honduras, Taiwan, Colombia, Ecuador, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, the British Virgin Islands and parts of Europe...

, Evangelical
Evangelicalism
Evangelicalism is a Protestant Christian movement which began in Great Britain in the 1730s and gained popularity in the United States during the series of Great Awakenings of the 18th and 19th century.Its key commitments are:...

, Lutheran, Methodist, Presbyterian, Roman Catholic and United Church of Christ
United Church of Christ
The United Church of Christ is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination primarily in the Reformed tradition but also historically influenced by Lutheranism. The Evangelical and Reformed Church and the Congregational Christian Churches united in 1957 to form the UCC...

 denominations.St. Anne Catholic Community
St. Anne Catholic Community
St. Anne Catholic Community is a Roman Catholic parish of the Archdiocese of Chicago located in suburban Barrington, Illinois approximately thirty-two miles northwest of Chicago. Originally dedicated in 1884, St...

 is the Catholic Church that serves Barrington, which also includes a school. Rev. Bernie Pietrzak is now the current pastor, replacing Rev. John "Jack" Dewes, who served the community through and until 2009. The area is also home to Willow Creek Community Church
Willow Creek Community Church
Willow Creek Community Church is a non-denominational, multi-generational Evangelical Christian megachurch located in the Chicago suburb of South Barrington, Illinois. It was founded on October 12, 1975 by Bill Hybels, who is currently the senior pastor...

, a non-demoninational Evangelical Christian megachurch
Megachurch
A megachurch is a church having 2,000 or more in average weekend attendance. The Hartford Institute's database lists more than 1,300 such Protestant churches in the United States. According to that data, approximately 50 churches on the list have attendance ranging from 10,000 to 47,000...

, and two synagogues, the Beth Tikvah Congregation (Reform
Reform Judaism
Reform Judaism refers to various beliefs, practices and organizations associated with the Reform Jewish movement in North America, the United Kingdom and elsewhere. In general, it maintains that Judaism and Jewish traditions should be modernized and should be compatible with participation in the...

), and the Congregation Kneseth Israel (Conservative
Conservative Judaism
Conservative Judaism is a modern stream of Judaism that arose out of intellectual currents in Germany in the mid-19th century and took institutional form in the United States in the early 1900s.Conservative Judaism has its roots in the school of thought known as Positive-Historical Judaism,...

). One survey conducted by the Glenmary Research Center
Glenmary
Glenmary Home Missioners was founded in 1939 by Father William Howard Bishop, a Catholic priest of the Archdiocese of Baltimore, to serve what he termed "No Priest Land, USA." Today, Glenmary priests, brothers and co-workers are Catholic missionaries who serve in over 40 Catholic missions and...

 estimates that, as of 2000, approximately 69% of area residents identify themselves as Catholic. However, this figure is likely inaccurate, in part because the analysis utilized county-level data, while Barrington is located in both Lake
Lake County, Illinois
Lake County is a county in the northeastern corner of the state of Illinois, on the shore of Lake Michigan. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 703,462, which is an increase of 9.2% from 644,356 in 2000. Its county seat is Waukegan. The county is part of the Chicago metropolitan area...

 and Cook Counties
Cook County, Illinois
Cook County is a county in the U.S. state of Illinois, with its county seat in Chicago. It is the second most populous county in the United States after Los Angeles County. The county has 5,194,675 residents, which is 40.5 percent of all Illinois residents. Cook County's population is larger than...

.

Media

Barrington's community newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...

, the Barrington Courier-Review (Courier), is published once weekly on Thursdays and features local news and announcements, a police blotter, entertainment listings, and high school sports results. The Courier's publisher, Pioneer Press, is owned by the Sun Times News Group
Chicago Sun-Times
The Chicago Sun-Times is an American daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois. It is the flagship paper of the Sun-Times Media Group.-History:The Chicago Sun-Times is the oldest continuously published daily newspaper in the city...

, and its current managing editor is Mike Martinez. The area has one magazine, Quintessential Barrington, which features articles on travel, the arts, style, health, home, and local events. Quintessential Barrington was launched in September 2005 and is published bimonthly.

Barrington is included in the Chicago market and receives its media from Chicago network affiliates. The Chicago Tribune
Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...

 and Chicago Sun-Times
Chicago Sun-Times
The Chicago Sun-Times is an American daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois. It is the flagship paper of the Sun-Times Media Group.-History:The Chicago Sun-Times is the oldest continuously published daily newspaper in the city...

 also cover area news. In addition, the village's Community Relations board broadcasts all Village Board meetings, as well as community announcements, on a local government-access television (GATV) cable TV station.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...

, the village has a total area of 4.8 square miles (12.4 km²), of which 4.6 square miles (11.9 km²) is land and 0.2 square mile (0.517997622 km²) (3.56%) is water. Barrington is approximately boredered by Hart Road to the west, Illinois Route 68
Illinois Route 68
Illinois Route 68 is an east–west state highway in northeast Illinois. It runs east from Illinois Route 72 in the Dundee area to the Interstate 94/U.S. Route 41 concurrency in Glencoe. This is a distance of ....

 (Dundee Road) to the south, Ela Road to the east and Illinois Route 22
Illinois Route 22
Illinois Route 22, also known as Half Day Road for part of its length, is an east–west state highway in northeastern Illinois. It runs from U.S. Route 14 in Fox River Grove to U.S. Route 41 in Highland Park...

 (Half Day Road) to the north. The village is located approximately 830 feet (253 m) above sea level. Barrington's neighboring communities are:

Government

The village of Barrington is a non-home rule
Home rule
Home rule is the power of a constituent part of a state to exercise such of the state's powers of governance within its own administrative area that have been devolved to it by the central government....

 municipality
Municipality
A municipality is essentially an urban administrative division having corporate status and usually powers of self-government. It can also be used to mean the governing body of a municipality. A municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district...

 which functions under the council-manager form of government
Government
Government refers to the legislators, administrators, and arbitrators in the administrative bureaucracy who control a state at a given time, and to the system of government by which they are organized...

 with a village President and a six-member Board of Trustees, all of whom are elected at large to staggered four-year terms. The current Village President is Karen Darch. There are six current members of the Board of Trustees in addition to a village Treasurer. The Village Clerk, also an elected position, is responsible for taking and transcribing minutes of all Village Board and Committee of the Whole meetings along with other municipal clerk duties. The current Village Clerk is Adam Frazier, and the Deputy Village Clerk is Melanie Marcordes. A Village Manager and Deputy Village Manager, currently Jeff Lawler and Jim Wallace, respectively, assist the President with local operations and projects.

Name Title Term Notes
Karen Darch Village President Re-elected April 2009
Jim Daluga Village Trustee Re-elected April 2011
Paul Hunt Village Trustee Re-elected April 2011
Steve Miller Village Trustee Re-elected April 2009
Beth Raseman Village Trustee Re-elected April 2009
Tim Roberts Village Trustee Re-elected April 2009
Robert Windon Village Trustee Elected April 2011
Adam Frazier Village Clerk Re-elected April 2009
Melanie Marcordes Deputy Village Clerk Appointed
Jeff Lawler Village Manager Appointed
Jim Wallace Deputy Village Manager Appointed
Jason Hayden Village Treasurer Appointed



Numerous departments and teams report to the Village Manager and Deputy Village Manager, including the Departments of Human Resources
Human resources
Human resources is a term used to describe the individuals who make up the workforce of an organization, although it is also applied in labor economics to, for example, business sectors or even whole nations...

 and Risk Management
Risk management
Risk management is the identification, assessment, and prioritization of risks followed by coordinated and economical application of resources to minimize, monitor, and control the probability and/or impact of unfortunate events or to maximize the realization of opportunities...

, Community and Financial Services, Economic and Community Development, and Engineering & Building. Barrington's Emergency Management
Emergency management
Emergency management is the generic name of an interdisciplinary field dealing with the strategic organizational management processes used to protect critical assets of an organization from hazard risks that can cause events like disasters or catastrophes and to ensure the continuance of the...

 Team, composed of the Public Works Department
Public works
Public works are a broad category of projects, financed and constructed by the government, for recreational, employment, and health and safety uses in the greater community...

, Police Department, and Fire Department
Fire department
A fire department or fire brigade is a public or private organization that provides fire protection for a certain jurisdiction, which typically is a municipality, county, or fire protection district...

, also reports to the Village Manager and Deputy Village Manager. The President is also responsible for the administration of many appointed boards and commissions, including the village's Ethics Board, Plan Commission, Zoning Board of Appeals, Architectural Review Commission, Electrical Commission, Fire & Police Commission, Police Pension Board, Fire Pension Board, and the Emergency Telephone System Board. The current Police Chief is Jerry Libit, and the current Fire Chief is Jim Arie.

The village estimates its revenues for fiscal years 2009 and 2010 to be approximately $30.22 million and $29.04 million, respectively. Meanwhile, the Village estimates total budget expenditures of approximately $33.68 million for fiscal year 2009 and $34.88 million for fiscal year 2010. The vision of the village is "to preserve and promote its unique small town heritage, preserve its distinct ecological and historical character, provide a moral and safe environment, maintain a high quality of life through the efficient use of community resources, and respond to future challenges through citizen participation in all civic, social, and cultural endeavors."

Relationship with Cook County

In April 2009, in a non-binding referendum
Referendum
A referendum is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal. This may result in the adoption of a new constitution, a constitutional amendment, a law, the recall of an elected official or simply a specific government policy. It is a form of...

, village residents voted in favor of permitting Barrington township
Barrington Township, Cook County, Illinois
Barrington Township is one of thirty townships in Cook County, Illinois, USA. As of the 2000 census, its population was 14,026. The northwestern corner of the Cook County panhandle, it is the county's northwesternmost township.-Geography:...

 officials to begin looking into seceding from Cook County
Cook County, Illinois
Cook County is a county in the U.S. state of Illinois, with its county seat in Chicago. It is the second most populous county in the United States after Los Angeles County. The county has 5,194,675 residents, which is 40.5 percent of all Illinois residents. Cook County's population is larger than...

. The referendum, entitled "Barrington Twp – Disconnect from Cook County," asked, "Should Barrington Township consider disconnection from Cook County, Illinois, and forming a new county if a viable option exists for doing so?" The referendum came in response to Cook County's increased sales tax, now the highest in the country, and increased tensions between the county and towns neighboring Lake County
Lake County, Illinois
Lake County is a county in the northeastern corner of the state of Illinois, on the shore of Lake Michigan. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 703,462, which is an increase of 9.2% from 644,356 in 2000. Its county seat is Waukegan. The county is part of the Chicago metropolitan area...

. Hanover
Hanover Township, Cook County, Illinois
Hanover Township is one of thirty townships in Cook County, Illinois, USA located at the end of the county's panhandle. As of the 2000 census, its population was 83,471.-Geography:...

 and Palatine township
Palatine Township, Cook County, Illinois
Palatine Township is one of thirty townships in Cook County, Illinois, USA. As of the 2000 census, its population was 112,740. It is the north central township of the six northwest townships that form the Cook County panhandle...

s also passed similar measures.

Growth

Since 1970, growth in the area has been monitored by The Barrington Area Council of Governments (BACOG), which includes representatives of the Villages of Barrington, Barrington Hills
Barrington Hills, Illinois
Barrington Hills is a village located about northwest of Chicago in the U.S. state of Illinois. It straddles approximately over four counties, Cook, Kane, Lake, and McHenry. The population was 4,209 at the 2010 census...

, Deer Park
Deer Park, Illinois
Deer Park is an affluent village in Lake and Cook Counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. The population was 3,200 at the 2010 census. The village is one of the few left in the Chicago area that enjoy a green belt which is bordered by two large natural areas providing outdoor recreation and open...

, Lake Barrington
Lake Barrington, Illinois
Lake Barrington is a village in Lake County, Illinois, United States. The population was 4,757 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Lake Barrington is located at ....

, North Barrington
North Barrington, Illinois
North Barrington is a village in Lake County, Illinois, United States. The population was 2,918 at the 2000 census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of , of which, of it is land and of it is water.-Neighborhoods:There are a few neighborhoods in...

, South Barrington
South Barrington, Illinois
South Barrington is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States south of Barrington, Illinois. The population was 3,760 at the 2000 census. South Barrington is a wealthy suburb of Chicago and home to the famous megachurch Willow Creek Community Church. The village is known throughout the area...

, and Tower Lakes
Tower Lakes, Illinois
Tower Lakes is a village in Lake County, Illinois, United States. The population was 1,310 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Tower Lakes is located at ....

, and local townships who strive to balance the needs of residents for expansion against environmental and aesthetic concerns.

Education

The village of Barrington serves as the geographic center of the 72 square miles (186.5 km²) Barrington Community Unit School District 220. The district features one high school, Barrington High School
Barrington High School (Lake County, Illinois)
Barrington High School is a public four-year high school located in Barrington, Illinois, a northwest suburb of Chicago, Illinois, in the United States. It is part of Barrington Community Unit School District 220.-Original structure:...

, for grades 9–12 and two middle school
Middle school
Middle School and Junior High School are levels of schooling between elementary and high schools. Most school systems use one term or the other, not both. The terms are not interchangeable...

 campuses for grades 6–8, Station Campus and Prairie Campus. The district administers eight elementary schools serving kindergarten
Kindergarten
A kindergarten is a preschool educational institution for children. The term was created by Friedrich Fröbel for the play and activity institute that he created in 1837 in Bad Blankenburg as a social experience for children for their transition from home to school...

 through fifth grade:

With the exception of Sunny Hill, all Barrington-area public elementary schools received the 2008 Academic Excellence Award from the Illinois State Board of Education
Illinois State Board of Education
The Illinois State Board of Education administers public education in the state of Illinois. The State Board consists of nine members who are appointed by the Governor with the consent of the...

. The U.S. Department of Education recognized the Grove Avenue and Arnett C. Lines elementary schools as Blue Ribbon schools in 2007 and 2008, respectively. Barrington also features a Catholic school for kindergarten through eighth grade, St. Anne School
St. Anne Catholic Community
St. Anne Catholic Community is a Roman Catholic parish of the Archdiocese of Chicago located in suburban Barrington, Illinois approximately thirty-two miles northwest of Chicago. Originally dedicated in 1884, St...

, which the U.S. Department of Education recognized as a Blue Ribbon School in 2006.

The district administers an early childhood center, Woodland Early Learning Center, located in Carpentersville, Illinois
Carpentersville, Illinois
Carpentersville is a village in Kane County, Illinois, United States. The population was 30,586 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Carpentersville is located at ....

. A second early learning center adjacent to Barrington Middle School's Prairie Campus opened for classes in October 2010.

Barrington High School reported that in 2011 its students scored a composite average of 25 on the ACT college entrance exam, which is the highest average in the school's history and roughly four points higher than the state and national averages. The high school has many notable alumni, including former Secretary of the Treasury Henry Paulson
Henry Paulson
Henry Merritt "Hank" Paulson, Jr. is an American banker who served as the 74th United States Secretary of the Treasury. He previously served as the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Goldman Sachs.-Early life and family:...

, fashion designer Cynthia Rowley
Cynthia Rowley
Cynthia Rowley is an American fashion designer. The fashion label she created in the early 1980s bears her name.-Background:...

, and former Seattle Mariners
Seattle Mariners
The Seattle Mariners are a professional baseball team based in Seattle, Washington. Enfranchised in , the Mariners are a member of the Western Division of Major League Baseball's American League. Safeco Field has been the Mariners' home ballpark since July...

 catcher Dan Wilson. The school itself is featured in the title of the music album Fast Times at Barrington High
Fast Times at Barrington High
Fast Times at Barrington High is the third and final studio album by American rock band The Academy Is..., released in August 2008. It was produced by S*A*M and Sluggo. The title refers to the high school William Beckett and Adam Siska went to, and a play on the title of the 1982 film Fast Times at...

 from The Academy Is...
The Academy Is...
The Academy Is... was an American rock band from Chicago, Illinois, formed in 2003. Before dispersing, they were signed by the Decaydance imprint of the Fueled by Ramen label. They were originally known as "The Academy", but added the "Is..." in 2004 to avoid legal complications with other...

.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 10,168 people, 3,767 households, and 2,798 families residing in the village. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...

 was 2,211.7 people per square mile (853.5/km²). Of 860 Midwestern cities with populations of 10,000 inhabitants or more, Barrington ranked 849th. There were 3,903 housing units at an average density of 849.0 per square mile (327.6/km²). The racial makeup of the village was 96.16% White, 0.62% African American, 0.13% Native American, 2.00% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.31% from other races
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...

, and 0.77% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.33% of the population.

There were 3,768 households out of which 39.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 64.0% were married couples living together, 8.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.7% were non-families. 22.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.70 and the average family size was 3.20.

In the village the population was spread out with 29.9% under the age of 18, 4.3% from 18 to 24, 28.0% from 25 to 44, 25.1% from 45 to 64, and 12.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 90.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.7 males.

The median income for a household in the village was $83,085, and the median income for a family was $102,120. Males had a median income of $80,232 versus $38,795 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...

 for the village was $43,942. About 2.3% of families and 3.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 3.7% of those under age 18 and 3.8% of those age 65 or over.

Climate

Barrington has a continental climate
Continental climate
Continental climate is a climate characterized by important annual variation in temperature due to the lack of significant bodies of water nearby...

 (Köppen climate classification
Köppen climate classification
The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by Crimea German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen himself, notably in 1918 and 1936...

 Dfa), with summers generally wetter than the winters:
The highest recorded temperature was 103 °F (39.4 °C) in July 1974 and July 1988; the lowest recorded temperature was -27 F in January 1982. Historical tornado
Tornado
A tornado is a violent, dangerous, rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. They are often referred to as a twister or a cyclone, although the word cyclone is used in meteorology in a wider...

 activity for the Barrington area is slightly below Illinois state average. On April 11, 1965, a category 4
Fujita scale
The Fujita scale , or Fujita-Pearson scale, is a scale for rating tornado intensity, based primarily on the damage tornadoes inflict on human-built structures and vegetation...

 tornado approximately 9.4 miles (15.1 km) away from downtown Barrington killed 6 people and injured 75; on April 21, 1967, a category 4
Fujita scale
The Fujita scale , or Fujita-Pearson scale, is a scale for rating tornado intensity, based primarily on the damage tornadoes inflict on human-built structures and vegetation...

 tornado approximately 5.1 miles (8.2 km) away from the village center killed one person, injured approximately 100 people and caused hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage.

Notable current and past residents

  • Craig Anderson, NHL player, Colorado Avalanche
    Colorado Avalanche
    The Colorado Avalanche are a professional ice hockey team based in Denver, Colorado, United States. They are members of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League . The Avalanche have won the Stanley Cup twice, in 1995–96 and 2000–01. The franchise...

  • Barbara Bash, author and illustrator
    Illustrator
    An Illustrator is a narrative artist who specializes in enhancing writing by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text...

  • Claire Bataille, Founding Dancer of Hubbard Street Dance Company (now Hubbard Street Dance Chicago
    Hubbard Street Dance Chicago
    Hubbard Street Dance Chicago is an American dance company based in Chicago. HSDC performs in downtown Chicago and its metropolitan area and tours nationally and internationally throughout the year....

    )
  • Melissa Bean
    Melissa Bean
    Melissa Luburich Bean is a former U.S. Representative for the who served from 2005 until 2011. She is a member of the Democratic Party.-Early life, education and career:...

    , former member of United States House of Representatives
    United States House of Representatives
    The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...

     representing Illinois's 8th congressional district
  • William Beckett
    William Beckett (singer)
    ,William Eugene Beckett Jr. was the lead singer of the band The Academy Is... , who were signed to Atlantic Records/Fueled by Ramen/Decaydance Records. While still in high school in 2002, Beckett and guitarist Mike Carden came together from rival bands in Chicago to form The Academy Is......

    , lead singer of The Academy Is...
    The Academy Is...
    The Academy Is... was an American rock band from Chicago, Illinois, formed in 2003. Before dispersing, they were signed by the Decaydance imprint of the Fueled by Ramen label. They were originally known as "The Academy", but added the "Is..." in 2004 to avoid legal complications with other...

  • Charles Boyce
    Charles Boyce
    Charles Boyce , is an American cartoonist known for his syndicated comic panel Compu-toon. He grew up in Memphis, Tennessee...

    , cartoonist
    Cartoonist
    A cartoonist is a person who specializes in drawing cartoons. This work is usually humorous, mainly created for entertainment, political commentary or advertising...

     and creator of Compu-toon
    Compu-toon
    Compu-toon is a comic strip by Charles Boyce. Compu-toon was launched in 1994 through Tribune Media Services. At its height, the comic strip ran in about 150 newspapers worldwide from 1994 to 1997 in print form. Now, it appears on such Web sites as www.gocomics.com, www.compu-toon.com, and...

  • Joe and Paul Butera family, Butera, Entrepeneur Butera Finer Foods
  • Sam Campbell
    Sam Campbell
    Samuel Arthur Campbell was born August 1, 1895 in Watseka, Iroquois County, Illinois. He was one of three children born to Arthur J. and Katherine "Kittie" Campbell....

    , author and nature writer
  • Kristin Cavallari
    Kristin Cavallari
    Kristin Elizabeth Cavallari is an American television personality and actress. She is best known for her starring roles on the former MTV reality television programs Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County and its spin-off, The Hills.-Early life:Cavallari was born in Denver, Colorado, the second of...

    , actress on MTV's Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County
    Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County
    Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County, often referred to simply as Laguna Beach, is a reality television series which originally aired on MTV from September 28, 2004 until November 16, 2006. It documents the lives of several teenagers living in Laguna Beach, an affluent seaside community located in...

  • Bailey Chase
    Bailey Chase
    Bailey Chase is a stage and television actor known for his role as Butch Ada in the television series Saving Grace, his recurring roles as Graham Miller in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Christopher "Chris" Robert Hughes in the soap opera As the World Turns and Beckett 'Becks' Scott on Ugly...

    , actor
  • Ira Joy Chase
    Ira Joy Chase
    Ira Joy Chase was a veteran of the American Civil War, a leading member of the Grand Army of the Republic, a prominent Church of Christ evangelist, and the 22nd Governor of Indiana between November 23, 1891 January 9, 1893....

    , former governor
    Governor
    A governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...

     of Indiana
    Indiana
    Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...

    , co-founder of the Grand Army of the Republic
    Grand Army of the Republic
    The Grand Army of the Republic was a fraternal organization composed of veterans of the Union Army, US Navy, US Marines and US Revenue Cutter Service who served in the American Civil War. Founded in 1866 in Decatur, Illinois, it was dissolved in 1956 when its last member died...

    , and first Barrington citizen to enlist in the Union Army
    Union Army
    The Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...

  • Kallen Esperian
    Kallen Esperian
    Kallen Esperian, born in Barrington, Illinois on , is an Armenian-American lyric soprano.-History:After earning her degree at the University of Illinois, Kallen Esperian went on to win the Luciano Pavarotti International Voice Competition in 1985...

    , a lyric soprano
    Soprano
    A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...

  • Gary Fencik
    Gary Fencik
    John Gary Fencik is a former professional American-football free safety and currently an executive with Adams Street Partners. Fencik played twelve seasons with the Chicago Bears and is their all-time leader in interceptions and total tackles. He was the team's defensive captain through the 1980s...

    , football player, Chicago Bears
    Chicago Bears
    The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...

  • William Fuller
    William Fuller (poet)
    William Fuller is a U.S. poet born in Barrington, Illinois. He received his bachelor’s degree magna cum laude in English from Lawrence University in 1975. In 1983, Fuller received a Ph.D...

    , poet
  • Kevin Furey
    Kevin Furey
    Kevin Timothy Furey was a Democratic Party member of the Montana House of Representatives, he represented District 91 from 2004 to 2007. He is a First Lieutenant in the United States Army Reserves, currently deployed to Iraq as a Civil Affairs Team Chief...

    , former member of the Montana House of Representatives
    Montana House of Representatives
    The Montana House of Representatives is, with the Montana Senate, one of the two houses of the Montana Legislature. Composed of 100 members, the House elects its leadership every two years.-Composition of the House:...

  • Gregory Garre, former Solicitor General
  • Gary Hallberg
    Gary Hallberg
    Gary George Hallberg is an American professional golfer who has played on the PGA Tour, Nationwide Tour, and Champions Tour....

    , former professional golf
    Golf
    Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....

    er
  • Christopher Lasch
    Christopher Lasch
    Christopher Lasch was a well-known American historian, moralist, and social critic....

    , historian, moralist, and cultural critic
  • Jeff Likens
    Jeff Likens
    Jeff Likens is an American professional ice hockey defenceman currently playing for ERC Ingolstadt of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga .-Playing career:...

    , ice hockey
    Ice hockey
    Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...

     player
  • Marvin Lipofsky
    Marvin Lipofsky
    Marvin Lipofsky is an American glass artist. He was one of the six students that Studio Glass founder Harvey Littleton instructed under an independent study program for the University of Wisconsin-Madison in fall 1962 and spring 1963...

    , glass art
    Glass art
    Studio glass or glass sculpture is the modern use of glass as an artistic medium to produce sculptures or three-dimensional artworks. Specific approaches include working glass at room temperature cold working, stained glass, working glass in a torch flame , glass beadmaking, glass casting, glass...

    ist
  • Valerie Allen Marland
    Valerie Allen Marland
    Valerie Allen Marland was the wife of former Governor of West Virginia William C. Marland and served as that state's First Lady 1953-1957. She was born June 16, 1917 at Lacon, Illinois. She married William C. Marland in 1942. As first lady, she dedicated most of her time raising their four...

    , former first lady
    First Lady
    First Lady or First Gentlemanis the unofficial title used in some countries for the spouse of an elected head of state.It is not normally used to refer to the spouse or partner of a prime minister; the husband or wife of the British Prime Minister is usually informally referred to as prime...

     of West Virginia
    West Virginia
    West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...

  • William C. Marland
    William C. Marland
    William Casey Marland , a Democrat, was the 24th Governor of West Virginia from 1953 to 1957. He is best known for his early attempts to tax companies that depleted the state's natural resources, especially coal, as well as overseeing the generally non-violent implementation of school...

    , former governor
    Governor
    A governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...

     of West Virginia
    West Virginia
    West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...

  • Charles L. Mee
    Charles L. Mee
    Charles L. Mee is an American playwright, historian and author known for his collage-like style of playwriting, which makes use of radical reconstructions of found texts.-Early Life and Early Career:...

    , playwright
  • Ryan Miller, professional soccer player, D.C. United
    D.C. United
    D.C. United is an American professional soccer club based in Washington, D.C. which competes in Major League Soccer , the top professional soccer league in the United States and Canada. It is one of the ten charter clubs of MLS, having competed in the league since its inception, in 1996.Over the...

  • Terry Moran
    Terry Moran
    Terry Moran is the co-anchor of Nightline.-Biography:Moran was born in Chicago, Illinois. He graduated from Lawrence University in 1982.-Professional career:-Career as Correspondent:...

    , co-anchor, Nightline for ABC News
    ABC News
    ABC News is the news gathering and broadcasting division of American broadcast television network ABC, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company...

  • Bill Moseley
    Bill Moseley
    William "Bill" Moseley is an American film actor and musician who has starred in a number of cult classic horror films, including House of 1000 Corpses, Repo! The Genetic Opera and The Devil's Rejects. His first big role was in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 as Chop Top...

    , actor
  • Henry Paulson
    Henry Paulson
    Henry Merritt "Hank" Paulson, Jr. is an American banker who served as the 74th United States Secretary of the Treasury. He previously served as the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Goldman Sachs.-Early life and family:...

    , former Secretary of the Treasury
  • Colleen Zenk Pinter
    Colleen Zenk Pinter
    -Daytime career:She is best known for her role as fashionista-heroine-turned-evil-bitch-cougar-mother-from-hell Barbara Ryan on the daytime drama As the World Turns, a role she began portraying in September 1978....

    , Emmy-nominated actress, As The World Turns
    As the World Turns
    As the World Turns is an American television soap opera that aired on CBS from April 2, 1956 to September 17, 2010. Irna Phillips created As the World Turns as a sister show to her other soap opera Guiding Light...

  • Cynthia Rowley
    Cynthia Rowley
    Cynthia Rowley is an American fashion designer. The fashion label she created in the early 1980s bears her name.-Background:...

    , fashion designer
  • Yury Shulman
    Yury Shulman
    Yuri Shulman is a Belarusian American chess grandmaster. He also goes by the alternate spelling of "Yury Shulman."-Chess career:Shulman started formal chess lessons with coach Tamara Golovey when he was six years old. He went on to study under International Master Albert Kapengut at age 12, and...

    , chess grandmaster and winner of the 2008 U.S. Chess Championship
    U.S. Chess Championship
    The U.S. Chess Championship is an invitational tournament held to determine the national chess champion of the United States. Since 1936, it has been held under the auspices of the U.S. Chess Federation. Until 1999, the event consisted of a round-robin tournament of varying size...

  • Carrie Snodgress
    Carrie Snodgress
    Caroline "Carrie" Snodgress was an American actress.-Biography:Snodgress was born in Park Ridge, Illinois. She attended Maine Township High School East in Park Ridge then Northern Illinois University before leaving to pursue acting. Snodgress trained for the stage at the Goodman Theatre, in Chicago...

    , actress
  • Richard Threlkeld
    Richard Threlkeld
    Richard Threlkeld is an American television news correspondent who spent 25 years with CBS News.Threlkeld grew up in Barrington, Illinois. He earned a degree in history and political science from Ripon College...

    , former CBS
    CBS
    CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...

     news correspondent
  • Waid Vanderpoel
    Waid Vanderpoel
    Waid Richard Vanderpoel was an American financier and conservationist born in the Chicago neighborhood of Norwood Park, Illinois and died in Barrington, Illinois.-Personal Life and Education:...

    , author and former Chief Investment Officer for First National Bank of Chicago
    First Chicago Bank
    First Chicago Bank was a Chicago-based retail and commercial bank tracing its roots back to 1863. Over the years, the bank operated under several names including The First National Bank of Chicago and First Chicago NBD...

  • Dan Wilson, former catcher for the Seattle Mariners
    Seattle Mariners
    The Seattle Mariners are a professional baseball team based in Seattle, Washington. Enfranchised in , the Mariners are a member of the Western Division of Major League Baseball's American League. Safeco Field has been the Mariners' home ballpark since July...

  • Gene Wolfe
    Gene Wolfe
    Gene Wolfe is an American science fiction and fantasy writer. He is noted for his dense, allusive prose as well as the strong influence of his Catholic faith, to which he converted after marrying into the religion. He is a prolific short story writer and a novelist, and has won many awards in the...

    , author

See also

  • Area code 847
  • The Battle of Barrington
  • Barrington High School
    Barrington High School (Lake County, Illinois)
    Barrington High School is a public four-year high school located in Barrington, Illinois, a northwest suburb of Chicago, Illinois, in the United States. It is part of Barrington Community Unit School District 220.-Original structure:...

  • Barrington Hills, Illinois
    Barrington Hills, Illinois
    Barrington Hills is a village located about northwest of Chicago in the U.S. state of Illinois. It straddles approximately over four counties, Cook, Kane, Lake, and McHenry. The population was 4,209 at the 2010 census...

  • Carpentersville, Illinois
    Carpentersville, Illinois
    Carpentersville is a village in Kane County, Illinois, United States. The population was 30,586 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Carpentersville is located at ....

  • Catlow Theater
    Catlow Theater
    The Catlow Theater is a historic single-screen movie theater located in the heart of downtown Barrington, Illinois. Wright Catlow opened the theater in May 1927. Betts & Holcomb served as the architects and the interiors were designed by Prairie School sculptor and designer Alfonso Iannelli...

  • Chicago
  • Deer Park, Illinois
    Deer Park, Illinois
    Deer Park is an affluent village in Lake and Cook Counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. The population was 3,200 at the 2010 census. The village is one of the few left in the Chicago area that enjoy a green belt which is bordered by two large natural areas providing outdoor recreation and open...

  • Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Railway
  • Hoffman Estates, Illinois
    Hoffman Estates, Illinois
    Hoffman Estates is a northwestern suburb of Chicago in Illinois. The village is located primarily in Cook County with a small section in Kane County, Illinois. As of the 2000 census, the village population was 49,495 and estimated to be 52,520 in 2003...

  • Illinois State Route 59
  • Inverness, Illinois
    Inverness, Illinois
    Inverness is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States, near Chicago. The population was 6,749 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Inverness is located at ....

  • Jewel Tea Co.
  • Lake Barrington, Illinois
    Lake Barrington, Illinois
    Lake Barrington is a village in Lake County, Illinois, United States. The population was 4,757 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Lake Barrington is located at ....

  • Lake Cook Road
    Lake Cook Road
    Lake Cook Road is a major east–west highway in Cook, Lake, McHenry, and Kane Counties in Illinois. For much of its length, it marks the border between Cook and Lake Counties, hence the name of the road...

  • Metra
    Metra
    Metra is the commuter rail division of the Illinois Regional Transportation Authority. The system serves Chicago and its metropolitan area through 240 stations on 11 different rail lines. Throughout the 21st century, Metra has been the second busiest commuter rail system in the United States by...

  • North Barrington, Illinois
    North Barrington, Illinois
    North Barrington is a village in Lake County, Illinois, United States. The population was 2,918 at the 2000 census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of , of which, of it is land and of it is water.-Neighborhoods:There are a few neighborhoods in...

  • Octagon House
    Octagon House (Barrington, Illinois)
    The Octagon House, also known as Hawley House, in Barrington, Illinois is a mid-19th century residence listed on the National Register of Historic Places.-History and features:...

  • St. Anne Catholic Community
    St. Anne Catholic Community
    St. Anne Catholic Community is a Roman Catholic parish of the Archdiocese of Chicago located in suburban Barrington, Illinois approximately thirty-two miles northwest of Chicago. Originally dedicated in 1884, St...

  • South Barrington, Illinois
    South Barrington, Illinois
    South Barrington is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States south of Barrington, Illinois. The population was 3,760 at the 2000 census. South Barrington is a wealthy suburb of Chicago and home to the famous megachurch Willow Creek Community Church. The village is known throughout the area...

  • Tower Lakes, Illinois
    Tower Lakes, Illinois
    Tower Lakes is a village in Lake County, Illinois, United States. The population was 1,310 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Tower Lakes is located at ....

  • Union Pacific Northwest Line
    Union Pacific/Northwest Line
    The Union Pacific/Northwest is a commuter rail line provided by Metra and operated by the Union Pacific Railroad in Chicago, Illinois, and its surrounding suburbs...

  • U.S. Route 14
  • Willow Creek Community Church
    Willow Creek Community Church
    Willow Creek Community Church is a non-denominational, multi-generational Evangelical Christian megachurch located in the Chicago suburb of South Barrington, Illinois. It was founded on October 12, 1975 by Bill Hybels, who is currently the senior pastor...


Further reading

Arnett C. Lines, "A History of Barrington, Illinois," 1977.

Diane P. Kostick, "Voices of Barrington," ISBN 9780738519807, Arcadia Publishing, 2002.

Pioneer Press, "A Day in the Life of Barrington," retrieved 30-Jul-2009.

Cynthia Baker Sharp, "Tales of Old Barrington," 1976.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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