Lake Villa, Illinois
Encyclopedia
Lake Villa is a village in Lake County
, Illinois
United States
. The population was 5,864 at the 2000 census. Lake Villa lies within Lake Villa Township. The population is estimated to be 8,614 as of July 2006.
According to the United States Census Bureau
, the village has a total area of 6.5 square miles (16.8 km²), of which, 5.7 square miles (14.8 km²) of it is land and 0.8 square miles (2.1 km²) of it (11.57%) is water.
The village lies in a gently rolling moraine
landscape, dominated by lakes of glacial
origin. Among these are Cedar Lake, north of the village center, and Deep Lake, to the east. There are several smaller lakes and ponds, along with a complement of wetlands. The lakes and ponds have been important in Lake Villa's historic tourist industry, and over the years led to a small ice industry.
Drainage is ultimately to the Des Plaines
and Fox River
s.
The Wisconsin Central Railway runs through the village center. This is a heavily used freight line which also carries Metra
commuter rail traffic from Antioch, Illinois
to the Chicago Loop
.
of 2000, there were 5,864 people, 2,052 households, and 1,594 families residing in the village. The population density
was 1,024.4 people per square mile (395.8/km²). There were 2,135 housing units at an average density of 373.0 per square mile (144.1/km²). The racial makeup of the village was 92.94% White, 2.47% African American, 0.12% Native American, 1.64% Asian, 0.09% Pacific Islander, 0.89% from other races
, and 1.86% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.09% of the population.
There were 2,052 households out of which 45.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 67.9% were married couples
living together, 7.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 22.3% were non-families. 17.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 6.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.81 and the average family size was 3.20.
In the village the population was spread out with 32.1% under the age of 18, 5.8% from 18 to 24, 37.8% from 25 to 44, 18.9% from 45 to 64, and 5.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females there were 99.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.5 males.
The median income for a household in the village was $65,078, and the median income for a family was $75,078. Males had a median income of $51,806 versus $36,961 for females. The per capita income
for the village was $26,238. About 1.9% of families and 3.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 4.7% of those under age 18 and 7.3% of those age 65 or over.
Lake Villa has a significant Polish community, and the community has become considerably more diverse in recent years.
Frank M. Loffredo
Trustees
Kathy Battistone
David Dykstra
Karen Harms
James MacDonald
Jeff Nielsen
Steve Trkla
There's no doubt that the great E.J. Lehmann, Merchant Prince of State Street, had a profound impact on the history of Lake Villa. By bringing in the railroad and a resort hotel, the area was the "Lake Geneva
" of its time. A depot was completed and the first passenger train stopped at Lake Villa on July 26, 1886. Passenger train service was reestablished on the Wisconsin Central in 1995. In 1996, the Lake Villa Train Station was reconstructed according to the original architectural plans. In On Mondays - Fridays, the single track is shared by 10 passenger trains a day and countless freights. Sidings added along the way are currently being connected to make a second track and seven-day service.
Ice cutting in the winter was one of Lake Villa's past industries. The Knickerbocker Ice Company built a plant (1888) on the south shore of Deep Lake with a railroad spur to the site. Blocks of ice were cut from the frozen area lakes and shipped by train to Chicago. Horses pulled huge double cut saws along the lakes and steam engines lifted the 22 inches (558.8 mm) blocks on 14 feet (4.3 m) high ropes and pulleys to the warehouse. Many local farmers worked the ice fields in the winter.
The town center at that time was along Route 83 at Cedar Avenue. The northeast corner had a meat market, a restaurant and Dixon's Sugar House. Just north was Lehmann's Lake Villa Hotel on the east shore of Cedar Lake, where Cedar Village now stands. The Methodist Episcopal Church of Lake Villa held the southwest corner, having been moved by wagon in 1892. The church is now a private residence. Across the street to the east were a post office, a livery stable and bus barn owned by E.J. Lehmann and John Stratton, offering horse drawn bus and carriage rides to local resorts from the train station and sight-seeing tours. To the east was the fabulous Lehmann home, a stucco castle built in 1888 overlooking Deep Lake. Just north of the Lehmann property were two more hotels; the Jarvis House and the Darby House. The local newspaper was called the Lake Villa Advocate.
Population from the Bureau of the Census Library shows an interesting growth pattern for the Village. In 1910 the population was 343. By 1920 it had grown to 407, which increased to 487 during the next 10 years. The Great Depression years saw a dip in the number of people living in Lake Villa, and by 1940, the figure had fallen to 439. A post war jump took place during the 1940s, and by 1950 the population had nearly doubled to 824. The increase continued and 1960 saw a population of 903. There are no famous people from Lake Villa.
Certificates in the Village files register growth at smaller intervals than the Census Bureau's regular decade counts. In 1966, the Village had a population of 1,024, which grew to 1,090 in the next five years. By 1981 the population stood at 1,462; 1987's count was 2,395; by 1989 the figure had climbed to 2,752; and in 1990, the population reached 2,857. A special census conducted by the Census Bureau in 1997 showed a population increase to 3,957; and in 2000 the population was 5,864. The 2004 special Census population is 7,994.
(This synopsis was provided by Debbie Effinger of the Village Hall of Lake Villa.)
on Metra
's North Central Service
, which provides daily rail service between Antioch, Illinois
and Chicago, Illinois (at Union Station
).
Chicago's metropolitan fringe : Lake Villa, Illinois : the construction of multiple historical narratives
[Lake Forest, Illinois : Lake Forest College,] 2001.
Brysiewicz, Joseph W.
Lake Villa Township, Illinois
Chicago : Arcadia Publications, 2001.
Encyclopedia of Chicago / edited by James R. Grossman, Ann Durkin Keating & Janice L. Reiff
Chicago : University of Chicago Press, 2004]
Lake Villa then and now : centennial history of Lake Villa, Illinois, 1901 - 2001 / compiled and edited by Candace M. Saunders and Julianne Kloc Trychta
Lake Villa, Illinois : Village of Lake Villa, Illinois, 2001.
City-Data.org
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...
, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The population was 5,864 at the 2000 census. Lake Villa lies within Lake Villa Township. The population is estimated to be 8,614 as of July 2006.
Geography
Lake Villa is located at 42°25′3"N 88°4′56"W (42.417546, -88.082360).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 6.5 square miles (16.8 km²), of which, 5.7 square miles (14.8 km²) of it is land and 0.8 square miles (2.1 km²) of it (11.57%) is water.
The village lies in a gently rolling moraine
Moraine
A moraine is any glacially formed accumulation of unconsolidated glacial debris which can occur in currently glaciated and formerly glaciated regions, such as those areas acted upon by a past glacial maximum. This debris may have been plucked off a valley floor as a glacier advanced or it may have...
landscape, dominated by lakes of glacial
Glacier
A glacier is a large persistent body of ice that forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. At least 0.1 km² in area and 50 m thick, but often much larger, a glacier slowly deforms and flows due to stresses induced by its weight...
origin. Among these are Cedar Lake, north of the village center, and Deep Lake, to the east. There are several smaller lakes and ponds, along with a complement of wetlands. The lakes and ponds have been important in Lake Villa's historic tourist industry, and over the years led to a small ice industry.
Drainage is ultimately to the Des Plaines
Des Plaines River
The Des Plaines River is a river that flows southward for through southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois in the U.S. Midwest, eventually meeting the Kankakee River west of Channahon to form the Illinois River, a tributary of the Mississippi River....
and Fox River
Fox River (Illinois River tributary)
The Fox River is a tributary of the Illinois River in the states of Wisconsin and Illinois in the United States. There are two other "Fox Rivers" in southern Illinois: the Fox River and a smaller "Fox River" that joins the Wabash River near New Harmony, Indiana.-Wisconsin:The Fox River rises near...
s.
The Wisconsin Central Railway runs through the village center. This is a heavily used freight line which also carries 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...
commuter rail traffic from Antioch, Illinois
Antioch, Illinois
Antioch is a village in the Antioch Township of Lake County, Illinois, United States. The population was 14,430 at the 2010 census. Antioch is part of the Chicago metropolitan area.- Prior to incorporation :...
to the Chicago Loop
Chicago Loop
The Loop or Chicago Loop is one of 77 officially designated Chicago community areas located in the City of Chicago, Illinois. It is the historic commercial center of downtown Chicago...
.
Major streets
-
Milwaukee Avenue -
Grand Avenue - Grasslake Road
- Petite Lake Road
- Deep Lake Road
- Fairfield Road
- Cedar Lake Road
- Monaville Road
Demographics
As of the censusCensus
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
of 2000, there were 5,864 people, 2,052 households, and 1,594 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 1,024.4 people per square mile (395.8/km²). There were 2,135 housing units at an average density of 373.0 per square mile (144.1/km²). The racial makeup of the village was 92.94% White, 2.47% African American, 0.12% Native American, 1.64% Asian, 0.09% Pacific Islander, 0.89% 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 1.86% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.09% of the population.
There were 2,052 households out of which 45.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 67.9% were married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
living together, 7.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 22.3% were non-families. 17.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 6.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.81 and the average family size was 3.20.
In the village the population was spread out with 32.1% under the age of 18, 5.8% from 18 to 24, 37.8% from 25 to 44, 18.9% from 45 to 64, and 5.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females there were 99.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.5 males.
The median income for a household in the village was $65,078, and the median income for a family was $75,078. Males had a median income of $51,806 versus $36,961 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 $26,238. About 1.9% of families and 3.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 4.7% of those under age 18 and 7.3% of those age 65 or over.
Lake Villa has a significant Polish community, and the community has become considerably more diverse in recent years.
Elected officials
MayorFrank M. Loffredo
Trustees
Kathy Battistone
David Dykstra
Karen Harms
James MacDonald
Jeff Nielsen
Steve Trkla
History
Lake Villa's history began well over a century ago, before its incorporation on February 21, 1901. Originally settled in the early 19th century, Lake Villa was once a resort town where the affluent and many other tourists came to relax. Several of the early mansions built here at that time, still stand and are a rich part of our history.There's no doubt that the great E.J. Lehmann, Merchant Prince of State Street, had a profound impact on the history of Lake Villa. By bringing in the railroad and a resort hotel, the area was the "Lake Geneva
Lake Geneva, Wisconsin
Lake Geneva is a city in Walworth County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 7,148 at the 2000 census. A resort city located on Geneva Lake, it is southwest of Milwaukee and popular with tourists from metropolitan Chicago and Milwaukee.-History:...
" of its time. A depot was completed and the first passenger train stopped at Lake Villa on July 26, 1886. Passenger train service was reestablished on the Wisconsin Central in 1995. In 1996, the Lake Villa Train Station was reconstructed according to the original architectural plans. In On Mondays - Fridays, the single track is shared by 10 passenger trains a day and countless freights. Sidings added along the way are currently being connected to make a second track and seven-day service.
Ice cutting in the winter was one of Lake Villa's past industries. The Knickerbocker Ice Company built a plant (1888) on the south shore of Deep Lake with a railroad spur to the site. Blocks of ice were cut from the frozen area lakes and shipped by train to Chicago. Horses pulled huge double cut saws along the lakes and steam engines lifted the 22 inches (558.8 mm) blocks on 14 feet (4.3 m) high ropes and pulleys to the warehouse. Many local farmers worked the ice fields in the winter.
The town center at that time was along Route 83 at Cedar Avenue. The northeast corner had a meat market, a restaurant and Dixon's Sugar House. Just north was Lehmann's Lake Villa Hotel on the east shore of Cedar Lake, where Cedar Village now stands. The Methodist Episcopal Church of Lake Villa held the southwest corner, having been moved by wagon in 1892. The church is now a private residence. Across the street to the east were a post office, a livery stable and bus barn owned by E.J. Lehmann and John Stratton, offering horse drawn bus and carriage rides to local resorts from the train station and sight-seeing tours. To the east was the fabulous Lehmann home, a stucco castle built in 1888 overlooking Deep Lake. Just north of the Lehmann property were two more hotels; the Jarvis House and the Darby House. The local newspaper was called the Lake Villa Advocate.
Population from the Bureau of the Census Library shows an interesting growth pattern for the Village. In 1910 the population was 343. By 1920 it had grown to 407, which increased to 487 during the next 10 years. The Great Depression years saw a dip in the number of people living in Lake Villa, and by 1940, the figure had fallen to 439. A post war jump took place during the 1940s, and by 1950 the population had nearly doubled to 824. The increase continued and 1960 saw a population of 903. There are no famous people from Lake Villa.
Certificates in the Village files register growth at smaller intervals than the Census Bureau's regular decade counts. In 1966, the Village had a population of 1,024, which grew to 1,090 in the next five years. By 1981 the population stood at 1,462; 1987's count was 2,395; by 1989 the figure had climbed to 2,752; and in 1990, the population reached 2,857. A special census conducted by the Census Bureau in 1997 showed a population increase to 3,957; and in 2000 the population was 5,864. The 2004 special Census population is 7,994.
(This synopsis was provided by Debbie Effinger of the Village Hall of Lake Villa.)
Transportation
Lake Villa has a stationLake Villa (Metra)
Lake Villa is a station on Metra's North Central Service in Lake Villa, Illinois. The station is away from Union Station, the southern terminus of the line. In Metra's zone-based fare system, Lake Villa is in zone J.- External links :*...
on 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...
's North Central Service
North Central Service
The North Central Service is a commuter rail line provided and operated by Metra in Chicago, Illinois, and its surrounding suburbs. While Metra does not specifically refer to any of its lines by a particular color, the timetable accents for the North Central Service line are printed in light "Soo...
, which provides daily rail service between Antioch, Illinois
Antioch, Illinois
Antioch is a village in the Antioch Township of Lake County, Illinois, United States. The population was 14,430 at the 2010 census. Antioch is part of the Chicago metropolitan area.- Prior to incorporation :...
and Chicago, Illinois (at Union Station
Union Station (Chicago)
Union Station is a major train station that opened in 1925 in Chicago, replacing an earlier 1881 station. It is now the only intercity rail terminal in Chicago, as well as being the city's primary terminal for commuter trains. The station stands on the west side of the Chicago River between Adams...
).
Elementary School(s)
- Olive C. Martin Elementary (Grades PK-6)
- William L. Thompson Elementary Grades PK-6)
- B. J. Hooper Elementary (Grades PK-6)
- J.J Pleviak Elementary (Grades PK-6)
Documentation
Brysiewicz, Joseph W.Chicago's metropolitan fringe : Lake Villa, Illinois : the construction of multiple historical narratives
[Lake Forest, Illinois : Lake Forest College,] 2001.
Brysiewicz, Joseph W.
Lake Villa Township, Illinois
Chicago : Arcadia Publications, 2001.
Encyclopedia of Chicago / edited by James R. Grossman, Ann Durkin Keating & Janice L. Reiff
Chicago : University of Chicago Press, 2004]
Lake Villa then and now : centennial history of Lake Villa, Illinois, 1901 - 2001 / compiled and edited by Candace M. Saunders and Julianne Kloc Trychta
Lake Villa, Illinois : Village of Lake Villa, Illinois, 2001.
City-Data.org