| Lake in the Hills, Illinois history traces back
200 years when tribes of Potawatomi Indians built villages along the banks
of the Fox River in Algonquin. White settlers arrived in 1834; nine years
later the residents named their town Algonquin, an Indian word meaning
"across the water." As more and more settlers came, they established
sawmills and milk processing enterprises. When the Fox Valley Railroad
arrived in 1855, Algonquin grew as its industries found a means of
transporting their goods to Chicago. Trains also brought city dwellers to
this country oasis, and between 1906 and 1913 Algonquin was host to one of
America’s earliest auto racing events, "Algonquin Hill Climbs." Eight
hundred and fifty people called Algonquin home during the late 1920s. The
post World War II building and population boom increased the population and
brought about the construction of schools, churches, schools, homes, and
commercial buildings. As more and more people discovered this treasure of a
town, the population grew to over 2,000 by 1960. During the past 40 years,
the population has steadily increased, as land was annexed and subdivisions
were built. Today, almost 23,000 people reside in Algonquin.
Formerly a farm community, Lake in the Hills became a haven for summer
visitors after Judge Walter J. La Buy purchased land around Woods Creek and
built five homes for his children along the south side of the lake. During
his ownership, La Buy planted stands of pine and oak and dammed the creek to
create Wood’s Creek Lake, now the Village’s main lake. In the 1940s, Raymond
Platt, affiliated with Dearborn Builders of Chicago, bought land from La Buy
and built a summer home which became an all-season residence in 1947. Many
of the areas other summer visitors converted cottages to year-round homes
and joined the community permanently. In 1947, Platt formed the Lake in the
Hills Development Corporation and began developing land and building homes.
In September of 1950 Lake in the Hills’ residents formed the Property Owners
Association to look into ways to maintain roadways. In 1952, Lake in the
Hills was formally chartered and incorporated as a village. During the last
half of the 20th century, attracted by the Village’s rural setting and
natural environs, more than 21,000 have come to reside in the Village of
Lake in the Hills. |
