-
- Town
13,247
98%
$184,412
79.5%
America/Chicago
60558
Welcome:
The WikiXM 'Western Springs' platform is your gateway to becoming an active part of our vibrant community, regardless of your age or how long you've called 'Western Springs' home. It's more than just a news platform; it's a thriving hub where the collective wisdom of every 'Western Springs' resident converges to ignite discussions, foster learning, and empower one another with knowledge about our beloved town.
Here in 'Western Springs', we have a diverse tapestry of residents. Some have roots that run deep, their knowledge steeped in the rich history of our town. Others are students, dedicated to keeping us updated on school activities, while many are committed to sharing the ebb and flow of daily life.
What's more, from a civic and political perspective, there are countless opportunities for you to join in. Many in our community offer updates on policies and decisions, offering their unique insights. This platform is where all these local perspectives meld together, creating a better place for everyone to live, regardless of your age or how long you've been a part of 'Western Springs'.
So, whether you're a long-time resident or a newcomer, young or old, WikiXM is your invitation to dive into the heart of our community, to engage, and help us all create a more vibrant, inclusive, and connected 'Western Springs'. Join us and let's make a difference together!
Western Springs, IL - History
We would like to provide the residents of Western Springs a basic history overview.
Welcome to the Western Springs Home page. The Western Springs Home page provides as much information as possible on Western Springs. Knowing Western Springs’s history is essential to guiding its future. Within Western Springs’s Home page, you will also find Western Springs’s Founders, Holiday, and Birthday sections.
Western Springs has a population of 13247. 50.3% of Western Springs’s inhabitants are Male, and 49.7 are female. 71.1% of Western Springs is married and 97.6% own their own home. The Average Home price is $603,555, and the average rent is $2,036. Household median income in Western Springs is $184,412, and the individual median income is $74,179. Western Springs’s Ethnic is the following: White(95.4%), Hispanic(4.8%), Multiple(1.9%), Black(1.1%), Asian(1%), Native(0.5%), Other(0.1%).
Western Springs, an affluent suburb located along the Burlington Northern Santa Fe (formerly the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad) between Chicago and Aurora, encompasses roughly the area between Willow Springs Road (Gilbert Avenue), Ogden Avenue, Interstate 294, and West Plainfield Road. Named for local mineral springs on the southwest side of town, Western Springs originally consisted of flat prairie land with a swamp on its western border. Around the turn of the 18th century, nomadic Potawatomi Native Americans settled in the Western Springs area.
Whether they built a village is unclear, but evidence of temporary campsites has been found near Flagg Creek in Forest Hills. The natives were gone by the end of 1835, but Potawatomi artifacts may still be found buried in the Springdale neighborhood. The last Cook County campground of the Potawatomi was within what is now the Timber Trails subdivision. The first known settler in the area near Western Springs was Elijah Wentworth.
By 1834, after the Black Hawk War, farmer Joseph Vial had moved from New York and built a cabin along what is now Plainfield Road, a former Native American trail in the south of Western Springs. This cabin served as a stagecoach station, hotel, general store, and post office for the entire area. In 1872, Hill moved to the area from Chicago, and the community began organizing to attract more commuters.
Residents built a wooden schoolhouse (1872) and a post office (1873). The CB&Q Railroad built a line through Western Springs in 1863, filling in much of the westside swamp in the process. In 1870, the Western Springs Land Association, consisting of promoter Thomas Clarkson Hill, William Page and two sons of Phillip F.
W. Peck, bought the three tracts that make up the area for $105,000. In 1885, the Grand Avenue School replaced the wooden schoolhouse, and the office of village marshal was created as a combination policeman, dogcatcher, and groundskeeper. In 1886, the Friend's Church (razed in 1958) was built on the corner of Walnut and Woodland.
That same year, Western Springs incorporated as a village by a public vote of 34 to 25. The voting townspeople elected a prominent Quaker developer, T. C. Hill, as the town's first president.A large number of early residents were Quakers, and deeds often prohibited the sale of alcohol. (Until recently, the village itself had not permitted the sale of alcoholic beverages but currently a number of establishments do sell such.) Over time, with increased commuter settlement, Western Springs came to look less and less Quaker. After the spring dried up in 1890, the village hired engineers Edgar and Benezette Williams to build the village waterworks system, including the famous water tower.
Constructed using Naperville stone, the tower stood 112 feet (34 m) high. Replaced in 1962, it became a museum in 1970 and entered the National Register of Historic Places in 1981. Western Springs added many improvements over the years, including a fire department (1894), electric plant (1898), telephones (1899), a park district (1923), and a library (1926).
The village expanded south of 47th Street, annexing the subdivisions of Forest Hills (1927), Springdale (1955), and Ridgewood (1973). On March 21, 2005, the Village of Western Springs annexed the former Timber Trails golf course, which is now being developed into a new community of single-family homes and townhomes.
The property added 105.9 acres (0.429 km2) to the village.
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Western Springs, IL - Holidays
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