Arlington Heights, Illinois

Pre-settlement history

The land that is now the Village of Arlington Heights was controlled by the Miami Confederacy (which contained the Illini and Kickapoo tribes) starting in the early 1680s. The Confederacy was driven from the area by the Iroquois and Meskwaki in the early 1700s.

The French-allied Potawatomi began to raid and take possession of Northern Illinois in the 1700s. In the late 1700s and early 1800s, the Potawatomi expanded southwards from their territory in Green Bay and westward from their holdings near Detroit, until they controlled in an L-shaped swath of territory from Green Bay to the Illinois River, and from the Mississippi River to the Maumee River.^[6]

Throughout the 1830s, the Potawatomi maintained a camp in modern-day Arlington Heights that was used for six weeks out of the year as the Potawatomi migrated from their summer encampments to their winter encampments.^[7]

In 1833, the Potawatomi signed the 1833 Treaty of Chicago with the United States Government. As a result of the Treaty, the United States was granted control of all land west of Lake Michigan and east of Lake Winnebago in exchange for a tract of land west of the Mississippi. The land that is now Arlington Heights was ceded to the U.S. in this treaty, which sparked mass white immigration to the Northern Illinois area. The U.S. Government purchased the land for about 15 cents per acre, and then resold it to white settlers for 1.25 dollars per acre.^[8]

The Potawatomi would occasionally return to their holdings in Northern Illinois to honor their buried ancestors, but these return visits ended as old villages and burial sites were destroyed by settlers to make way for farming.

The descendants of the Potawatomi who once inhabited the land that is now Arlington Heights currently live on a reservation in Mayette, Kansas.^[9]

West Wheeling

Many prominent roads in the Arlington Heights area were built on top of Native American trails: Rand Road was built on top of a Native trail which passed by the property of Socrates Rand, who built a tavern near a crossing on the Des Plaines River. Arlington Heights Road was developed from a Native trail that ran from what was once called Naper Settlement (now Naperville) to what was once called Indian Creek (now Half Day).

Around the same time, a trading post was established in the Southwest corner of the township by Frederick T. Miner, the cabins established near Miner's trading post came to be known as West Wheeling.

Dunton

In 1837, Asa Dunton, a settler who built one of the first cabins in what was then known as Deer Grove, registered three land claims for himself and two sons in the land in the west of Wheeling Township.

In 1845, Asa's eldest son, William Dunton, married Almeda Wood and brought her to the house he built beside the Potawatomi trail which then became known as Dunton's Road (and is now known as Arlington Heights Road). West Wheeling then became known as Dunton. The town's name changed several times before it officially became known as Arlington Heights in 1874.^[7]

William Dunton persuaded the Illinois & Wisconsin Railroad company to build track through his property. In 1853, Dunton sold 16 acres of his land to the company for $350. The first Dunton train station was built in 1854. The construction of the railroad helped to expand the population of Dunton, as it was easier for settlers to reach the village.

By 1850, the area had largely changed its ethnic composition, as many German farmers from Saxony had arrived during the 1840s. John Klehm might serve as an example; he was at first a potato farmer, supplying the Chicago market, and in 1856 began a nursery for cherry, apple, and pear trees, later moving into spruce, maple, and elm, and then flowers. By the late 1850s the area had become noted for its truck farms, sending dairy products as well as vegetables to Chicago on the railroad.^[10]

During the Civil War, Chicago experienced a population boom, and many migrants moved to villages surrounding Chicago such as Dunton. Dunton also saw an influx of German immigration. By the 1870s, Dunton's population had surpassed 1200.

The Civil War

Several Dunton residents served in the Civil War, however only three of those residents who left for the war returned. One of the survivors, a recently naturalized Alsatian named Charles Sigwalt (namesake of Sigwalt Street), fought at the Battle of Chickamauga and the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain.^[11]

Balaam Lee was the first Black person to live in Dunton (before the town was called Arlington Heights). He was a formerly enslaved man who followed a returning Union soldier from the Civil War to Dunton in the 1860s. He was born in the 1830s and died in 1894. In Dunton/Arlington Heights, he worked at Klehm’s Nursery and also worked as a mule driver.^[12][13]

Warren Kennicott (namesake of Kennicott Avenue) was killed in action at the Battle of Gettysburg.

During the Civil War, Arlington Heights was a stop for many Union soldiers travelling South to fight the Confederacy or traveling North to fight in the Dakota War.^[7]

Arlington Heights

Dunton slowly grew after the Civil War, acquiring a blacksmith, a cheese factory, a hardware store, and a hotel. In 1874, the town's name was officially changed to Arlington Heights.^[14]

In 1878, Civil War veteran Charles Sigwalt and his brother John founded the Sigwalt Sewing Machine Company, which made 40,000 machines from the period of 1878 to 1883. The company was destroyed by a fire in 1895.^[11]

One of Arlington Heights’ first Black residents was Frank White (1862-1953). He moved to Arlington Heights in 1888 with his wife, Fanny White and lived on Dunton Avenue. Frank White owned five successful barber shops. In 1894, Arlington Heights’ first fire department formed during the tenure of Mayor Charles Sigwalt. Frank White was a charter member of the fire department and he also was elected its first President. White was involved with the fire department for 40 years, serving as a historian. Frank White lived with his wife Fanny (an artist) in Arlington Heights for 58 years.^[15][16][17]

Arlington Heights was an early commuter suburb.

Religious heritage

The town developed religious institutions that reflected the origins of its citizens. The first churches were Presbyterian (1856) and Methodist (1858), with St. Peter Lutheran Church, a German Lutheran church, following in 1860. Today, the village has many Roman Catholics, boasting three very large churches: St. James (founded 1902—now home to 4,600 registered families), St. Edna (2,800 registered families), and Our Lady of the Wayside (3,100 registered households), in addition to several large Lutheran churches, Evangelicals and several other Protestant churches, including two United Churches of Christ, an Episcopal Church and a Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).

Arlington Park Racetrack

By the start of the 20th century Arlington Heights had about 1,400 inhabitants, and it continued to grow slowly with a good many farms and greenhouses after World War II. By then Arlington Heights was also known for Arlington Park, a racetrack founded in 1927 by the California millionaire Harry D. "Curly" Brown upon land formerly consisting of 12 farms. Camp McDonald and two country clubs were founded in the 1930s. On July 31, 1985, a fire burned down the grandstand. The current six-story grandstand was completed and opened for use June 28, 1989.

In February 2021, the track's owners, Churchill Downs Inc., announced that they would sell the site for redevelopment, which would draw in many new developers.^[18] In June 2021, the Chicago Bears of the National Football League emerged as prospective buyers of Arlington Park, raising speculation that they would leave Soldier Field (their current home stadium in downtown Chicago) and build a new stadium on the site, either alongside or directly atop the track.^[19] On September 29, 2021, the Bears and Churchill Downs reached a $197.2 million purchase and sell agreement for the property where the new stadium would be built.^[20][21] In September 2025, the Bears confirmed that their new stadium is planned for Arlington Heights.^[22]

Population increase

A population explosion took place in the 1950s and 1960s, when the spread of automobile ownership, together with the expansion of the Chicago-area economy, the baby boom, and white flight from the city, drove the number of people in Arlington Heights—expanded by a series of annexations—up to 64,884 by 1970. By then virtually all the available land had been taken up, and the formerly isolated depot stop found itself part of a continuous built-up area stretching from Lake Michigan to the Fox River.^[23]

Village of Arlington Heights v. Metropolitan Housing Development Corp

Village of Arlington Heights v. Metropolitan Housing Development Corp., 429 U.S. 252 (1977), was a United States Supreme Court case about housing discrimination. The case involved an Arlington Heights zoning board decision denying a zoning variance to build a multi-family housing complex on property owned by the Clerics of St. Viator near Saint Viator High School. The Village argued that the zoning board blocked construction to "protect property values and the integrity of the Village's zoning plan," which only allowed single-family homes in the neighborhood. The developer argued that the intent and practical effect of preventing the development was to maintain racial segregation. The Court held that the ordinance was constitutional because there was no proof that "discriminatory purpose was a motivating factor in the Village's decision."^[24]

Climate

Arlington Heights is in the Hot-summer humid continental climate, or Köppen Dfa zone.^[27] The zone includes four distinct seasons. Winter is cold with snow. Spring warms up with precipitation and storms. Summer has high precipitation and storms. Fall cools down.^[28]

Racial and ethnic composition

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, Arlington Heights had a population of 77,676 people. The median age was 43.0 years. 21.3% of residents were under the age of 18 and 20.0% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 93.5 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 90.5 males age 18 and over.^[34][35]

100.0% of residents lived in urban areas, while 0.0% lived in rural areas.^[36]

The population density was 4,669.15 inhabitants per square mile (1,802.77/km²). There were 33,356 housing units at an average density of 2,005.05 per square mile (774.15/km²). Of all housing units, 4.7% were vacant. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.2% and the rental vacancy rate was 7.6%.^[34]

There were 31,782 households and 19,988 families in Arlington Heights. Of those households, 29.0% had children under the age of 18 living in them. 55.4% were married-couple households, 15.2% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 25.3% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 29.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.^[34]

Income and poverty

The median income for a household in the village was $100,221, and the median income for a family was $126,753. Males had a median income of $71,416 versus $51,319 for females. The per capita income for the village was $51,340. About 2.6% of families and 4.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 1.6% of those under age 18 and 8.5% of those age 65 or over.

Top employers

According to the Village's 2017 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report,^[37] the top employers in the city are:

Entertainment venues

From 1964 to 1970, Arlington Heights served as the home to The Cellar. The club was located in an unused warehouse on Davis Street, along the Chicago and Northwestern railroad tracks. Founded by local record store owner Paul Sampson, The Cellar offered live rock and blues bands for its mostly teenage audience to listen and to dance. It hosted a wealth of regional bands and repeat performers, such as The Shadows of Knight, The Mauds, H. P. Lovecraft, and Ted Nugent. It also hosted a significant array of national and international rock bands as well, including The Who, The Byrds, Buffalo Springfield, Cream, and The Spencer Davis Group.^[38]

Entertainment venues include the Metropolis Performing Arts Centre in downtown Arlington Heights, which opened in 1999. The Metropolis Performing Arts Centre includes live entertainment as well as arts education. The facility includes a 350-seat theatre, ballroom and classrooms for music and theatre. Music venue Hey Nonny opened in 2018.

Notable landmarks and establishments

• Lake Arlington
• Mitsuwa Marketplace - Chicago

Primary and secondary schools

Public elementary schools and middle schools that serve most of the city are operated by Arlington Heights School District 25.^[44] Portions of the city are also served by Prospect Heights School District 23, Wheeling School District 21, Community Consolidated School District 59 and Community Consolidated School District 15. Seventeen elementary schools and nine middle schools serve sections of Arlington Heights.^[45][46]

Public high schools serving most of the community are operated by Township High School District 214. There is one public high school in the city, John Hersey High School. Other District 214 high schools serving sections of the city are: Buffalo Grove, Prospect, Rolling Meadows, and Wheeling. Portions of the city are also served by Palatine High School (Palatine, Illinois) in Township High School District 211.^[47] During peak enrollment from the 1960s to the 1980s, there were three public high schools in Arlington Heights: Hersey, Arlington High School, and Forest View High School.^{[citation needed]}

Arlington High School was the original high school founded in 1922, but was closed in 1984, and is now the private Christian Liberty Academy. Forest View High School was closed in 1986, but serves as the administration center for the district. Today Arlington Heights high school students attend Rolling Meadows High School, Prospect High School, John Hersey High School and Buffalo Grove High School, with small portions attending Wheeling High School, Elk Grove High School, and Palatine High School (Palatine, Illinois).^[48]

Public elementary schools located in the Village include Dryden (D25), Greenbrier (D25), Ivy Hill (D25), Olive Mary Stitt (D25), Patton (D25), Westgate (D25), Windsor (D25), Juliette Low (D59), Poe (D21), and Riley (D21). Portions of the Village are also served by Fairview (D57), Forest View (D59), Lake Louise (D15), Longfellow (SD21), Dwight D. Eisenhower Elementary School (D23), Betsy Ross (D23), Ann Sullivan (D23), Willow Bend (D15), and Winston School (D15). ^[49]

Public Middle schools located in the Village include South Middle School (SD25), and Thomas Middle School (SD25). Portions of the Village are also served by Carl Sandburg (CCSD 15), Cooper (CCSD21), MacArthur Middle School (SD23), Holmes Jr. High (CCSD59), Lincoln (SD 57), London (CCSD21), and Walter R. Sundling (CCSD 15) ^[50]

There are also several private schools in Arlington Heights, such as St. Viator High School, Our Lady of Wayside School, St. James School, St. Peter Lutheran School and Christian Liberty Academy.^{[citation needed]} Chicago Futabakai Japanese School, which offers day classes for Japanese students as well as weekend supplemental instruction, is located in Arlington Heights, in a former middle school. It moved there from Niles in 1998.^[51]