Antioch

History

The Pottawatomi Tribe historically inhabited in the area of present-day Antioch prior to European settlement. The tribe was pushed to the west by European/American encroachment in the 1830s although remnants can still be found today. The first permanent European settlements in the region were along the creek, named as "Sequoit" which means "winding". Darius and Thomas Gage brothers built the first cabin. After building a sawmill by Hiram Buttrick on Sequoit Creek, a tributary of the Fox River, the region became a center of commerce. In 1843, new settlers gave a biblical name "Antioch" to the region and started a school. The town grew as new settlers, primarily of English and German descent, established farms and businesses. In 1976, a replica of Buttrick's mill was built a few hundred feet downstream from where it once stood. Today, many local businesses and organizations as well as Antioch Community High School use the name "Sequoit". Partly due to being a regional center of the abolitionist movement, Antioch is noted as having sent a disproportionately high number of its young men to the Union Army. By the late 1800s, Antioch became a popular vacation spot for Chicagoans and tourism grew quickly once the rail line to Chicago was laid in 1886. Fire destroyed much of downtown in 1891, 1903, and 1904. During Prohibition, Al Capone owned a summer home on nearby Bluff Lake. Following World War II, Antioch continued to see a steady population and economic increase, and an industrial park was created in the 1970s. Today, Antioch serves as a bedroom community within the Chicago metropolitan and Milwaukee metropolitan area.

Geography

Antioch is approximately halfway between Chicago and Milwaukee. According to the 2021 census gazetteer files, Antioch has a total area of , of which (or 95.49%) is land and (or 4.51%) is water. The village lies in a gently rolling moraine landscape, dominated by lakes of glacial origin. Among these are the Antioch Lake, south of the village center, Lake Marie, west of the village center and the Redwing Slough Lake, east of the village center. There are several smaller lakes and ponds, and a complement of wetlands. Like Chicago, Antioch lies in a humid continental climate zone and experiences four distinct seasons. Antioch receives an average of of precipitation each year.

Race & ethnicity