Bolingbrook

Sister cities

• Sialkot
• Xuchang
• San Pablo

History

Bolingbrook is a suburb of Chicago incorporated in 1965. Similar to the neighboring village of Woodridge, almost all of the businesses, homes, churches and other buildings in Bolingbrook were built after 1960. The first settlement in what is now Bolingbrook was established in 1831, but the informal farming villages remained unincorporated for over 130 years. The area that is now Bolingbrook is located in the heart of the Gateway Wetlands, which begin in Downers Grove and end just north of the Joliet city limits. The tiny Boardman Cemetery, in what is now the Heritage Creek subdivision, contains the remains of some of these early residents. Modern Bolingbrook has its roots in the housing boom of the 1950s. The first subdivision in Bolingbrook, known as Westbury, was immediately west of Route 53. A second subdivision, known as Colonial Village, followed on the far east side of Route 53. The village continued to grow steadily for the remainder of the 1960s, reaching a population of 7,000 by 1970. The 1970s were the first period of rapid growth in Bolingbrook, during which its population quintupled to reach over 37,000 by 1980. Much of this growth was as much due to mass annexation as well as raw population growth; the population of Bolingbrook by the 1970 census but with its 1980 land boundary was approximately 25,000, further reflecting the vigorous annexation that took place during the 1970s. By 1990, Bolingbrook's population had only increased by about 10% from the previous decade, to about 41,000.

Geography

Bolingbrook is approximately 28 miles southwest of Downtown Chicago. According to the 2021 census gazetteer files, Bolingbrook has a total area of , of which (or 99.18%) is land and (or 0.82%) is water. Bolingbrook borders the communities of Woodridge, Romeoville, Plainfield, Naperville, and Darien. Interstate 55, locally the Stevenson Expressway, runs through the village's southern part, heading northeast toward Chicago and southwest toward Plainfield and Joliet. Interstate 355, also known as the Veterans Memorial Tollway (formerly the North-South Tollway), runs along the far east side of the village between New Lenox and Addison. Illinois Route 53, locally known as Bolingbrook Drive, runs north–south through the middle of the village. Other main streets in Bolingbrook include Boughton Road, Lily Cache Lane, Weber Road, Veterans Parkway (formerly Naperville Road), Briarcliff Road, Hassert Boulevard (formerly 111th Street), Rodeo Drive (formerly 119th Street), Schmidt Road, Crossroads Parkway, and Remington Boulevard. Bolingbrook is in the Hot-summer humid continental climate, or Köppen Dfa zone. 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.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  63,132
• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  56,849
• Red-winged Blackbird

  Agelaius phoeniceus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  49,003
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  47,847
• Canada Goose (canadensis Group)

  Branta canadensis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  46,571
• Black-capped Chickadee

  Poecile atricapillus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  45,312
• American Goldfinch

  Spinus tristis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  45,138
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  43,684

Largest nearby schools

• Lockport Township High Sch East
  High · Lockport · 3,872 students · 17.2:1 ratio
• Bolingbrook High School
  High · Bolingbrook · 3,405 students · 14.8:1 ratio
• Neuqua Valley High School
  High · Naperville · 3,156 students · 14.9:1 ratio
• Plainfield North High School
  High · Plainfield · 2,377 students · 17.9:1 ratio
• Plainfield High School
  High · Plainfield · 1,986 students · 16.3:1 ratio
• Plainfield East High School
  High · Plainfield · 1,961 students · 16.2:1 ratio
• Romeoville High School
  High · Romeoville · 1,922 students · 13.6:1 ratio
• Scullen Middle School
  Middle · Naperville · 935 students · 14.6:1 ratio

Most recent

• M 2.9 — 2026-07-08
  21 km ENE of Kenilworth, Illinois
• M 2.6 — 2025-03-15
  6 km W of Dwight, Illinois
• M 3.1 — 2024-07-15
  2 km WNW of Somonauk, Illinois
• M 2.9 — 2015-03-25
  3 km WNW of Lake in the Hills, Illinois
• M 3.2 — 2013-11-04
  1 km SSW of Lyons, Illinois
• M 2.6 — 2013-06-10
  4 km NNE of Virgil, Illinois