Carol Stream

History

In 1853, St. John Wahlund Catholic Church was built in what was then referred to as Gretna. The church was closed in 1867. When St. Michael's was opened in Wheaton in 1872, St. Stephen's parishioners were transferred to that parish. The church building was dismantled sometime in the late 19th century. St. Stephen's Cemetery was located adjacent to the church building and was last used for burial in 1910. St. Stephen's Cemetery (located north of the Great Western Trail behind the Ozinga concrete plant on St. Charles Road) was rededicated 100 years later on September 12, 2010. In 1952, a farm from the area was featured on NBC; it was the site for the first outdoor telecast by the network in 1954. A common misconception is that the municipality of Carol Stream was named for a local minor waterway. In fact, Carol Stream is one of the few communities in America that took its name from the first and last names of a living person: Carol Stream, the daughter of its founder Jay Stream. Carol Stream herself moved to Arizona as an adult, living there until her death on January 18, 2020. Jay W. Stream (April 17, 1921 – January 22, 2006), a military veteran who had previously sold insurance and ready-mix concrete, was in the mid-1950s heading Durable Construction Company. He became frustrated with red tape while negotiating a planned 350–400 home subdivision in nearby Naperville, Illinois. A Naperville clerk reportedly advised Stream to "build your own town", and in 1957, Stream began buying unincorporated farmland outside Wheaton. He hoped to allow people to work in the town they lived in, rather than have to commute to Chicago. On August 26, 1957, Carol and three friends were returning from Racine, Wisconsin, in a 1949 Studebaker. While attempting to cross U.S. Route 45…

Geography

According to the 2021 census gazetteer files, Carol Stream has a total area of , of which (or 96.64%) is land and (or 3.36%) is water.

Race & ethnicity

Largest nearby schools

• York Comm High School
  High · Elmhurst · 2,707 students · 15.3:1 ratio
• Lake Park High School
  High · Roselle · 2,560 students · 15.1:1 ratio
• Naperville North High School
  High · Naperville · 2,553 students · 14:1 ratio
• Glenbard West High School
  High · Glen Ellyn · 2,324 students · 17.7:1 ratio
• Glenbard East High School
  High · Lombard · 2,275 students · 16.5:1 ratio
• Glenbard North High School
  High · Carol Stream · 2,162 students · 15.6:1 ratio
• Bartlett High School
  High · Bartlett · 2,122 students · 15.5:1 ratio
• West Chicago Comm High School
  High · West Chicago · 2,076 students · 15:1 ratio