Elmwood Park

Sister cities

• Frosinone

History

Elmwood Park was incorporated as a village in early April 1914 in order to prevent annexation by the greater city of Chicago. Today, one can still see evidence of a minority of landowners, or share farmers, who voted for annexation to the city in 1915 by the odd chunk taken out of Elmwood Park's northeast corner, which kept the community from achieving a full square rectangular border. At the turn of the century, urban dwellers would take a train on the Milwaukee Road, (which is now Canadian Pacific) westward out of the harsh concrete city for family picnics at the "Elm-Wood-Park", which was an ancient "grove of majestic 180 year old Elms" found near 72nd Ave/Harlem and Irving Park Road. Taking advantage of the park's provenance, a new cemetery was named Elmwood, while the closest train stop to both cemetery and park in unincorporated Marwood/Ellsworth became identified with the official name of "Elmwood Park". During the pressure era of incorporation a decade later, the village's founding representatives thought it most ideal to legally title the community after the stop, and after the namesake elm, which is a native, locally evolved, riparian prairie "bottomland" tree species. Russell's Barbecue, the oldest continuously operating barbecue restaurant in Chicagoland, is located in Elmwood Park.

Geography

According to the 2021 census gazetteer files, Elmwood Park has a total area of , all land.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  146,433
• House Sparrow

  Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  143,418
• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  127,953
• Canada Goose (canadensis Group)

  Branta canadensis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  100,694
• Mallard

  Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  93,019
• Ring-billed Gull

  Larus delawarensis Ord, 1815 · Aves
  82,469
• European Starling

  Sturnus vulgaris Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  81,666
• Red-winged Blackbird

  Agelaius phoeniceus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  81,233

Largest nearby schools

• Lane Technical High School
  High · Chicago · 4,496 students · 17.4:1 ratio
• Taft High School
  High · Chicago · 4,464 students · 16.6:1 ratio
• Lyons Twp High Sch
  High · La Grange · 3,842 students · 15:1 ratio
• J Sterling Morton West High Sch
  High · Berwyn · 3,533 students · 17.2:1 ratio
• J Sterling Morton East High Sch
  High · Cicero · 3,445 students · 20.4:1 ratio
• Oak Park & River Forest High Sch
  High · Oak Park · 3,304 students · 14.1:1 ratio
• Curie Metropolitan High School
  High · Chicago · 3,178 students · 16.5:1 ratio
• Niles West High School
  High · Skokie · 2,609 students · 14.2:1 ratio

Most recent

• M 2.9 — 2026-07-08
  21 km ENE of Kenilworth, 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
• M 3.8 — 2010-02-10
  2 km NW of Lily Lake, Illinois