Libertyville

History

The land that is now Libertyville was the property of the Illinois River Potawatomi Indians until August 1829, when economic and resource pressures forced the tribe to sell much of their land in northern Illinois to the U.S. government for $12,000 cash, an additional $12,000 in goods, plus an annual delivery of 50 barrels of salt. Pursuant to the treaty, the Potawatomi left their lands by the mid-1830s, and by 1835 the future Libertyville had its first recorded non-indigenous resident, George Vardin. Said to be a "well-educated" English immigrant with a wife and a young daughter, Vardin lived in a cabin located where the Cook Park branch of the Cook Memorial Public Library District stands today. Though he apparently moved on to the west that same year, the settlement that grew up around his cabin was initially known as Vardin's Grove. In 1836, during the celebrations that marked the 60th anniversary of the U.S. Declaration of Independence, the community voted to name itself Independence Grove. 1837 brought the town's first practicing physician, Jesse Foster, followed quickly by its first lawyer, Horace Butler, for whom Butler Lake is named. Libertyville's most prominent building, the Cook Mansion, was built in 1879 by Ansel Brainerd Cook, very close to the spot where Vardin's cabin was built in the 1830s. Cook, a teacher and stonemason, became a prominent Chicago builder and politician, providing flagstones for the city's sidewalks and taking part in rebuilding after the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. The two-story Victorian mansion served as Cook's summer home as well as the center of his horse farm, which provided animals for Chicago's horsecar lines. The building was remodeled in 1921, when it became the town library, gaining a Colonial-style facade with a pillared…

Geography

According to the 2021 census gazetteer files, Libertyville has a total area of , of which (or 96.19%) is land and (or 3.81%) is water. The Des Plaines River forms much of the eastern boundary of the village. Other bodies of water include Butler Lake, Liberty Lake, and Lake Minear. Libertyville's main street is Milwaukee Avenue (Illinois Route 21). The main automobile route to Chicago is via Interstate 94 (the Tri-State Tollway and the Edens Expressway); Chicago's Loop is approximately 45 minutes away. The main Metra rail station sits at the northern edge of downtown off Milwaukee Avenue, and serves the Milwaukee District North Line running from Union Station in Chicago to Fox Lake. The same line is served by another Metra station at Prairie Crossing, near the boundary of Libertyville and Grayslake. Prairie Crossing station also serves Metra's North Central Service, with service from Union Station to Antioch.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  42,986
• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  38,237
• Red-winged Blackbird

  Agelaius phoeniceus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  36,858
• Canada Goose (canadensis Group)

  Branta canadensis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  34,577
• Black-capped Chickadee

  Poecile atricapillus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  34,205
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  34,182
• American Goldfinch

  Spinus tristis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  34,021
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  33,671

Largest nearby schools

• Adlai E Stevenson High School
  High · Lincolnshire · 4,489 students · 17.8:1 ratio
• Waukegan High School
  High · Waukegan · 4,355 students · 17.3:1 ratio
• Warren Township High School
  High · Gurnee · 3,758 students · 17.4:1 ratio
• Round Lake Senior High School
  High · Round Lake · 2,258 students · 14.2:1 ratio
• Mundelein Cons High School
  High · Mundelein · 2,212 students · 16.6:1 ratio
• Libertyville High School
  High · Libertyville · 1,811 students · 13.8:1 ratio
• Lake Zurich High School
  High · Lake Zurich · 1,804 students · 14.3:1 ratio
• Woodland Middle School
  Middle · Gurnee · 1,668 students · 12.8:1 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