Barrington, Illinois

Chicagoland municipality
muni-name = Barrington
muni = Village
date = 1865
state = Illinois
county = Cook
county2 = Lake
township = Barrington
gov = President-trustee government|President-trustee
head_label = President
gov_head = Karen Darch
pop = 10,168
density-km = 853.5
density-mi = 2,211.7
status = up
percent = 7.00
prevyear = 1990
white = 96.16
black = 0.62
hispanic = 2.33
asian = 2.00
islander = 0.01
native = 0.13
other = 0.31
zips = 60010, 60011
acode = 847 and 224
area-km = 11.9
area-mi = 4.6
coords = coor dms|42|9|13|N|88|7|55|W|city
pci = 43,942
geocode = 03844
mhi = 82,925
mnhv = 327,200
mhv = 350,800 (2000)
website = www.ci.barrington.il.us

Barrington is a village in Cook County, Illinois and Lake County, Illinois. The population was 10,168 at the 2000 census. Barrington is part of the greater Chicago metropolitan area.

Located 35 miles northwest of Chicago, The Village of Barrington serves as the geographic center of the 72 square mile Barrington Community Unit School District 220. There are large areas of wetlands, forest preserves, parks and horse trails in the country-suburban setting.

The Barrington area ZIP code, 60010, is the seventh wealthiest ZIP code with a population of 20,000 or more in the country. [http://wealth.mongabay.com/tables/100_wealthiest_zip_codes-20000.html Retrieved Dec. 11, 2007] The area includes the towns of Barrington, South Barrington, North Barrington, Barrington Hills, Lake Barrington, Tower Lakes, Port Barrington, and small portions of Deer Park, Hoffman Estates, and Inverness.

Geography

Barrington is located at coor dms|42|9|13|N|88|7|55|W|city (42.153489, -88.131943).GR|1

According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 4.8 square miles (12.4 km²), of which, 4.6 square miles (11.9 km²) of it is land and 0.2 square miles (0.4 km²) of it (3.56%) is water.

History

Pioneers who traveled from Troy, New York, by way of Fort Dearborn-newly renamed the City of Chicago-set down their roots in what was to be Cuba Township in Lake County. Others, primarily from Vermont, upper New York State and Massachusetts, most notably from that state's Great Barrington in Berkshire County, settled in what is now Cook County. Their settlement was originally called Miller Grove but was later renamed Barrington Center. It was established at the point where Sutton Road crosses Illinois Route 68. [http://www.ci.barrington.il.us/Community/HistoryOfBarrington.html Retrieved Sept. 24, 2006]

William Butler Ogden became interested in connecting the developing northwest to Chicago's growing port facilities. He gained control of the Chicago, St. Paul & Fond du Lac Railroad (later the Chicago & North Western Railway) in 1854 and pushed its tracks to the northwest corner of Cook County, where a station named Deer Grove was built.

Many area farmers feared the railroad would bring too many saloons and Irish Catholics to the area. In response to the opposition, Robert Campbell, a civil engineer working for the Fond du Lac line, purchased a farm two miles northwest of Deer Grove and platted a community there in 1854. At Campbell's request, the railroad moved the station building to his new community, which he called Barrington after Great Barrington, Massachusetts, the original home of a number of area farmers.

The prosperity of the Civil War era increased Barrington's population to 300 in 1863. In order to provide a tax mechanism to finance improvements, Barrington incorporated on February 16, 1865. Homer Willmarth became the first village president. The village prospered as many Chicago grain merchants whose homes were destroyed in the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 decided to construct opulent Queen Anne–style residences along Barrington's tree-shaded streets.

Although the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Railway was built through Barrington in 1889, the village continued to serve agriculturally based trading interests into the twentieth century. Dairy farming was the major activity on the meadows and woodlots surrounding the community. Fueled by post–World War I prosperity, however, a number of Chicago business leaders built their residences on large woodland tracts around the village, bringing an end to dairying. Barrington, and its close villages are considered to be some of the wealthiest in the country. [http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/112.html Retrieved Sept. 24, 2006] The village opposes the use of the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Railway to prevent rail congestion in Chicago, prefering freight trains to be routed through more diverse communities. [http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=92633264]

The Battle of Barrington

A running gun battle between FBI agents and Baby Face Nelson took place on November 27, 1934 in Barrington resulting in the deaths of [http://www.odmp.org/officer.php?oid=6641 Agent Herman Hollis] and [http://www.odmp.org/officer.php?oid=3534 Inspector Samuel P. Cowley] . Nelson, though shot 17 times, was still able to steal Hollis's car and race away with his wife, Helen Gillis, in tow. Nelson succumbed from his wounds at approximately 8pm that evening and was unceremoniously dumped near a Niles, Illinois cemetery. Nelson is buried at Saint Joseph Cemetery in River Grove, Illinois. Baby Face Nelson holds the distinction of being the individual responsible for the killing of more federal agents than any other person. Besides the aforementioned agents he was also responsible for the murder of Special Agent W. Carter Baum at the Little Bohemia shoot-out.

Features

The downtown area is home to the historic Catlow Theater which features interiors by noted Prairie School sculptor and designer Alfonso Iannelli. Built in 1927, the Catlow is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and continues to operate as one of the few remaining single-screen theaters in the area. The theater was one of the first in the nation to offer in-theater dining which is provided by the adjoining Boloney's Sandwich Shop. The Catlow lobby is used as an eating area for the sandwich shop in the daytime. During show times, patrons can bring food from Boloney's into the 700 seat theater auditorium and dine while viewing the current feature on the big screen.

The only Gatorade sports and science institute in the country is in Barrington.

Barrington is the location of Barrington High School which is used as the title for the third album Fast Times at Barrington High of Barrington resident's band The Academy Is....

Cuba Road, and in particular White Cemetery, is said to be one of the most haunted sites in Illinois.Fact|date=February 2008

Demographics

As of the censusGR|2 of 2000, there were 10,168 people, 3,767 households, and 2,798 families residing in the village. The population density was 2,211.7 people per square mile (853.5/km²). There were 3,903 housing units at an average density of 849.0/sq mi (327.6/km²). The racial makeup of the village was 96.16% White, 0.62% African American, 0.13% Native American, 2.00% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.31% from other races, and 0.77% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.33% of the population.

There were 3,768 households out of which 39.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 64.0% were married couples living together, 8.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.7% were non-families. 22.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.70 and the average family size was 3.20.

In the village the population was spread out with 29.9% under the age of 18, 4.3% from 18 to 24, 28.0% from 25 to 44, 25.1% from 45 to 64, and 12.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 90.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.7 males.

The median income for a household in the village was $83,085, and the median income for a family was $102,120. Males had a median income of $80,232 versus $38,795 for females. The per capita income for the village was $43,942. About 2.3% of families and 3.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 3.7% of those under age 18 and 3.8% of those age 65 or over.

Notable and Past residents

* Barbara Bash, author of Desert Giant: The World of the Saguaro Cactus
* Melissa Bean, U.S. congresswoman
* Dan Wilson, catcher for the Seattle Mariners
* Cynthia Rowley, fashion designer
* Gene Wolfe, author
* Henry Paulson, current Secretary of the Treasury
* Charles Boyce, cartoonist and creator of Compu-toon
* William Beckett, lead singer of The Academy Is...
* Adam T. Siska, bassist of The Academy Is...
* Jason Siska, contestant on Survivor
* Kristin Cavallari, actress on MTV's ""

References

External links

* [http://www.ci.barrington.il.us/ Village of Barrington Website]
* [http://barringtoncourier-Review.com/ The Barrington Courier-Review Newspaper]
* [http://www.barringtonchamber.com/ Greater Barrington Chamber of Commerce]
* [http://www.barringtonarealibrary.org/ Barrington Area Library]
* [http://www.barringtonarealibrary.org/LocalHistory/LinesHistory/Contents.htm "A History of Barrington, Illinois" by Arnett C. Lines]
* [http://www.thecatlow.com The Historic Catlow Theater]
* [http://www.quakeroats.com Quaker Oats Company]
*dmoz|Regional/North_America/United_States/Illinois/Localities/B/Barrington/