Libertyville is a

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred ...

Lake County, Illinois Lake County is situated in the northeastern corner of the U.S. state of Illinois, along the shores of Lake Michigan. As of the 2020 census, it has a population of 714,342, making it the third-most populous county in Illinois. Its county seat ...

, United States, and a northern suburb of

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

. It is located west of

Lake Michigan Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is the second-largest of the Great Lakes by volume () and the third-largest by surface area (), after Lake Superior and Lake Huron. To the east, its basin is conjoined with that o ...

on the

Des Plaines River The Des Plaines River () is a river that flows southward for U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed May 13, 2011 through southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois''American H ...

. The 2020 census population was 20,579. It is part of Libertyville Township, which includes the village, neighboring Green Oaks, and portions of Vernon Hills, Mundelein, unincorporated Waukegan and Lake Forest, and part of Knollwood CDP. Libertyville neighbors these communities as well as Gurnee to the north and Grayslake to the northwest. Libertyville is about 40 miles north of the

Chicago Loop The Loop, one of Chicago's 77 designated community areas, is the central business district of the city and is the main section of Downtown Chicago. Home to Chicago's commercial core, it is the second largest commercial business district in Nort ...

and is part of the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of th ...

's Chicago

combined statistical area Combined statistical area (CSA) is a United States Office of Management and Budget (OMB) term for a combination of adjacent metropolitan statistical area, metropolitan (MSA) and micropolitan statistical areas (µSA) across the 50 US states and ...

(CSA).

Geography

Libertyville is located at . According to the 2010 census, the village has a total area of , of which (or 96.28%) is land and (or 3.72%) is water. The

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 Illinois Route 21 (IL 21) is an arterial north–south state highway in northeastern Illinois. It runs from Illinois Route 43 (Harlem Avenue) in Niles to U.S. Route 41 (Skokie Highway) north of Gurnee. Illinois 21 is 28.13 miles (45.27&nbs ...

). The main automobile route to Chicago is via

Interstate 94 Interstate 94 (I-94) is an east–west Interstate Highway connecting the Great Lakes and northern Great Plains regions of the United States. Its western terminus is just east of Billings, Montana, at a junction with I-90; its eastern term ...

(the Tri-State Tollway and the

Edens Expressway Iens ( nl, Edens) is a small village in Súdwest-Fryslân in the province Friesland of the Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name ...

); Chicago's

Loop Loop or LOOP may refer to: Brands and enterprises * Loop (mobile), a Bulgarian virtual network operator and co-founder of Loop Live * Loop, clothing, a company founded by Carlos Vasquez in the 1990s and worn by Digable Planets * Loop Mobile, an ...

is approximately 45 minutes away. The main

Metra Metra is the commuter rail system in the Chicago metropolitan area serving the city of Chicago and its surrounding suburbs via the Union Pacific Railroad, BNSF Railway, and other railroads. The system operates 242 stations on 11 rail lines ...

rail station sits at the northern edge of downtown off Milwaukee Avenue, and serves the

Milwaukee District/North Line The Milwaukee District North Line (MD-N) is a Metra commuter rail line in Chicago, Illinois, and its northern suburbs. Although Metra does not refer to any of its lines by color, the timetable accents for the Milwaukee District North line are pa ...

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. The Prairie Crossing station also serves Metra's North Central Line, with service from Union Station to

Antioch Antioch on the Orontes (; grc-gre, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου, ''Antiókheia hē epì Oróntou'', Learned ; also Syrian Antioch) grc-koi, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου; or Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπ� ...

Major streets

Tri-State Tollway * Illinois 21

Milwaukee Avenue * Lake Street * Illinois 137

Buckley Road/Peterson Road * Illinois 176

Park Avenue Park Avenue is a wide New York City boulevard which carries north and southbound traffic in the boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx. For most of the road's length in Manhattan, it runs parallel to Madison Avenue to the west and Lexington Av ...

* Midlothian Road * Winchester Road * Butterfield Road * St. Mary's Road

Surrounding areas

: Gages Lake / Gurnee : Grayslake Waukegan : Mundelein Green Oaks : Mundelein Mettawa : Vernon Hills

Demographics

2020 census

''Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos can be of any race.''

2000 Census

As of the

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses inc ...

of 2000, there were 20,742 people, 7,298 households, and 5,451 families living in the village. The population density was . There were 7,458 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the village was 92%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White ...

, 5% Asian and 1%

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

. 0.1% was Native American. About 1% each were classified as belonging to other races or to

two or more races 2 (two) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 1 and preceding 3. It is the smallest and only even prime number. Because it forms the basis of a duality, it has religious and spiritual significance in many cultur ...

. 3% of the population were

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties for ...

or Latino of any race. While still largely homogeneous, ethnic diversity had increased slightly since the 1960 census, when the population was indicated as being 99.9% white.Encyclopedia of Chicago: Libertyville, IL
chicagohistory.org. Accessed 2008-01-04. As of the 2000 census, there were 7,298 households, out of which 40% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 66% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between ...

living together, 7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25% were non-families. 22% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.7 and the average family size was 3.2. 28% of the village's population was under the age of 18, 5% from 18 to 24, 27% from 25 to 44, 28% from 45 to 64, and 12% 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females, there were 92.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.9 males. According to a 2007 estimate, the median household income was $106,337, and the median income for a family was $127,474. Males had a median income of $72,320 versus $39,455 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

for the village was $40,426. About 1.9% of families and 3.5% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 4.2% of those under age 18 and 4.9% of those age 65 or over. As of the

2010 US Census The United States census of 2010 was the twenty-third United States national census. National Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2010. The census was taken via mail-in citizen self-reporting, with enumerators serv ...

, there were 20,315 people living in the village. The racial makeup of the village was 90.10%

, 1.23%

, 0.16% Native American, 5.73% Asian, 0.04%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/ racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of O ...

, 1.05% from other races, and 1.70% from two or more races.

or Latino of any race were 4.12% of the population.

History

The land that is now Libertyville was the property of the Illinois River

Potawatomi The Potawatomi , also spelled Pottawatomi and Pottawatomie (among many variations), are a Native American people of the western Great Lakes region, upper Mississippi River and Great Plains. They traditionally speak the Potawatomi language, a m ...

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 English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

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.History of the Cook Property
. Accessed 2008-01-04. In 1836, during the celebrations that marked the 60th anniversary of the U.S.

Declaration of Independence A declaration of independence or declaration of statehood or proclamation of independence is an assertion by a polity in a defined territory that it is independent and constitutes a state. Such places are usually declared from part or all of th ...

, 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. The professionals needed services, so a post office opened, necessitating a third name change, because another Independence Grove existed elsewhere in the state. On April 16, 1837, the new post office was registered under the name Libertyville. The town's name changed again two years later to Burlington when it became the county seat of Lake County. When the county seat moved to Little Fort (now Waukegan) in 1841, the name reverted to Libertyville, without further changes.Libertyville History
libertyville.com. Accessed 2008-01-04. 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

flagstone Flagstone (flag) is a generic flat stone, sometimes cut in regular rectangular or square shape and usually used for paving slabs or walkways, patios, flooring, fences and roofing. It may be used for memorials, headstones, facades and other c ...

s for the city's sidewalks and taking part in rebuilding after the

Great Chicago Fire The Great Chicago Fire was a conflagration that burned in the American city of Chicago during October 8–10, 1871. The fire killed approximately 300 people, destroyed roughly of the city including over 17,000 structures, and left more than 1 ...

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 A horsecar, horse-drawn tram, horse-drawn streetcar (U.S.), or horse-drawn railway (historical), is an animal-powered (usually horse) tram or streetcar. Summary The horse-drawn tram (horsecar) was an early form of public rail transport, w ...

lines. The building was remodeled in 1921, when it became the town library, gaining a

Colonial Colonial or The Colonial may refer to: * Colonial, of, relating to, or characteristic of a colony or colony (biology) Architecture * American colonial architecture * French Colonial * Spanish Colonial architecture Automobiles * Colonial (1920 au ...

-style facade with a pillared

portico A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cul ...

. The building is now a museum with furnishings of the period and other relevant displays. It is operated by the Libertyville-Mundelein Historical Society. The community expanded rapidly with a spur of the

Milwaukee Road The Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad (CMStP&P), often referred to as the "Milwaukee Road" , was a Class I railroad that operated in the Midwest and Northwest of the United States from 1847 until 1986. The company experienced ...

train line (now a

commuter line) reaching Libertyville in 1881, resulting in the incorporation of the Village of Libertyville in 1882, with John Locke its first village president. Libertyville's downtown area was largely destroyed by fire in 1895, and the village board mandated brick to be used for reconstruction, resulting in a village center whose architecture is substantially unified by both period and building material. The

National Trust for Historic Preservation The National Trust for Historic Preservation is a privately funded, nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that works in the field of historic preservation in the United States. The member-supported organization was founded in 1949 ...

, which gave Libertyville a Great American Main Street Award, called the downtown "a place with its own sense of self, where people still stroll the streets on a Saturday night, and where the tailor, the hometown bakery, and the vacuum cleaner repair shop are shoulder to shoulder with gourmet coffee vendors and a microbrewery. If it's Thursday between 7 a.m. and 1 p.m., it's Farmer's Market time (June–October) on Church Street across from Cook Park -- a tradition for more than three decades."

Samuel Insull Samuel Insull (November 11, 1859 – July 16, 1938) was a British-born American business magnate. He was an innovator and investor based in Chicago who greatly contributed to create an integrated electrical infrastructure in the United Stat ...

, founder of

Commonwealth Edison Commonwealth Edison, commonly known by syllabic abbreviation as ComEd, is the largest electric utility in Illinois, and the in Chicago and much of Northern Illinois. Its service territory stretches roughly from Iroquois County on the south ...

, began purchasing land south of Libertyville in 1906. He eventually acquired , a holding that he named Hawthorn-Mellody Farms. He also bought the Chicago & Milwaukee Electric line (later the Chicago, North Shore & Milwaukee), which built a spur from Lake Bluff to Libertyville in 1903. When Insull was ruined by the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

, parts of his estate were bought by prominent Chicagoans Adlai Stevenson and John F. Cuneo. The home Cuneo built is now the Cuneo Museum. From 1970 until 2013, Libertyville was the resting place of the only European monarch buried on American soil,

Peter II of Yugoslavia Peter II ( sr-Cyrl, Петар II Карађорђевић, Petar II Karađorđević; 6 September 1923 – 3 November 1970) was the last king of Yugoslavia, reigning from October 1934 until his deposition in November 1945. He was the last ...

, who died in exile in

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

. On 22 January 2013, Peter II's remains were removed from his tomb at St. Sava Serbian Orthodox Monastery and sent to

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia ( Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hu ...

in a ceremony attended by the Serbian

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

Ivica Dačić Ivica Dačić ( sr-cyr, Ивица Дачић, ; born 1 January 1966) is a Serbian politician serving as first deputy prime minister of Serbia and minister of foreign affairs since 2022, roles which he previously served under governments of Mirk ...

, Peter's son

Alexander Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Al ...

with his family, and Serbian Patriarch Irinej. Peter II lay in state in the Royal Chapel in Dedinje before his burial in th
Royal Family Mausoleum at Oplenac
on May 26, 2013.

Government

Donna Johnson was elected mayor of Libertyville in April 2021. She is the first African-American, and the second woman, to hold the position. Libertyville is represented by Jennifer Clark on the Lake County Board.

Education

Libertyville District 70

Libertyville has four public elementary schools and one public middle school within village lines, all comprising Libertyville District 70: *Adler Park Elementary School *Butterfield Elementary School *Copeland Manor Elementary School *Rockland Elementary School * Highland Middle School

Hawthorn District 73

Students residing south of Golf Road attend Hawthorn District 73 schools in Vernon Hills.

Oak Grove District 68

Students residing in communities along Buckley Road attend Oak Grove Grade School in neighboring Green Oaks.

Libertyville High School

Libertyville High School Libertyville High School, or LHS, is a public four-year high school located in Libertyville, Illinois, a northern suburb of Chicago, Illinois, in the United States. Located at the intersection of Park Avenue (IL Rte 176) and Dawes Street, on the ...

, part of

Community High School District 128 Community High School District 128 is located in Lake County, Illinois. The district includes Libertyville High School and Vernon Hills High School. History The Libertyville Township High School District was established in 1916; its Libertyvil ...

, serves students in Libertyville and other communities in Libertyville Township.

Other

The

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

St. Joseph Elementary School and St. John's Lutheran School of the

Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod The Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS), also referred to simply as the Wisconsin Synod, is an American Confessional Lutheran denomination of Christianity. Characterized as theologically conservative, it was founded in 1850 in Milwauk ...

both provide Pre-K-8 education to residents of Libertyville and the surrounding area. St Sava Monastery is also home to the St. Sava Serbian Orthodox School of Theology.

Economy

Top employers

According to the Village's 2020 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, as of April 30, 2020 the top employers in the city were:

Library

Libertyville is one of six communities comprising the

Cook Memorial Public Library District The Cook Memorial Public Library District (CMPLD) serves communities in Lake County, Illinois: Libertyville, Green Oaks, Vernon Hills, Indian Creek, Mettawa, and parts of Mundelein. There are two full-service library facilities: Cook Park Lib ...

. The Cook Park library, located on Cook and Brainerd streets in Libertyville, is one of the District's two library facilities. The library was originally housed in the Cook Mansion, after resident Ansel B. Cook's wife, Emily, deeded the property to the Village of Libertyville in 1920 for use as a library.Ansel B. Cook Victorian Museum
. Accessed 2008-01-04. In 1968, a addition was added, adjacent to the Cook home. By 1984, the library's collection, as well as the population, had doubled in size. The Evergreen Interim Library opened in 2003 as a temporary facility at the south end of the district, in Vernon Hills. In 2007, the Library Board adopted plans to add an approximately addition to the Cook Park facility, which was completed in January 2011.

Media

The ''Libertyville Review'', published by

Pioneer Press The Pioneer Press publishes 32 local newspapers in the Chicago area. It is a division of Tribune Publishing, and is based in Chicago. The community newspapers are the main source of local news in Illinois communities such as Winnetka, Highland ...

, covers Libertyville. Regional newspapers that occasionally contain coverage of Libertyville include the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...

'', '' Daily Herald'' and ''

Lake County News-Sun The ''Lake County News-Sun'' is a regional newspaper based in Gurnee, Illinois, United States, that predominantly covers news for Lake County, Illinois, a part of the Chicago metropolitan area. It is currently owned by the Chicago Tribune Medi ...

''.

Transportation

Libertyville has a station on Metra's North Central Line (at Prairie Crossing) and also two

stations Station may refer to: Agriculture * Station (Australian agriculture), a large Australian landholding used for livestock production * Station (New Zealand agriculture), a large New Zealand farm used for grazing by sheep and cattle ** Cattle statio ...

along Metra's

which provides service between Fox Lake and Union Station, one of which shares a driveway with the station for the North Central Service.

Drinking water supply

The Libertyville water supply comes from the Central Lake County Joint Action Water Agency (CLCJAWA) located in Lake Bluff. CLCJAWA purifies water from

Recreation

*Pools: Adler Pool, Riverside Pool *Golf courses:

Merit Club Merit Club is a private country club in Libertyville, Illinois, a suburb north-northwest of Chicago. The course was founded in 1992 by Bert Getz Sr. and his family and was collaboratively designed by Getz, Oscar Miles, Bob Lohmann and Ed Oldfiel ...

*Lakes: Lake Minear, Butler Lake, Independence Grove, Liberty Lake *Parks: Adler, Cook, Sunrise Rotary, Charles Brown, Riverside, Butler Lake, Nicholas-Dowden, Independence Grove, Blueberry Hill, Paul Neal, Greentree, Jo Ann Eckmann, Gilbert Stiles.

Honors

In 2007, Libertyville was named the 52nd best place to live in the U.S. by '' CNN''. In 2013, CNN Travel named Libertyville as one of America's best small town comebacks and '' CNN'' listed Libertyville as one of the best places to live for the rich and single.Danielle Gensburg, September 18, 2013
CNN cites Libertyville as top place to live for rich and single

chicagotribune.com The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...

Notable people

Music

Sports

References

External links

Village of LibertyvilleHistoric Libertyville
* {{Authority control Chicago metropolitan area Villages in Lake County, Illinois Populated places established in 1836 1836 establishments in Illinois