Lake County, Illinois

Lake County
U.S. county
Naval Station Great Lakes, View of Lake Michigan at Illinois Beach State Park
Flag Seal Logo
Location within the U.S. state of Illinois
Illinois's location within the U.S.
Coordinates: 42°26′N 87°47′W / 42.43°N 87.78°W / 42.43; -87.78
Country	United States
State	Illinois
Founded	March 1, 1839
Named for	Lake Michigan
Seat	Waukegan
Largest city	Waukegan
Area
• Total	1,368 sq mi (3,540 km2)
• Land	444 sq mi (1,150 km2)
• Water	925 sq mi (2,400 km2)  67.6%
Population  (2020)
• Total	714,342
Time zone	UTC−6 (Central)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−5 (CDT)
Congressional districts	6th, 10th, 14th
Website	www.lakecountyil.gov

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.^[1] Its county seat is Waukegan, the tenth-largest city in Illinois.^[2] The county is primarily suburban, with some urban areas and some rural areas. Due to its location, immediately north of Cook County, Lake County is one of the collar counties of the Chicago metropolitan area.

According to the 2010 census, Lake County is the second most wealthy county in Illinois by per capita income, after DuPage County. Additionally, Lake County ranks as the 27th wealthiest county in the nation. The lakefront communities of Lake Forest, Lake Bluff, and Highland Park are part of the affluent North Shore area.

Naval Station Great Lakes is located in the city of North Chicago. It is the United States Navy's Headquarters Command for training, and the Navy's only recruit training center.

History[]

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The county, which was primarily unsettled prairie and was still home to its native Potawatomi Indians, was created by the Illinois State Legislature in 1839. At that time, Libertyville, then known as Independence Grove, was the first county seat. In 1841, however, the county's residents voted to move the county government to Little Fort, now Waukegan, where the commissioners had purchased a section of land from the state. Lake County's first courthouse was built on part of that land in 1844 and the remainder was sold to pay for the $4,000 construction cost.

The county's first courthouse was used solely for court sessions and the jail, but in 1853, commissioners constructed a building to accommodate county administration offices and house records. When fire damaged the courthouse on October 19, 1875, the county records were saved because they were in the adjacent building.

After the fire, proposals were made to move the county seat to Highland Park, Libertyville or another site in central Lake County. The county commissioners, however, decided to rebuild in Waukegan. The east half of the building was reconstructed at a cost of $45,000. In 1895, the first jail building was added to the government complex and a west addition was added to the courthouse in 1922. By 1938, county commissioners saw a need for additional space and approved the addition of a 5th Floor. This courthouse, however, was demolished in 1967 to make room for a new high-rise administration building, which was completed with the addition of the jail in 1969 and courts in 1970.

Shortly thereafter, the Lake County Board commissioned the construction of a multi-faceted justice facility and ground was broken in 1986 for the Robert H. Babcox Justice Center, named in memory of Sheriff Babcox, who served as Lake County Sheriff from 1982 to 1988. The justice center, which houses the county jail, work release program, sheriff's administration offices and three courtrooms, was finished in 1989 at a cost of $29.6 million.

Additional county government facilities have been built or expanded throughout Lake County, including the Coroner's Office, Health Department/Community Health Center facilities, Division of Transportation, Public Works and Winchester House. Lake County government services extend throughout the county's 470 square miles (1,200 km²).

The historic Half Day Inn, a tavern/restaurant, was constructed in 1843. This structure, once located at the corner of Milwaukee Avenue and Rte. 45/Old Half Day Road, was one of the oldest structures in Lake County until it was demolished in 2007 to make way for retail space, condominiums, and a retention pond.

Geography[]

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,368 square miles (3,540 km²), of which 444 square miles (1,150 km²) is land and 935 square miles (2,420 km²) (67.6%) is water.^[3] It is the second-largest county in Illinois by total area and the only one that has more water area than land area. Most of the water is in Lake Michigan.

State parks[]

• Illinois Beach State Park
• North Point Marina
• Volo Bog State Natural Area
• Chain O'Lakes State Park

Lakes[]

Besides Lake Michigan, lakes in the county include:

Natural areas[]

Lake County's forest preserves and natural areas are administered by the Lake County Forest Preserves district. These facilities include traditional nature preserves, such as the , as well as golf courses and historic homes, such as the Adlai Stevenson historic home.^[4] A long north–south string of the preserves in Lake County, including Half Day Woods, Old School Forest Preserve, Independence Grove, and Van Patten Woods, form the Des Plaines River Greenway, which contains the Des Plaines River Trail, a popular place for walking, running, and biking. Lake County is also home to Illinois Beach State Park, featuring over six miles of Lake Michigan shoreline, as well as dune areas, wetlands, prairie, and black oak savanna. Several local environmental groups operate in Lake County, such as Conserve Lake County and Citizens for Conservation, working to improve habitat. Volunteer opportunities also exist with the Lake County Forest Preserve District.^[5]

Adjacent counties[]

• Kenosha County, Wisconsin - north
• Cook County - south
• McHenry County - west

Major highways[]

Demographics[]

Historical population
Census	Pop.		%±
1840	2,634		—
1850	14,226		440.1%
1860	18,257		28.3%
1870	21,014		15.1%
1880	21,296		1.3%
1890	24,235		13.8%
1900	34,504		42.4%
1910	55,058		59.6%
1920	74,285		34.9%
1930	104,387		40.5%
1940	121,094		16.0%
1950	179,097		47.9%
1960	293,656		64.0%
1970	382,638		30.3%
1980	440,372		15.1%
1990	516,418		17.3%
2000	644,356		24.8%
2010	703,462		9.2%
2020	714,342		1.5%
U.S. Decennial Census[6] 1790-1960[7] 1900-1990[8] 1990-2000[9] 2010-2019[1]

As of the 2010 Census, there were 703,462 people, 241,712 households, and 179,428 families residing in the county.^[10] The population density was 1,585.6 inhabitants per square mile (612.2/km²). There were 260,310 housing units at an average density of 586.7 per square mile (226.5/km²).^[3] The racial makeup of the county was 75.1% white, 7.0% black or African American, 6.3% Asian, 0.5% American Indian, 8.5% from other races, and 2.6% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 19.9% of the population.^[10] In terms of ancestry, 20.5% were German, 12.9% were Irish, 9.4% were Polish, 6.9% were Italian, 6.5% were English, and 4.0% were American.^[11]

Of the 241,712 households, 40.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.6% were married couples living together, 10.4% had a female householder with no husband present, 25.8% were non-families, and 21.5% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.82 and the average family size was 3.31. The median age was 36.7 years.^[10] The median income for a household in the county was $78,948 and the median income for a family was $91,693. Males had a median income of $62,042 versus $44,200 for females. The per capita income for the county was $38,120. About 4.8% of families and 7.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 9.6% of those under age 18 and 5.6% of those age 65 or over.^[12]

2019 United States Census Bureau American Community Survey estimates[]

Racial Makeup of Lake County (2019)[13]   White alone (74.21%)   Black alone (6.79%)   Native American alone (0.34%)   Asian alone (7.95%)   Pacific Islander alone (0.01%)   Some other race alone (7.36%)   Two or more races (3.33%)

Racial Makeup of Lake County excluding Hispanics from Racial Categories (2019)[13] NH=Non-Hispanic   White NH (60.29%)   Black NH (6.54%)   Native American NH (0.07%)   Asian NH (7.90%)   Pacific Islander NH (0.01%)   Other race NH (0.25%)   Two or more races NH (2.51%)   Hispanic Any Race (22.44%)

Racial Makeup of Hispanics in Lake County (2019)[13]   White alone (62.07%)   Black alone (1.12%)   Native American alone (1.21%)   Asian alone (0.22%)   Pacific Islander alone (0.04%)   Other race alone (31.68%)   Two or more races (3.65%)

According to 2019 US Census Bureau American Community Survey one-year estimates (which is conducted annually for cities over 65,000 via sampling), the population of Lake County, Illinois was 74.2% White (60.3% Non-Hispanic White and 13.9% Hispanic White), 6.8% Black or African American, 8.0% Asian, 0.3% Native American and Alaskan Native, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 7.4% Some Other Race, and 3.3% from two or more races.^[13] The White population continues to remain the largest racial category as Hispanics in Lake County primarily identify as White (62.1%) with others identifying as Some Other Race (31.7%), Multiracial (3.7%), Black (1.1%), American Indian and Alaskan Native (1.2%), Asian (0.2%), and Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (0.1%).^[13] By ethnicity, 22.4% of the total population is Hispanic-Latino (of any race) and 77.6% is Non-Hispanic (of any race). If treated as a separate category, Hispanics are the largest minority group in Lake County, Illinois.^[13]

Sports[]

The following sports teams play in Lake County:

• Lake County Fielders baseball (defunct)
• Lake County Coyotes baseball

Sites of interest[]

Amusement parks[]

• Six Flags Great America in Gurnee, Illinois
• Lambs Farm in Libertyville, Illinois

Museums[]

• Volo Auto Museum in Volo, Illinois
• Lake County Discovery Museum in Libertyville, Illinois
• Warbird Heritage Foundation in Waukegan, Illinois
• Waukegan History Museum in Waukegan, Illinois
• Raupp Museum in Buffalo Grove, IL
• Shiloh House in Zion, IL
• Fort Hill Memorial Museum in Mundelein, IL
• Dunn Museum in Libertyville, IL

Performing arts[]

• ArtWauk in Waukegan, Illinois
• Clockwise Theatre in Waukegan, Illinois
• Genesee Theatre in Waukegan, Illinois
• Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire, Illinois
• Ravinia Festival in Highland Park, Illinois

Other[]

• Naval Station Great Lakes
• Gurnee Mills shopping mall
• Lake Michigan

Communities[]

Cities[]

Villages[]

Census-designated places[]

Unincorporated communities[]

Townships[]

The county is divided into eighteen townships.

Government[]

Lake County Board
District	Board Member	Party
1	Linda Pederson	Republican
2	Diane Hewitt	Democratic
3	Dick Barr	Republican
4	Gina Roberts	Democratic
5	Judy Martini	Republican
6	John Wasik	Democratic
7	Carissa Casbon	Democratic
8	Bill Durkin	Democratic
9	Mary Ross Cunningham	Democratic
10	Jessica Vealitzek	Democratic
11	Paul Frank	Democratic
12	Paras Parekh	Democratic
13	Sandy Hart, Chairman	Democratic
14	Angelo D. Kyle	Democratic
15	Jennifer Clark	Democratic
16	Terry Wilke	Democratic
17	Michael Danforth	Republican
18	Julie Simpson	Democratic
19	Craig Taylor	Republican
20	Marah Altenberg	Democratic
21	Ann B. Maine	Republican

Politics[]

As a historic Yankee settlement, Lake County was initially a stronghold of the Free Soil Party. In the 1848 presidential election, it was Free Soil nominee and former President Martin van Buren’s strongest county, giving him over 58 percent of the vote.

Consequently, Lake County would turn rock-solid Republican for most of the next century and a half. After narrowly supporting Democrat Franklin Pierce in 1852, it voted Republican at all but one presidential election from 1856 to 1960. This tradition was only broken in 1912, when the GOP was mortally divided and Lake County voted for Progressive Party nominee and former President Theodore Roosevelt over conservative incumbent William Howard Taft.

In 1964 the Republican Party nominated Barry Goldwater, whose hostility to the Yankee establishment and strongly conservative platform were sufficient to leave many traditional Republicans to stay home or even to vote for Lyndon Johnson, who narrowly became the first Democrat to win an absolute majority in the county since James K. Polk in 1844, and the first to win it at all since Pierce in 1852. Between 1968 and 1988, however, Lake County became powerfully Republican once more, with no Democrat cracking forty percent of the vote.

However, as in the other collar counties, the Republican edge narrowed considerably in the 1990s, and Bill Clinton actually won it with a 166-vote plurality in 1996–the only time that Clinton won any of the collar counties besides Will County during his two campaigns for president. After narrowly voting for George W. Bush twice, in 2008 it swung over dramatically to support Democrat and then-Illinois Senator Barack Obama, who carried it by almost 20 points. Obama won it but by a slimmer margin in 2012. Hillary Clinton won it handily in 2016, tallying her second-best margin in the state. At 36%, Donald Trump's performance in the county was the worst of any Republican presidential nominee since 1912. In 2020, Joe Biden won 61% of the vote, the highest percentage of the vote for any candidate since 1988 and the highest ever attained by a Democrat.

Notable people[]

• Jack Benny (February 14, 1894 – December 26, 1974) – entertainer, comedian, actor and musician, Benny was one of America's greatest stars of radio and television, and also appeared in many films; he was raised in Waukegan, Illinois.
• Charles Boyce (September 21, 1949) – cartoonist, creator of syndicated comic panel Compu-toon and the telecommunication public affairs image The KeyPad Kid.
• Ray Bradbury (August 22, 1920 – June 5, 2012) – fantasy, horror, science fiction, and mystery writer. Best known for his dystopian novel Fahrenheit 451 and The Martian Chronicles, Bradbury is widely considered one of the greatest and most popular American writers of speculative fiction of the twentieth century. Bradbury was born in Waukegan.
• Marlon Brando (April 3, 1924 – July 1, 2004) actor; as a young sex symbol, he is best known for his roles in A Streetcar Named Desire, On the Waterfront and Guys and Dolls. Brando and his family moved to Libertyville, Illinois where he lived from 1937 until 1942.
• Gary Coleman (February 8, 1968 – May 28, 2010) – actor, known for his role as Arnold Jackson in the American sitcom Diff'rent Strokes (1978–1986). Coleman was born in Zion, Illinois.
• Ron Goldman (July 2, 1968 – June 12, 1994), who was killed along with Nicole Brown Simpson grew up in Buffalo Grove.
• Michael Jordan (born February 17, 1963) – retired professional basketball player and active businessman, widely considered one of the greatest players of all time; as of 2015, Jordan had a residence in Highland Park, Illinois.
• Vince Vaughn (born March 28, 1970) – actor, known for his roles in Swingers and Wedding Crashers; grew up in Buffalo Grove, Illinois, then moved to Lake Forest, Illinois, where he graduated from Lake Forest High School in 1988.
• Pete Wilson (born August 23, 1933), Mayor of San Diego (1971-1983); United States Senator from California (1983-1991); and Governor of California (1991-1999), born in Lake Forest.^[15]
• Thomas E. Wilson (1868-1958), businessman and founder of 'Wilson Sporting Goods', resident and buried in Lake County.

See also[]

• IL-53 extension issue
• List of school districts in Lake County, Illinois
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Lake County, Illinois

References[]

Citations[]

General sources[]

• Forstall, Richard L. (editor) (1996). Population of states and counties of the United States: 1790 to 1990 : from the twenty-one decennial censuses. United States Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Population Division. ISBN 0-934213-48-8.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lake County, Illinois.

• Lake County official government website
• Lake County Convention & Visitors Bureau
• Lake County Forest Preserve District

Coordinates: 42°26′N 87°47′W / 42.43°N 87.78°W / 42.43; -87.78