Port Barrington (also referred to as Fox River Valley Gardens or FRG) is a village in

Lake A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from ...

and McHenry counties in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

. It was formerly known as Fox River Valley Gardens, but the name was changed in 2002 to Port Barrington. Per the 2020 census, the population was 1,584.

History

The village of Port Barrington was incorporated in 1969 under the name Fox River Valley Gardens. At the time, the village had the longest name out of all other incorporated places in Illinois, and was one of the longest town names in the country. Port Barrington still shares a ZIP code (60010) with the village of Barrington, to the south. In 2002, the village established its own post office. Homeowners in the new Riverwalk subdivision claimed that their home values fell significantly and immediately when their addresses were changed to "Fox River Valley Gardens". Some people trying to sell their homes at the time found themselves "underwater" (selling at a loss). This prompted residents in the Riverwalk section of the village to express their objection to what appeared to be a "bait and switch" in the change of mailing address. There were several tense village meetings where legal action was being considered by the new residents. In September 2002, the village board voted 4–3 to re-incorporate and change the community's name to "Port Barrington". However, several addresses in the older section of the village are still listed under the name Fox River Valley Gardens. In addition, many road signs and maps continue to use the community's original name, as do the local police and fire departments. As of 2019, the post office is no longer in service, and mail delivery is provided by the postal service in Island Lake, Illinois.

Geography

Port Barrington is located at (42.243667, -88.198000). According to the 2010 census, Port Barrington has a total area of , of which (or 89.42%) is land and (or 10.58%) is water.

Demographics

2020 census

2000 Census

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2000, there were 788 people, 295 households, and 233 families residing in the village. The population density was . There were 320 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the village was 97.59%

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

, 0.51%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 1.02% Asian, 0.13%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 0.25% from other races, and 0.51% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 2.79% of the population. There were 295 households, out of which 38.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 70.2% were

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

living together, 4.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 21.0% were non-families. 16.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 4.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.67 and the average family size was 2.99. In the village, the population was spread out, with 26.8% under the age of 18, 3.3% from 18 to 24, 43.3% from 25 to 44, 20.3% from 45 to 64, and 6.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41.6 years. For every 100 females, there were 96.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.9 males. The median income for a household in the village was $114,750. The median property value in the village was $283,300.

Community

The village is a very active community. Winter has people snowmobiling, cross country skiing, ice fishing and ice skating on village trails and lakes. In the summer, cyclists, runners, fishermen and boaters come from all over the area to this town. Halloween tradition is to have children trick or treat on the Sunday before Halloween during the mid-day (11am to 3pm). At Christmas, a Santa Claus arrives in a parade through town with an escort of fire engines, McHenry County Sheriff and car loads of people throwing candy to kids waving from their homes and yards.

References

External links

* {{authority control Chicago metropolitan area Villages in Lake County, Illinois Villages in McHenry County, Illinois Populated places established in 2002 2002 establishments in Illinois Villages in Illinois