La Grange ( ; often spelled LaGrange) is a

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

Cook County, Illinois Cook County is the List of counties in Illinois, most populous county in the U.S. state of Illinois and the List of the most populous counties in the United States, second-most-populous county in the United States, after Los Angeles County, C ...

, United States. It is a suburb of

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. The population was 16,321 at the 2020 census.

History

The area around La Grange was first settled in the 1830s, when Chicago residents moved out to the west due to the rapid population increase in the city in the decade since its incorporation. The first settler, Robert Leitch, came to the area in 1830, seven years before the City of Chicago was incorporated. La Grange's location, at approximately from the

Chicago Loop The Loop is Chicago's central business district and one of the city's 77 municipally recognized Community areas in Chicago, community areas. Located at the center of downtown Chicago on the shores of Lake Michigan, it is the second-largest busi ...

, is not considered far from the city by today's standards, but in that time the residents enjoyed the peace of rural life without much communication with urban residents. The village was officially incorporated on June 11, 1879. It was founded by Franklin Dwight Cossitt, who was born in Granby, Connecticut, and raised in

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

, and moved to Chicago in 1862 where he built a successful wholesale grocery business. In 1870, Cossitt purchased several hundred acres of farmland in Lyons Township, along the Chicago-Dixon Road, known today as Ogden Avenue ( U.S. Highway 34). Ogden Avenue, on the site of a defunct Native American trail, was also referred to as the "Old Plank Road". Planks were often stolen by settlers to be used as building material, which made traveling very bumpy. When the

Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad The Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad was a railroad that operated in the Midwestern United States. Commonly referred to as the Burlington Route, the Burlington, CB&Q, or as the Q, it operated extensive trackage in the states of Colorado ...

came to town, La Grange was a milk stop called Hazel Glen. A few miles to the south, through present-day Willow Springs, the

Illinois and Michigan Canal The Illinois and Michigan Canal connected the Great Lakes to the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico. In Illinois, it ran from the Chicago River in Bridgeport, Chicago to the Illinois River at LaSalle-Peru. The canal crossed the Chicago ...

had emerged as a major shipping corridor, connecting Chicago and the

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes spanning the Canada–United States border. The five lakes are Lake Superior, Superior, Lake Michigan, Michigan, Lake Huron, H ...

with the

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 ...

and

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

rivers. Cossitt set out to build the ideal suburban village – laying out streets, planting trees, donating property for churches and schools, and building quality homes for sale between $2,000–$8000 USD. He also placed

liquor Liquor ( , sometimes hard liquor), spirits, distilled spirits, or spiritous liquor are alcoholic drinks produced by the distillation of grains, fruits, vegetables, or sugar that have already gone through ethanol fermentation, alcoholic ferm ...

restrictions in the land deeds he sold to prevent the village from becoming a saloon town. When Cossitt began his development, the area was served by a post office known as Kensington. But upon learning of another community already with that name in Illinois, Cossitt decided to name his town in honor of La Grange, Tennessee, where he had been raised as a youth on an uncle's slave plantation. To this day, Kensington remains the name of one of the village's major avenues. After the

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

of 1871 destroyed much of that city, thousands of its citizens sought new homes and opportunities far from the city's ills but within a convenient commute. La Grange was ideally situated to accommodate them. Telephones were first set up by Dr. George Fox in the 1880s for quick communication between his home office and a drug store, enabling him to order prescriptions to be delivered by buggy in a moment's notice. Growing to 52 lines in 1894, it increased twofold to 120 by the next year, and surged to 2,346 by 1921 (36 percent of the population at the time). There was a large spike in population is the 1880s and 1890s as the village grew from just over 500 to nearly 4,000 residents, over 600% growth in twenty years. The population continued to grow steadily through the 1960s, peaking at 17,814 according to the 1970 census. The population declined slightly in the 1970s and 1980s, and has been relatively stable since then.

Geography

La Grange is located at (41.807938, −87.873455), about west of Chicago. The village is roughly flat, only deviating from the elevation of 645 feet by at most ten feet. La Grange is surrounded by incorporated places of similar sizes on all sides except to the South West, where the generously named La Grange Highlands are. As of 2020, La Grange has a total area of , all land. Two major railroad tracks run through the village, including the Burlington Northern Santa Fe, and the

CSX CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Railroad classes, Class I freight railroad company operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. Operating about 21,000 route miles () of trac ...

/Indiana Harbor Belt lines. Some 14,000 years ago, the land under La Grange sat on the western shore of Lake Chicago, a predecessor to

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 depth () after Lake Superior and the third-largest by surface area (), after Lake Superior and Lake Huron. To the ...

. The prehistoric shoreline today is delineated by Bluff Avenue, a north–south street on the village's east side.

Demographics

As of the 2020 census there were 16,321 people, 5,445 households, and 3,974 families residing in the village. The population density was . There were 6,415 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the village was 84.09%

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 ...

, 3.71%

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 ...

, 0.29% Native American, 1.72% Asian, 0.01%

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 ...

, 2.88% from other races, and 7.30% 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 8.71% of the population. There were 5,445 households, out of which 39.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.07% were married couples living together, 10.49% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.02% were non-families. 25.18% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.69% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.35 and the average family size was 2.76. The village's age distribution consisted of 29.5% under the age of 18, 5.4% from 18 to 24, 18.7% from 25 to 44, 30.2% from 45 to 64, and 16.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42.3 years. For every 100 females, there were 88.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.5 males. The median income for a household in the village was $122,629, and the median income for a family was $151,026. Males had a median income of $104,060 versus $43,089 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the village was $60,162. About 1.2% of families and 3.6% 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 1.3% of those under age 18 and 3.9% of those age 65 or over.

Economy

Business and commerce

La Grange is the mailing address for the headquarters of

Electro-Motive Diesel Electro-Motive Diesel (abbreviated EMD) is a brand of diesel-electric locomotives, locomotive products and diesel engines for the rail industry. Formerly a division of General Motors, EMD has been owned by Progress Rail since 2010. Electro-Motive ...

, formerly

General Motors General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. The company is most known for owning and manufacturing f ...

' Electro-Motive Division, a major manufacturer of railroad

locomotive A locomotive is a rail transport, rail vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. Traditionally, locomotives pulled trains from the front. However, Push–pull train, push–pull operation has become common, and in the pursuit for ...

s and

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after the German engineer Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which Combustion, ignition of diesel fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to Mechanics, mechanical Compr ...

s. The headquarters, engineering facilities and parts-manufacturing operations actually are located in the adjacent village of McCook. Originally, the locomotives were also built there, but in more recent years final assembly has moved to EMD's other facility in

Muncie, Indiana Muncie ( ) is a city in Delaware County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. It is located in East Central Indiana about northeast of Indianapolis. At the 2020 census, the city's population was 65,195, down from 70,085 in the 2010 c ...

. The downtown area, centered along and around La Grange Road ( US 45) and the

BNSF Railway BNSF Railway is the largest freight railroad in the United States. One of six North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 36,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and over 8,000 locomotives. It has three Transcontinental railroad, transcontine ...

line, became somewhat run-down during the 1980s, but saw a revival in the mid-to-late 1990s, with many new businesses opening, including many restaurants. That expansion of the downtown led to increased congestion, and parking often became difficult to find, especially on weekends. A parking structure was paid for by a grant from the state for the advancement of public transportation, since increasing parking for train commuters would increase the number of people willing to use the train. The upkeep is paid for by an increase in the sales tax at restaurants and other entertainment establishments. There was no increase in the local property taxes.

Arts and culture

La Grange holds numerous public activities and festivals. Art fairs, historic housewalks, carnivals, and

farmer's markets A farmers' market (or farmers market according to the AP stylebook, also farmer's market in the Cambridge Dictionary) is a physical retail marketplace intended to sell foods directly by farmers to consumers. Farmers' markets may be indoors or ...

are also common, mostly taking place in the downtown area.

Pet Parade

An annual event known as the ''Pet Parade'' has been conducted every year since 1947 and attracts thousands of people from the La Grange area. The parade marches through downtown and includes a wild variety of animal pets like dogs, cats, hamsters, birds, and farm animals. There is a long history of Grand Marshals for the parade including Elephants and Donkeys from the Brookfield Zoo (1948),

Luci Baines Johnson Luci Baines Johnson (born July 2, 1947) is an American businesswoman and philanthropist. She is the younger daughter of U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson and his wife, former First Lady Lady Bird Johnson. Early years Born in Washington, D.C., ...

– Daughter of the President Lyndon B. Johnson (1964), and Susan Dey and Danny Bonaduce of "

The Partridge Family ''The Partridge Family'' is an American musical sitcom created by Bernard Slade, which was broadcast in the United States from September 1970 to March 1974 on American Broadcasting Company, ABC. After the final first-run telecast on ABC in March ...

" (1971).

Architecture

The La Grange Village Historic District makes up a large section of the village and includes over 1,000 buildings representing several popular architectural styles of late 19th century and early 20th century. A few homes in district were designed by

Frank Lloyd Wright Frank Lloyd Wright Sr. (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959) was an American architect, designer, writer, and educator. He designed List of Frank Lloyd Wright works, more than 1,000 structures over a creative period of 70 years. Wright played a key ...

. There is even a "bootleg" house, one he designed on the side, contrary to his employment agreement, when he was supposed to be working exclusively for architect

Louis Sullivan Louis Henry Sullivan (September 3, 1856 – April 14, 1924) was an American architect, and has been called a "father of skyscrapers" and "father of modernism". He was an influential architect of the Chicago school (architecture), Chicago ...

. Wright was reportedly fired over this and similar employment agreement infractions.

Parks and recreation

The Park District of La Grange maintains 78.5 acres of parkland at 11 locations, and offers over 1,500 recreation programs annually for its more than 16,000 residents. Parks within the village limits include: *Community Center & Park (1 acre) *Denning Park (10 acres) *Elm Park (2 acres) *Gilbert Park (6 acres) *Gordon Park (17 acres) *Meadowbrook Manor Park *Rotary Centennial Park (0.3 acres) *Sedgwick Park (25 acres) *Spring Park (0.85 acres) *Spring/Gurrie School Park (8 acres) *Stone Park (0.5 acres) *Waiola Park (3.5 acres)

Government

The Village of La Grange is a non-

home rule Home rule is the government of a colony, dependent country, or region by its own citizens. It is thus the power of a part (administrative division) of a state or an external dependent country to exercise such of the state's powers of governan ...

municipal corporation and operates under a board-manager form of government. A seven-member

board of trustees A board of directors is a governing body that supervises the activities of a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government agency. The powers, duties, and responsibilities of a board of directors are determined by government regulatio ...

, elected as provided by state law, serves four-year overlapping terms. A village manager is appointed by the board. The village has six operating departments: administration, finance, police, fire, community development and public works. The village is in Illinois's 4th congressional district, and is represented by Jesús G. "Chuy" García. The village is served by the Park District of La Grange with a five-member board of commissioners, elected as provided by state law, which serves four-year overlapping terms. An executive director is appointed by the board.

Endorsing organizations

The Citizens' Council of La Grange has existed in La Grange for over 75 years. As all such organizations under the village manager form of government, it is non-partisan. The council in particular seeks, evaluates, and recommends candidates for the village, library and park district boards. Other non-partisan slating organizations form periodically to seek and support candidates for the various elected boards.

Education

Public schools

Students in the village are served by one of three K-8 public school districts. The northern half of the village (roughly any students north of 47th Street) is part of La Grange School District 102. District 102 elementary schools within the village include: Cossitt School (named after Franklin Cossitt) and Ogden Avenue School (named after the local name for U.S. Route 34, which in turn is named after William Butler Ogden, first mayor of Chicago). Kindergarten students in District 102 may also attend Barnsdale Road School in La Grange Park, Illinois. Some elementary students attend Forest Road School in neighboring La Grange Park, Illinois, and Congress Park School in neighboring

Brookfield, Illinois Brookfield (formerly Grossdale) is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States, located west of downtown Chicago. Per the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 19,476. The city is home to the Brookfield Zoo. History ...

. Middle school students in District 102 attend Park Junior High, located in La Grange Park. The southern half of the village (roughly any students south of 47th Street) is part of La Grange School District 105. District 105 elementary schools within the village include: Seventh Avenue School and Spring Avenue School, both located on the streets that share their names. Middle school students in District 105 attend Gurrie Middle School. A small number of students in the southwest portion of La Grange are served by LaGrange Highlands School District 106, attending Highlands Elementary School and Highlands Middle School in nearby La Grange Highlands, Illinois. Lyons Township High School District 204 serves the entire village grades 9 through 12. North Campus, located in La Grange, is used by Juniors and Seniors and was the original high school. Freshmen and Sophomores go to South Campus, founded in 1956, located in neighboring Western Springs. The Campus was split due to lack of available land for expansion around the original building. Previously there also was a junior college associated with the high school but due to increasing enrollment, lack of space, and new rules that separated junior colleges from high schools, it was merged with

College of DuPage College of DuPage is a Public college, public community colleges in the United States, community college with its main campus in Glen Ellyn, Illinois. The college also owns and operates satellite campuses in Addison, Illinois, Addison, Carol St ...

in 1967. When it was open, Lyons Township Junior College was nicknamed Tick-Tock Tech, due to its location near the clock tower.

Private schools

St. Cletus and St. Francis Xavier serve as the two

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

K-8 schools in La Grange. St. John's Lutheran is the one

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

K-8 school within the village limits. Preschool programs are available at Kensington School of La Grange, Creative World Montessori School, Little People's Country, Grace Lutheran Church, and First United Methodist Church.

Media

One of the newspapers of La Grange is ''The Doings'', a subsidiary of the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...

''.

Lyons Township

Lyons Township High School by far provides the most media outlets. The first one established, ''LION Newspaper'', was founded over a century ago and distributes news to all over the district. The second form of media, WLTL, first aired in 1968 and has been broadcasting music for fifty years. LTHS also hosts Lyons Township Television (LTTV), which transmits sports or programs created by students of Lyons Township.

Infrastructure

Transportation

Roads

Two major highways traverse La Grange: The village's main street, La Grange Road (U.S. Routes 12/ 20/ 45), runs north–south and intersects

Interstate 55 Interstate 55 (I-55) is a major Interstate Highway in the central United States. As with most primary Interstates that end in a five, it is a major cross-country, north–south route, connecting the Gulf of Mexico to the Great Lakes. The ...

(Stevenson Expressway) south of the village. Ogden Avenue ( U.S. Route 34) runs east–west and intersects

Interstate 294 Interstate 294 (I-294) is a tolled auxiliary Interstate Highway in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Illinois. Forming the southern portion of the Tri-State Tollway in Illinois, I-294 runs from South Holland at I-80/ I-94 and Illino ...

(Tri-State Tollway), west of the village.

Bus service

Commuter bus service is provided by Pace, the suburban bus division of the Regional Transportation Authority.

Train service

The first rail link to Chicago dates to 1864, established by the

Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad The Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad was a railroad that operated in the Midwest, Midwestern United States. Commonly referred to as the Burlington Route, the Burlington, CB&Q, or as the Q, it operated extensive trackage in the states of ...

. La Grange currently has three tracks belonging to the

that run through the north end of the village, with passenger rail service provided by

Metra Metra is the primary 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 243 train station, stati ...

and

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

. Metra's BNSF Line provides frequent commuter service between

Aurora An aurora ( aurorae or auroras), also commonly known as the northern lights (aurora borealis) or southern lights (aurora australis), is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly observed in high-latitude regions (around the Arc ...

and Chicago, with two stations in La Grange. Express service to Downtown Chicago (

Union Station A union station, union terminal, joint station, or joint-use station is a railway station at which the tracks and facilities are shared by two or more separate railway company, railway companies, allowing passengers to connect conveniently bet ...

) from La Grange Road takes approx. 23 minutes. Amtrak's '' Illinois Zephyr and Carl Sandburg'' (both destined for

Quincy, Illinois Quincy ( ) is a city in Adams County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. Located on the Mississippi River, the population was 39,463 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, down from 40,633 in 2010. The Quincy, Illinois, mic ...

) run twice daily trains through La Grange stopping at La Grange Road. Freight rail traffic on the BNSF line is extremely heavy, with BNSF operating freight trains on all three mainline tracks through the village. During non-rush hours, a freight train may run along the line as frequently as once every ten minutes on average. The Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad, running north–south through the east end of the village, also has extremely heavy freight traffic.

Airport

O'Hare International Airport Chicago O'Hare International Airport is the primary international airport serving Chicago, Illinois, United States, located on the city's Northwest Side, approximately northwest of the Chicago Loop, Loop business district. The airport is ope ...

and

Midway International Airport Chicago Midway International Airport is a major commercial airport on the southwest side of Chicago, Illinois, located approximately 12 miles (19 km) from the city's Loop business district, and divided between the city's Clearing and ...

are approx. away from La Grange, respectively. A proposed passenger rail line connecting the two airports would have a station in La Grange. La Grange was once home to a municipal air field called Stinson Airport. The airport was closed in the late 1950s and is now a large quarry.

Health care

UChicago Medicine AdventHealth La Grange is the only hospital in La Grange.

Notable people

* John Briscoe, pitcher for the

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (frequently referred to as the Oakland A's) were an American Major League Baseball (MLB) team based in Oakland, California from 1968 to 2024. The Athletics were a member club of the American League (AL) American League We ...

Sarah Wayne Callies Sarah Wayne Callies is an American actress. She is known for starring as Sara Tancredi in Fox's ''Prison Break'', Lori Grimes in AMC's '' The Walking Dead'', and more recently, as Birdie Nicolletti in ABC's '' The Company You Keep''. She ha ...

, actor (''

Prison Break ''Prison Break'' is an American Crime film#Crime drama, crime Drama (film and television), drama television series created by Paul Scheuring for Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox. The series revolves around two brothers: Lincoln Burrows (Dominic P ...

'' and '' The Walking Dead'') * Patrick Chovanec, business professor at

Tsinghua University Tsinghua University (THU) is a public university in Haidian, Beijing, China. It is affiliated with and funded by the Ministry of Education of China. The university is part of Project 211, Project 985, and the Double First-Class Constructio ...

, economics and political commentator * John Curulewski, guitarist, vocalist, composer, teacher, producer, and original member of Styx * Luis Armand Garcia, actor (the '' George Lopez'' TV series) * Kevin Guilfoile, novelist and essayist residing in La Grange * David Hasselhoff, actor (''

Baywatch ''Baywatch'' is an American Drama (film and television), drama television series about lifeguards who patrol the beaches of Los Angeles County, California, and Hawaii, starring David Hasselhoff. It was created by Michael Berk, Douglas Schwartz ...

'') and German pop superstar * Fred Herbert, pitcher for the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...

* Jeff Hornacek, basketball player,

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

All-Star and former coach of

New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the Na ...

Phoenix Suns The Phoenix Suns are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. The Suns compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NBA), We ...

* Otto Hunziker, educator and technical innovator in the dairy industry * Richard H. Jeschke, Marine Corps Brigadier General during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

* Jason Karnuth, pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals and

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. One of the AL's eight chart ...

Ben LaBolt Ben LaBolt (born August 20, 1981) is a political advisor who served as the White House Communications Director for President Joe Biden. He succeeded Kate Bedingfield in the role when she stepped down at the end of February 2023. In August 2024, ...

(b. 1981),

White House Communications Director The White House communications director or White House director of communications, also known officially as Assistant to the President for Communications, is part of the senior staff of the president of the United States. The officeholder is resp ...

since 2023. He was a childhood resident of LaGrange. * Reed G. Landis (1896–1975), military aviator and

flying ace A flying ace, fighter ace or air ace is a military aviation, military aviator credited with shooting down a certain minimum number of enemy aircraft during aerial combat; the exact number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an ...

during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. He resided in La Grange in 1947. *

John Lewis John Robert Lewis (February 21, 1940 – July 17, 2020) was an American civil rights activist and politician who served in the United States House of Representatives for from 1987 until his death in 2020. He participated in the 1960 Nashville ...

, jazz pianist, composer and arranger; founder and musical director of the

Modern Jazz Quartet The Modern Jazz Quartet (MJQ) was a jazz combo established in 1952 that played music influenced by classical music, classical, cool jazz, blues and bebop. The Quartet consisted of John Lewis (pianist), John Lewis (piano), Milt Jackson (vibraphon ...

* Helen Lynd, professor and author * Benjamin Roy Mottelson, Nobel Prize in Physics, 1975 * Marie Newman, congresswoman * George Paskvan, fullback and defensive back for the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They ar ...

* Alfred F. Schimek, architect * Tim Stapleton, retired

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

forward * Quint Studer, founder and CEO of the health care consulting company Studer Group, LLC; co-owner of the

Pensacola Blue Wahoos The Pensacola Blue Wahoos are a Minor League Baseball team of the Southern League (1964–present), Southern League and the Double-A (baseball), Double-A affiliate of the Miami Marlins. They are based in Pensacola, Florida, and play their home ga ...

* Ty Warner, toy manufacturer, businessman, actor; founder of Ty Inc., which manufactures and distributes Beanie Babies * Leona Woods, physicist and youngest member of the Manhattan Project team * Art Young, radical cartoonist and author

References

External links

Village of La Grange official websiteLa Grange Public LibraryLa Grange Area Historical SocietyLocal newspaper article about 'stars' who've attended the La Grange Pet ParadePet Parade Website
{{authority control Populated places established in 1830 Villages in Cook County, Illinois Chicago metropolitan area 1830 establishments in Illinois Villages in Illinois