La Fox is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

in Blackberry Township, Kane County,

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 ...

, United States. The community is located four miles west of

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

and five miles east of Elburn. It serves as a

station 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 ...

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 ...

Union Pacific West Line The Union Pacific West Line (UP-W) is a Metra commuter rail line operated by Union Pacific Railroad in Chicago, Illinois and its western suburbs. Metra does not refer to its lines by particular colors, but the timetable accents for the Union Paci ...

History

La Fox was established ''circa'' 1859 on the

Chicago and North Western Transportation Company The Chicago and North Western was a Class I railroad in the Midwestern United States. It was also known as the "North Western". The railroad operated more than of track at the turn of the 20th century, and over of track in seven states befor ...

, which was built through the area in 1854. The community was first named "Kane Station", but was renamed "La Fox" when the post office in present-day Geneva was moved to present-day La Fox. In 1931, the railroad relocated to

West Chicago West Chicago is a city in DuPage County, Illinois, United States. The population was 25,614 at the 2020 census. It was formerly named Junction and later Turner Junction, after its founder, John Bice Turner, president of the Galena and Chicago Un ...

. In 1994, Kane County declared the twenty-five properties in La Fox to be a preservation district, a designation state statute allows counties to give to areas meeting certain historic criteria. The preservation district has been cited as a nearly intact nineteenth century crossroads town. To emphasize this point, between 1931 and 2000, only eight new buildings were built in La Fox. Despite this history of minimal development, in 2001, a company sought to build a 1,200-acre residential development near the preservation district. In a push for autonomy and to have greater control over development in the region, La Fox residents attempted to incorporate as a municipality. Patricia Reid Lindner proposed legislation which would allow for a referendum on the matter, similar to an efforts in nearby

Virgil Publius Vergilius Maro (; 15 October 70 BC21 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Rome, ancient Roman poet of the Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Augustan period. He composed three of the most fa ...

, Lily Lake, and Big Rock. The bill was heavily opposed by the company which, along with real estate trade groups, lobbied aggressively against its passage. The bill was voted down 14–8 in the

Illinois House of Representatives The Illinois House of Representatives is the lower house of the Illinois General Assembly. The body was created by the first Illinois Constitution adopted in 1818. The House under the constitution as amended in 1980 consists of 118 representativ ...

Local Government Committee. The development did not come to fruition due to the collapse of the residential real estate market. The Potter and Barker Grain Elevator, built in 1868, was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

. It is the 73rd addition in Kane County.

References

External links

LaFox Civic Association
Unincorporated communities in Illinois Unincorporated communities in Kane County, Illinois Populated places established in 1859 1859 establishments in Illinois {{KaneCountyIL-geo-stub