Round Lake is a northern suburb of Chicago in
Lake 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. Per the
2020 census, the population was 18,721.
Geography
Round Lake is located at (42.354045, -88.100529), about 55 miles northwest of Chicago's Loop.
According to the 2010 census, Round Lake has a total area of , of which (or 97.07%) is land and (or 2.93%) is water.
Highways
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Belvidere Road
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Big Hollow Road
Demographics
2020 census
2000 Census
As of
2010 United States Census,
there were 18,289 people, 6,206 households, and 5,847 families residing in the village. The population increased 310% from the 2000 US Census total of 5,492. The population density was . There were 6,206 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the village was 68.9%
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 ...
, 10.77%
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 ...
, 0.5%
Native American, 12.7%
Asian, 0.07%
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 ...
, 9.69% from
other races, and 3.24% from two or more races. 35.3% of the population were
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.
There 6,206 total housing units, of which 94.2% or (5,847) were occupied households. Of these occupied households 48% had children under the age of 18 living with them. 49.5% of the population was male, 50.5% female. 80% of the occupied homes were owner-occupied with the remaining 19.5% in renter-occupied. The average household size was 3.13 per home.
In the village, the population was spread out, with 32.2% under the age of 18, 7% from 18 to 24, 43.5% from 25 to 49, 12.3% from 50 to 64, and 4.8% who were 65 years of age or older.
As of
Census 2000, the median income for a household in the village was $58,051, and the median income for a family was $61,277. Males had a median income of $43,063 versus $31,336 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 $21,585. 6.8% of the population and 6.5% of families 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 ...
. Out of the total population, 6.7% of those under the age of 18 and 7.9% of those 65 and older were living below the poverty line.
History
While the retreating
Wisconsin glacier
The Wisconsin glaciation, also called the Wisconsin glacial episode, was the most recent glacial period of the North American ice sheet complex, peaking more than 20,000 years ago. This advance included the Cordilleran Ice Sheet, which nucleate ...
left an attractive environment for farmers who entered western Lake County after the
Black Hawk War
The Black Hawk War was a conflict between the United States and Native Americans in the United States, Native Americans led by Black Hawk (Sauk leader), Black Hawk, a Sauk people, Sauk leader. The war erupted after Black Hawk and a group of ...
of 1832, the numerous lakes and wet prairies there prevented easy movement to agricultural markets. Farmers traded at stagecoach trail communities such as
Hainesville, often exchanging dairy products and eggs for what they could not craft on the farm.
In the 1890s, when officials of the
Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad extended a branch line from their Milwaukee–Chicago main line at Libertyville Junction (later
Rondout) to
Janesville, Wisconsin
Janesville is a city in Rock County, Wisconsin, United States, and its county seat. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 65,615, making it the List of cities in Wisconsin, tenth-most populous city in Wis ...
, western Lake County farmers gained easy access to Chicago.
Landowners near Hainesville such as Amarias M. White knew that a railroad station would increase property values. In a classic ploy, White offered the railroad free land in exchange for a station. He also drew up a town plat to show railroad officials that profitable traffic would come through his station site. White succeeded, and Round Lake, named after the nearby lake, not Hainesville, whose inhabitants failed to offer the railroad anything, became the area station on the "Milwaukee Road".
White's promise came true in 1901 when the
Armour Company decided to harvest ice from Round Lake for their refrigerator car operations. They erected a massive ice storage building holding over 100,000 tons for shipment in spring and summer months.
In 1908 White and his partners acted to incorporate the station area. The proposed village population was too small to meet incorporation requirements, so area farmers were included in the village with the understanding that, once incorporation was successful, their farms would be disconnected. On January 7, 1909, Round Lake incorporated with White as village president. Soon after, those farmers who wished to disconnect were allowed to do so—an act which prevented present-day residents of the village from having any public access to their namesake lake.
A fire in 1917 destroyed the Armour operation in the village, although a dormitory housing winter ice cutters survived. Noticing vacation resorts which had sprung up around the lake, the Armour Company remodeled its dormitory into a rural summer retreat for company employees. The praise showered on the Round Lake environment by them helped bring a slow trickle of nonagricultural residential growth to the village.
With post–World War II expansion into the suburbs, Round Lake's Armour-era reputation as a rural refuge acted as a magnet for development. People began moving into the unincorporated area around the lake and demanding municipal services. The village of Round Lake failed to make those annexations. As a result, new communities, using the words "Round Lake" in their corporate titles, arose. This resulted in a duplication of political hierarchies and village services which still exists.
Since the 1970s, Round Lake has embarked on an expansive annexation program. With ongoing development of those areas, Round Lake was expected to continue to grow.
Between 2000 and 2010, the village grew by 213.1%, from 5,842 to 18,289. The population growth stalled heavily in the 2010s, and Round Lake's population in 2020 was 18,721.
Transportation
The
Round Lake station provides
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 ...
commuter rail service along the
Milwaukee District North Line. Trains connect Round Lake to
Chicago Union Station
Chicago Union Station is an Inter-city rail, intercity and commuter rail terminal station, terminal located in the West Loop neighborhood of the Near West Side, Chicago, Near West Side of Chicago. Amtrak's flagship station in the Midwest, Uni ...
,
Fox Lake station and points in between.
Pace provides bus service on Route 570 connecting Round Lake to Fox Lake, Grayslake, and other destinations.
Notable people
*
Clay Guida, UFC fighter; born in Round Lake
Education
Round Lake students attend schools in one of five different elementary and high school districts.
The
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago
The Archdiocese of Chicago () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction, an archdiocese of the Roman Catholic Church located in Northeast Illinois, Northeastern Illinois, in the United States. The Vatican erected it as a diocese in 1843 and e ...
operates Catholic schools. St. Joseph School is in Round Lake. The student population from circa 2016 to 2020 declined by 92. The archdiocese asked if there were interested benefactors, but the archdiocese was unsuccessful. Therefore, the archdiocese decided to close the school after spring 2020.
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Spanish version
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References
External links
Village of Round Lake
Round Lake Chamber of Commerce & Industry
{{authority control
Villages in Lake County, Illinois
Populated places established in 1908
1908 establishments in Illinois
Majority-minority cities and towns in Lake County, Illinois
Villages in Illinois