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 13 miles (21 km) from the Chicago Loop, 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, 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 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 had emerged as a major shipping corridor, connecting Chicago and the Great Lakes with the Illinois and Mississippi 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 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 cotton farm. To this day, Kensington remains the name of one of the village's major avenues.

After the Great Chicago Fire 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 around 1890 when the village was still relatively young, while the population has been slowly declining since the '70s.

Public schools

La Grange has public elementary schools, including two of the four schools in LaGrange Elementary School District 102: 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). Park Junior High is also part of District 102, but is located in La Grange Park, Illinois. La Grange Elementary School District 102 also includes Forest Road Elementary in La Grange Park, and Congress Park Elementary in Brookfield. Two other elementary schools in La Grange are part of La Grange Elementary School District 105: Seventh Avenue School and Spring Avenue School, both located on the streets that share their names. Gurrie Middle School also serves District 105. Some students in the southwest portion of La Grange are serviced by Highlands Elementary School and Highlands Middle School in nearby La Grange Highlands, part of La Grange Highlands School District 106.

St. Cletus and St. Francis Xavier serve as the two Roman Catholic schools in La Grange. St. John's Lutheran is the one Lutheran elementary school within the village limits.

Lyons Township High School in La Grange, founded in 1888, now has two campuses. 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 in 1967. When it was open, Lyons Township Junior College was nicknamed Tick-Tock Tech, due to its location near the clock tower.

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A suburb of Chicago and ranked among America’s safest cities, La Grange features a median household income that tops $97,000 and a median home value is around $381,900. The local economy is strong in sectors like advanced manufacturing, education, healthcare and technology La Grange  has a great educational system, metra trains stops Chicago to Aurora, IL & stretches along Interstate i55 & i290, making it an ideal location to live. If you're ever in search of movers in La Grange, Illinois, look no futher than Del's Moving & Storage for an expert La Grange moving company. Del's provides free wardrobe boxes, tape, & shrink wrap with all our La Grange, IL moves. Call us today for a free quote (708) 632-1376

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What to expect during a La Grange move with Del's Moving & Storage

 

Del's will arrive at your place, protect your home, pick up your boxes and furniture, and drive it to your new residence. Our drivers have thorough knowledge of the area’s geography, so we know the best routes to take to get your cargo to its new destination quickly and safely.Once we arrive, the assistance doesn’t end there. We’ll help transport all of your items into the building. If some possessions can’t quite fit in your new spot yet, we also offer short- and long-term storage, & hoisting options to alleviate your problems. Again, If you're ever in search of movers in La Grange, Illinois, look no futher than Del's Moving & Storage for an expert La Grange moving company. Del's provides free wardrobe boxes, tape, & shrink wrap with all our La Grange, IL moves. Call us today for a free quote (708) 632-1376

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