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Lake Zurich, Illinois
Lake Zurich
View of Lake Zurich from the downtown promenade
View of Lake Zurich from the downtown promenade
Flag of Lake Zurich, Illinois
Flag
Official seal of Lake Zurich, Illinois
Seal
Location of Lake Zurich in Lake County, Illinois.
Location of Lake Zurich in Lake County, Illinois.
Location of Illinois in the United States
Location of Illinois in the United States
Country United States
State Illinois
County Lake
Township Ela
Founded September 29, 1896
Area
 • Total 7.33 sq mi (18.99 km2)
 • Land 6.93 sq mi (17.94 km2)
 • Water 0.41 sq mi (1.05 km2)
Elevation
850 ft (260 m)
Population
 (2020)
 • Total 19,759
 • Density 2,852.87/sq mi (1,101.45/km2)
Time zone UTC-6 (CST)
 • Summer (DST) UTC-5 (CDT)
ZIP Code(s)
60047
Area codes 847 and 224
FIPS code 17-41742
Wikimedia Commons Commons:Lake Zurich, Illinois

Lake Zurich is a village in Lake County, Illinois, United States, a northwest suburb of Chicago. Per the 2020 census, the population was 19,759. The village is named after a body of water named "Lake Zurich," which is completely located inside the village.

Geography

Lake Zurich is located at 42°11′32″N 88°5′17″W / 42.19222°N 88.08806°W / 42.19222; -88.08806 (42.192324, -88.088098), with an elevation of 850 feet (260 m) above sea level.

According to the 2010 census, Lake Zurich has a total area of 7.187 square miles (18.61 km2), of which 6.77 square miles (17.53 km2) (or 94.2%) are land and 0.417 square miles (1.08 km2) (or 5.8%) are water.

History

The area of Lake Zurich was first settled by European descendants in the 1830s. Three early pioneers were George Ela, after whom the Ela township is named, Seth Paine, who established a number of commercial ventures in the town, and Nathan Kowitt, who accompanied them on their voyage. New England farmers moved to the area in the 1830s and 1840s, and German immigrants began to move to the area later in the middle of the 19th century. The lake now known as Lake Zurich was named Cedar Lake at the time. The village of Lake Zurich was incorporated on September 29, 1896. It remained primarily a farming community; although the village was connected to the railroad in 1910, the line was closed ten years later. However, the arrival of the highway system with Rand Road (U.S. Route 12) in 1922 and Half Day Road (Illinois Route 22) in 1927 established Lake Zurich as a convenient summer resort. The now-defunct Palatine, Lake Zurich, and Wauconda Railroad also served the community. Housing development began in the 1950s, with the population increasing throughout the latter part of the 20th century.

The town of Lake Zurich puts on an annual festival each summer, called the Alpine Fest. The Lake Zurich Lion's Club hosted the first Alpine Fest as a way to celebrate their victories from World War II. The first-ever Alpine Fest took place in 1942 and has been a popular summer activity for families and adults of all ages.

In 1988, a historic, landmark legal case in Illinois took place settling a dispute on Lake Zurich, thereby clarifying throughout Illinois property owners' rights on private lakes. In 1988, the Illinois Supreme Court ruled in Beacham v. Lake Zurich Property Owners Association (123 Ill. 2d 227; 526 N.E.2d 154; 1988 Ill. LEXIS 91; 122 Ill. Dec 14, filed June 20, 1988) that each individual owner of the private (aka non-public) lake's bottom has the legal right to recreate over the surface waters of the entire private lake. The High Court ruled that by ownership of a lake bottom land, each partial-lake-bottom owner of a private lake can not be prohibited from recreating on the surface waters that may be located above other owners' lake bottom properties. Riparian land rights were defined in Illinois.

Demographics

Historical population
Census Pop.
1880 146
1900 215
1910 304 41.4%
1920 316 3.9%
1930 368 16.5%
1940 422 14.7%
1950 850 101.4%
1960 3,458 306.8%
1970 4,082 18.0%
1980 8,225 101.5%
1990 14,947 81.7%
2000 18,104 21.1%
2010 19,631 8.4%
2020 19,759 0.7%
U.S. Decennial Census
2010 2020

2020 census

Lake Zurich village, Illinois – Demographic Profile
(NH = Non-Hispanic)
Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos may be of any race.
Race / Ethnicity Pop 2010 Pop 2020 % 2010 % 2020
White alone (NH) 16,223 15,552 82.64% 78.71%
Black or African American alone (NH) 165 174 0.84% 0.88%
Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH) 10 8 0.05% 0.04%
Asian alone (NH) 1,440 1,781 7.34% 9.01%
Pacific Islander alone (NH) 11 2 0.06% 0.01%
Some Other Race alone (NH) 18 31 0.09% 0.16%
Mixed Race/Multi-Racial (NH) 243 573 1.24% 2.90%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 1,521 1,638 7.75% 8.29%
Total 19,631 19,759 100.00% 100.00%

Popular culture

Lake Zurich is the hometown of Sandra Bullock's character Dr. Ryan Stone in the 2013 science fiction film Gravity.

Notable people

Education

Public schools

Public schools are managed by the Lake Zurich Lake Zurich Community Unit School District 95. A small section of east Lake Zurich is served by Kildeer Countryside Community Consolidated School District 96 and Consolidated High School District 125.

Elementary schools (K-5):

  • Isaac Fox
  • Sarah Adams
  • Seth Paine
  • Spencer Loomis
  • May Whitney (also Pre-K)

Until 2009, Charles Quentin Elementary School was also a school in the district, located in nearby Kildeer, that served students in Kildeer, parts of Deer Park and a small part of Lake Zurich, but it closed due to the small total number of students attending it. The district was remapped and students attending Charles Quentin were assigned to various other schools. The site of the former Charles Quentin school became a large part of the retail shopping center known as Kildeer Village Square.

Middle schools (6-8):

  • Lake Zurich Middle School South (takes students from Fox and Adams and took students from the former Quentin School, also takes Whitney students)
  • Lake Zurich Middle School North (takes students from Paine, Loomis and Whitney)

High school (9-12):

  • Lake Zurich High School

Non-Lake Zurich schools:

  • Willow Grove Kindergarten Center (K) (in Buffalo Grove)
  • Kildeer Countryside Elementary School (1-5) (in Long Grove)
  • Woodlawn Middle School (6-8) (in Long Grove)
  • Adlai E. Stevenson High School (9-12) (in Lincolnshire)

Private schools

  • St. Francis de Sales (Catholic) (Preschool-8)
  • St. Matthew (Lutheran) (K-8)
  • Quentin Road Christian School (Baptist) (K-12)

Library

Ela Area Public Library

See also

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