Burr Ridge, Illinois

Burr Ridge (formerly Harvester) is a suburb of Chicago, in Cook and DuPage Counties, Illinois. The population was 11,560 at the 2008 census.

Geography

Burr Ridge is located at 41°45′11″N 87°55′12″W (41.753030, -87.919998)Template:GR.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 6.5 square miles (17 km²), of which, 6.4 square miles (17 km²) of it is land and 0.1 square miles (0.26 km²) of it (1.68%) is water.

Burr Ridge lies in both Du Page and Cook Counties. The village is bordered by Hinsdale, Indian Head Park, Western Springs, Willowbrook, Willow Springs and several unincorporated areas.

History

Burr Ridge's gently rolling hills were carved by glaciers at the end of the last ice age, and most of the village lies on the Valparaiso Moraine. Flagg Creek, a tributary of the Des Plaines River, runs through town.

Joseph Vial erected a log cabin near Wolf and Plainfield Roads in 1834. Vial also ran a hotel on the stagecoach line, and the Vial family was actively involved in Lyons Township politics and the creation of the Lyonsville Congregational church. The first Democratic Convention in Cook County was held here in 1835. After 1848, farmers shipped their goods to Chicago along the Illinois and Michigan Canal. A small settlement of German farmers also inhabited Flagg Creek by the 1880s.

In 1917 the International Harvester Company purchased 414 acres (1.7 km²) for an experimental farm, where it tested the world's first all-purpose tractor, the Farmall. Also in 1917, the Cook County Prison Farm (also known as the Bridewell Farm) began operation in what is now Burr Ridge.

In 1947 developer Robert Bartlett, whose company also developed Beverly Shores and Countryside, established the Hinsdale Countryside Estates out of a former pig farm. In 1956 these residents decided to incorporate as the village of Harvester, in honor of International Harvester.

In the 1940s Denver Busby bought 190 acres (0.8 km²) that became known as the Burr Ridge dairy farm. He later launched the Burr Ridge Estates, with 5-acre (20,000 m²) home sites. In 1961 the International Harvester Company and the Burr Ridges Estates merged with Harvester, changing the community's name to Burr Ridge. The town name is derived from a group of bur oaks (scientists spell it with one r) on a ridge. By 1963 the population had more than doubled, to 790, and by 1975 it had soared to over 2,200.

In 1969, Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley floated a proposal to build low-income subsidized housing on the prison farm property, but Republican-dominated DuPage County squashed the idea. The prison farm site became the Ambriance subdivision, a gated community of multimillion-dollar homes. The low income housing did eventually get built and crime rose as property value decreases. The Four Pines Farm gave way to the Carriage Way subdivision, at whose entrance the original farmhouse still stands, and in 1971 additional farmland became the Braemoor neighborhood. An area known as Valley View, once owned by a Chicago industrialist and later by the Chicago chapter of the Boy Scouts of America, was developed in the early 1970s as the Burr Ridge Club. The village also has five corporate parks. As with other towns in the industrial corridor southwest of Chicago, close proximity to Interstates 294 and 55 spurred development in Burr Ridge.

Demographics

As of the censusTemplate:GR of 2000, there were 10,408 people, 3,541 households, and 2,914 families residing in the village. The population density was 1,620.1 people per square mile (625.9/km²). There were 3,679 housing units at an average density of 572.7 per square mile (221.3/km²). The racial makeup of the village was 90.69% White, 0.98% African American, 0.03% Native American, 8.93% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.75% from other races, and 0.59% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.92% of the population.

The top five ancestries reported in Burr Ridge as of the 2000 census were German (21.2%), Irish (17.4%), Italian (12.2%), Polish (9.8%) and English (9.3%).

There were 3,541 households out of which 37.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 76.4% were married couples living together, 4.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 17.7% were non-families. 15.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.87 and the average family size was 3.22.

In the village the population was spread out with 26.6% under the age of 18, 5.4% from 18 to 24, 20.1% from 25 to 44, 33.7% from 45 to 64, and 14.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 44 years. For every 100 females there were 95.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.2 males.

The median income for a household in the village was $129,507, and the median income for a family was $186,480. Males had a median income of $99,060 versus $47,824 for females. The per capita income for the village was $58,518. About 2.5% of families and 2.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 2.7% of those under age 18 and 5.5% of those age 65 or over.

Notable residents

• Ozzie Guillen, manager of the Chicago White Sox
• Bo Jackson, former professional football and baseball athlete
• Mario Tricoci, hairdressor who began a chain of hair salons throughout midwest
• Jim Peterik, member of the band Survivor, co-wrote "Eye of the Tiger", the theme song of the 1982 film Rocky III

Fire Department

Burr Ridge is served by the Pleasantview Fire Protection District. The fire district currently maintains three (3) stations throughout its coverage area. The district’s headquarters are in LaGrange Highlands on Plainfield Road.

Government

Interstate 55, is in the 3rd district.

Burr Ridge Village Center

The Burr Ridge Village Center is a new upscale lifestyle center located in the village. It has already begun to draw numerous upscale retailers and crowds are common to the new center. It also includes Lifetime Fitness, a massive complex that provides the community with a recreational escape. Some retailers include:

• Ann Taylor
• White House Black Market
• Chico's
• Victoria's Secret
• New York & Company
• The Kohler Store
• Kohler Water Spa
• Gymboree
• Eddie Bauer
• Banana Republic
• JoS. A. Bank Clothiers
• Ann Taylor LOFT
• Coldwater Creek
• Lucy
• Bath & Body Works
• Yankee Candle
• Aeropostale
• Justice
• Soma Intimates
• Starbuck's
• Claire's
• Clark's
• Barbara's Bookstore
• Salon Efthimia
• Topaz Restaurant
• Sunglass Hut
• Verizon Wireless
• Len's Crafters
• Cooper's Hawk

Currently, there are over 25 restaurants and stores at the mall.

Education

Primary schools Burr Ridge Community Consolidated School District 180 (Anne M. Jeans Elementary School, Burr Ridge Middle School) Gower School District 62 (Gower West Elementary School, Gower Middle School) Hinsdale School District 181 (Elm School, Hinsdale Middle School) Pleasantdale School District 107 (Pleasantdale Elementary School, Pleasantdale Middle School)

High schools

• Hinsdale Township High School District 86 (Hinsdale Central High School, Hinsdale South High School)
• Lyons Township High School District 204

Community Colleges

• Community College District #502 (College of DuPage)

Churches

• Trinity Lutheran Church, a congregation of the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod, organized on December 31, 1865. The church supports an elementary school with an enrollment of 137 students (as of 2007), founded in 1883, and is National Lutheran Schools Accredited (NLSA).

• St. Mark Coptic Orthodox Church, a congregation of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria (Egypt), was built in 1981 and was completed in 1983. The church conducts liturgies every Sunday and supports a Montessori pre-school.

• St. Helena's Episcopal Church, of the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago was founded in the mid-1950's. The church supports multiple food ministries including a 24/7 food donation drop box and a partnership with Vacant 2 Vegetables, which provides fresh produce to area food banks with vegetables grown on the church's 5-acre site.