Our Story

Northfield grew up the hard way.

Our history is a saga of hardscrabble farm families who battled floods, swampy marshland and mud, while greedy entrepreneurs schemed to take over and run the town.

But something special grew out of our early rough years—a “can-do” attitude that has made our village unique among North Shore towns.

For starters, Northfield didn’t have the natural resources, wealth or business clout to establish a landmark village at the same fast pace other North Shore communities did.

For example:

• Winnetka, Glencoe, Kenilworth and Wilmette boasted beaches and the lake. We had Skokie Swamp.
• These same communities lured business titans from U.S. Steel, the Chicago/Milwaukee Railroad and Marshall Field who brought financial muscle and built magnificent homes. We drew farmers, construction workers and tavern owners who came here for a simple reason: they could afford it.
• Our neighboring lakefront communities ran nationally-acclaimed schools. Northfield kids in 1929 were the only New Trier feeder school still being taught in a one-room shack with no plumbing or electricity, an outhouse and a potbellied stove.
• Our neighboring communities by the lake began incorporating their towns soon after the Civil War. By 1917, for example, Winnetka had formed a 63-member commission to craft a comprehensive plan for village development. This led to the opening in 1926 of its limestone Georgian Revival-style Village Hall, serving 6500 citizens. And Northfield? That same year, 78 Northfielders went to the polls and voted 63 to 15 to form a town. And our polling place was Al Levernier’s grocery store and tavern.

That was our past. And today?

Northfield’s school district is top-ranked in Illinois.

Our village government operates with the lowest tax rate of any of the five North Shore communities in New Trier township, and it maintains a balanced budget and a AAA bond rating. This allows us to promote a thriving business climate; carefully monitor and serve the needs of our 5,751 residents; and pay for infrastructure upgrades to ensure our roads, sidewalks, storm sewers and other systems stay updated.

How We Did It

The story of how Northfield got from there to here—how we grew from outcast “river folks” a century ago to leaders in education and local government—is really a tale of thrift and ingenuity.

We had no wealth or resources, so we built our town with an outpouring of enterprise, initiative and heart. We had to be frugal and clever. That’s how we got things done.

And that is the key to our identity as a town.

What makes Northfield unique is that everything you see when you look around—our landscaped parks, top-ranked schools, welcoming library, well-maintained neighborhoods, thriving park district and efficient village government—came neither quickly or easily.

It took a village to make it happen.

And we’re proud of how far we’ve come.

This is our story.