Crystal Lake Illinois Real Estate

Crystal Lake
by Julie Farby

Crystal Lake is located in southeastern McHenry County, Illinois, about 43 miles northwest of the Chicago Loop. As the largest city in McHenry County, Crystal Lake contains three high schools, and consists of seven separate neighborhoods.

According to the Encyclopedia of Chicago, Crystal Lake was so dubbed when, in 1835, Ziba S. Beardsley came to the shores of the lake and commented that the “waters were as clear as crystal,” thereby christening both lake and community. However, Ziba Beardsley continued “south to Naperville and missed the opportunity for fame as the city’s founder.” The city traces its origins to two separate communities which were established in the 1800’s: Nunda and Crystal Lake. The town was first known as Crystal Ville, but sometime before 1840, it was changed to Crystal Lake. The village of Dearborn came into existence in the mid 1850’s; by 1856 the first train depot was established. The railroad served to connect the people and industries of both Crystal Lake and Dearborn to Chicago and the rest of the county, and as a result, Dearborn’s population and business district quickly grew. On October 7, 1868, Dearborn’s name was changed to “Nunda” after an area in New York from which many settlers originated.

The villages of Crystal Lake and Nunda were each incorporated in 1874. In 1908, the name of the village of Nunda was changed to “North Crystal Lake.” After many failed attempts to consolidate the two villages, the city of Crystal Lake Charter was adopted on September 23, 1914. With wealthy vacationers building homes in the woods along the lake's scenic south shore, Crystal Lake's “reputation as a resort lasted throughout the 1920s.” The city’s population remained stable from the 1930s through the 1950s, but after World War II, the residents and boundaries of Crystal Lake began to change dramatically. Throughout the Chicago area, people began relocating father from Chicago to places like Crystal Lake in search of more open space, less traffic, cheaper land and safer neighborhoods.

Today Crystal Lake is a diverse, vibrant community, with a friendly atmosphere for both residents and businesses alike. According to the Crystal Lake City Council, the city boasts over “2.3 million square feet of retail shopping center space, and provides nearly 12,000 jobs through a large commercial, office and industrial base.” In fact, Crystal Lake offers the “lowest tax rate in the County for city and fire services, and no municipal utility tax, local income tax, or general business licenses are required.” Crystal Lake is also home to McHenry County College, and several “highly rated local schools, including Central, South and Prairie Ridge High Schools, three middle schools, nine public elementary, and five private elementary schools.” The Crystal Lake Park District currently operates “1,000 acres of parks, an active recreation program, a 238-acre lake, a golf learning center, and an indoor/outdoor tennis club;” an additional 700 acres is slated for future park and lake development.

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