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Based on the 2000 census figures, the following General Demographic Characteristics exist in Northfield
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Population - 5,548
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Median Age - 44.4
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Total Households - 2,155
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Total Housing Units - 2,303
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Race - 92.5% White - 7.5% Minority
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Average Household Size - 2.5
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Average Family Size - 3.04
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Median Household Income - $91,313
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Median Family Income - $114,279
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Per Capita Income - $63,857
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Median Home Value - $411,200
There are 2,155 households located in the Village, 90% of which are owner occupied. Northfield is one of the few north shore suburbs which issues licenses for keeping horses. In addition to Northfield's bicycle and jogging trails, the Skokie Lagoons Forest Preserve offers boating, wooded trails, bike trails and bridle paths. Through a unique intergovernmental agreement with the Northfield Park District, School District #29 and the Village, a community center was built in 1998 providing indoor recreational activities to adults and children.
A copy of the Profile Of General Demographic Characteristics: 2000 for Northfield, Illinois is available in Adobe Acrobat Reader format. (.pdf)
Northfield's History
Two hundred years ago, Indians roamed the land on which Northfield stands today. They hunted its prairies and woodlands and fished the streams that wandered through it. Then in the mid-1800s, the wilderness gave way to widely scattered farms, cleared and planted by settlers from the Old World, determined to make good homes for their families in America.
When settlers first arrived, Northfield was a remote swamp. Northfielders were often called the "river folks" by residents of neighboring communities because of their struggles to get back and forth to church or the beach in their wagons, crossing the Skokie Lagoons and "Middle Fork" branch of the Chicago River. Early pioneer families included the Donovans (1855), Brachtendorfs (1857), and the Metzs (1861). A few years after the arrival of the railroad in Winnetka in 1854, blacksmith John Happ closed up his shop and moved to a Northfield farm with his nine sons and daughter. Happ's grandson John became Northfield's first Village President in 1926.
In the early 1920s, the community changed dramatically. Samuel Insull, a powerful Chicago entrepreneur who headed the electric firm that was later incorporated into Commonwealth Edison, built the Skokie Valley Line of the North Shore Railway. He held a contest to name the Village, choosing the name Wau-Bun (an Indian word meaning "dawn," which was also the name of a Potawatomi Indian Chief who camped in the area in the late 1700s). The Village was incorporated in 1926. However, in 1929 locals, who had always disliked the name, dropped Wau-Bun in favor of Northfield.
From this small beginning, the Village began to attract other families who liked its small size and country atmosphere, all of which still exists today. The population surged from 320 residents in 1930 to 4,887 in 1980 and 5,389 in 2000. To serve the small town, a Village Hall was built at the intersection of Happ and Willow Roads in 1936 where remained in use for 31 years. A larger Village Hall is now located on the same site.
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