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DHistory
History · Vernon Hills

Vernon Hills dates to 1851

More historic than 12% of U.S. towns · #715 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it

Most of Vernon Hills was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1991. Below: maps from 1900 on and the census since 1960.

1851founded
0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
3famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Vernon Hills began

When was Vernon Hills founded?

1851

Vernon Hills dates its founding to 1851 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1960.

First census: 123 in 19602020 census: 26,850175 years

How historic is Vernon Hills?

D

More historic than 12% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1836.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Vernon Hills’ History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Vernon Hills is more historic than 12% of U.S. towns, #715 of 768 in Illinois. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

D
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Vernon Hills’ overall grade.
Founding era1851, from Wikidata: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19400.0% of homes (±0.1) · typical IL town 10.6% · U.S. 8.4%D−National RegisterNo listings counted · typical IL town 0.5 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 12%
NewerOlder
Illinois towns of 2,500+ (768)Ahead of 7%

Few Illinois towns list much on the Register (a typical Illinois town has 0.5 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Vernon Hills’ 0.0 sits below most of its state (28% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.

NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1851.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D− to C−. The pre-1940 share (±0.1 points) is firm at this size.

Founding year: Wikidata (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about Vernon Hills’ past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Vernon Hills are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19007 editions of the USGS map, 1900 to 1993. Watch Vernon Hills change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Vernon Hills’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Vernon Hills’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Vernon Hills on the map, 1900 to 1993

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Vernon Hills. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Vernon Hills on the 1900 USGS mapVernon Hills on the 1928 USGS mapVernon Hills on the 1953 USGS mapVernon Hills on the 1963 USGS mapVernon Hills on the 1972 USGS mapVernon Hills on the 1980 USGS mapVernon Hills on the 1993 USGS map1900Highwood sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Vernon Hills.

The story

How Vernon Hills came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Vernon Hills.

Read it all →

The land that was to become Vernon Hills, founded by Richard Theodore Freese, Ron Freese, Nathan Kowitt, and Jim Carswell, began with the establishment of a 200-acre (0.81 km2) farm in 1857. Use of the land remained relatively static until the 1960s, when part of it was purchased for a residential community and golf course; the development was the first use of the name "Vernon Hills." On June 16, 1958, the village officially incorporated with 123 residents and 125 houses in a single subdivision built by Quinn Hogan and Barney Loeb. During these times, the village and police department were run from a local motel until 1971 when village trustees bought two portable buildings. It saw steady but slow growth until the annexing of a plot of land near the corner of IL-60 and IL-21 in 1971, which led to the building of 1,200,000-square-foot (110,000 m2) Hawthorn Center. By 1980, the village's …

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Vernon Hills, 1836 to 1993

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1836Post officeThe Half Day post office opens
  3. 1851
    FoundingVernon Hills is established
  4. 20th century
  5. 1900On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 1903Post officeThe Half Day post office closes
  7. 1982Born hereDavid Simon is born here
  8. 1992Born hereDaVaris Daniels is born here
  9. 1993Born hereEvan Spencer is born here
By decade

Vernon Hills, decade by decade

Today5 recent
Sunrise at Half Day Forest Preserve-Explore - Flickr - CheepShot2014Sunrise at Half Day Forest Preserve-Explore - Flickr …Sunrise at Half Day Forest Preserve-Explore - Flickr - CheepShot (cropped)2014Sunrise at Half Day Forest Preserve-Explore - Flickr …Sunrise Half Day Forest Preserve-Explore - Flickr - CheepShot2014Sunrise Half Day Forest Preserve-Explore - Flickr - C…Cuneo mansion and gardens2013Cuneo mansion and gardensEvening Prayer2011Evening Prayer
People over time

Vernon Hills, census by census

05,00010,00015,00020,00025,00030,000196019802000202026,850

Grew from 123 people in 1960 to 26,850 in 2020, more than tenfold.

7 censuses, 1960–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Vernon Hills’ Wikipedia page.

Famous people

3 famous people were born in Vernon Hills

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
David SimonAmerican basketball player · b. 1982
DaVaris DanielsAmerican gridiron football player · b. 1992
E
Evan SpencerAmerican football player · b. 1993
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and places now gone

Another post office, Half Day, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Half Day
Gone or out of use
Libertyville Naval Outer Landing FieldmilitaryLocke Schoolschool

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

MundeleinIts storyDBuffalo GroveIts storyC−Mettawa2 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townLincolnshireIts storyDLibertyville8 historic placesA−Indian CreekIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townLong GroveIts storyC

Questions about Vernon Hills’ history

What year was Vernon Hills founded?

In 1851, according to Wikidata. Vernon Hills’ post office opened in 1836, and the census of 1960 counted 123 people here.

How does Vernon Hills rank for history?

Vernon Hills is more historic than 12% of U.S. towns, #715 of 768 in Illinois. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

How old are the homes in Vernon Hills?

0.0% of Vernon Hills’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1991.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

From Wikimedia Commons (5), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.