A Strong Tradition

The City of Countryside has developed a great deal since its beginnings as prairie land inhabited by the Pottawattamie Indians. Joseph Vial, his wife and four children were among the first settlers in 1833. Until the Chicago Fire in 1871, the Vial family farm, a few homesteads and vast areas of prairie land were all that made up the area. Though Chicago was about to enter its greatest era of growth, thanks to rebuilding of the city and the explosion of the American industrial age, the “great fire” sent many city dwellers west in search of a better life (and land selling for $2 an acre!) away from the congestion and industry of Chicago. Some of those families who made their way toward the Countryside area included the Conrads, Craigmills, Henrys, Murphys, Polks and Winslows. Countryside remained, however, a quiet farming community until the post-World War II era when “suburbia” was born.

The area’s first residential subdivision was LaGrange Terrace, built in 1947; the Don L. Dise subdivision followed in 1954, then Edgewood Park, in two phases. Countryside became a “bedroom” community,” with workers commuting to Chicago every morning and returning to their suburban homes every evening.

With its incorporation as a home rule city in 1960, Countryside officials mapped out a plan for economic growth and development that would generate enough revenue through state sales tax to fund city services and operations, while maintaining the “small-town” ambiance its residents enjoyed. Lured by the attraction of lower real estate taxes and a steadily growing population, businesses began to relocate to the community. The development of Dansher Industrial Park helped further enhance city improvements.

Today, the population of Countryside numbers about 6,000. The city retains its status as a country retreat from other, more populated communities, and residents, just as they did 150 years ago, have “settled in” quite comfortably.