Northlake has a long and storied past. The City earned its charter on July 19th, 1949, and in its more than 50 years this leader in Chicago’s western suburbs has earned a reputation for hard work and good living.

The City was originally developed on a 2-1/2 mile tract of what used to be soggy farmland. Its beginnings are closely tied to the development of the Buick defense plant, which provided war machinery during the Second World War. Many workers and families relocated from Chicago and surrounding communities to new homes in an 800-unit development just to the west of the plant. Two large railroad yards to the north and south made Northlake an attractive site for postwar industries. When the City was incorporated in 1949, there were approximately 4,500 residents. By 1953, just four short years later, that population had doubled to over 9,000.

Today, Northlake’s over 12,500 residents have the best of small town living in a progressive, serene environment, where the local tax rate is one of the lowest in the western suburbs and where business and industry thrives.

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