Medinah, Illinois | |
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Coordinates: 41°58′53″N88°03′04″W / 41.98139°N 88.05111°W | |
Country | United States |
State | Illinois |
County | DuPage |
Township | Bloomingdale |
Time zone | UTC-6 (CST) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC-5 (CDT) |
ZIP Code | 60157 |
area code | 630 |
Medinah is an unincorporated community in the state of Illinois and is a northwest suburb of Chicago, located in DuPage County. It is neighbored by the three villages of Roselle, Itasca, and Bloomingdale along old Chicago-Galena highway between Route 19 and 20.
The community of Medinah is named after the Medinah Country Club. In the 1920s, a group of members of the city of Chicago's Medinah Temple (affiliated with the Shriners) moved into the area, then known as Meacham (for the Meacham, Lawrence and Rosenwinkel families). [1] Together, they built a country retreat and 54-hole golf course, aiming to make it the best golf course in North America. The club had 1,500 members in the late 1920s; the Great Depression and World War II drove membership down until the postwar period, when membership recovered to the present-day 600. [2]
In 1999, a group led by Jack Roeser and backed by Senator James Philip attempted to bring a charter school to Medinah. The proposed Thomas Jefferson Charter School was met with NIMBY opposition by local residents. The charter school ultimately ended up opening on the northwest side of Chicago busing students from the northwest and west suburbs. [3] [4]
Within the last 30 years, the growth of the Chicago metropolitan area has brought more people to the surrounding areas. In spite of this growth, Medinah has remained adamant in retaining its identity, occasionally conflicting with state agencies (such as the Illinois Department of Transportation, or IDOT) and other municipalities with regards to utilities and services. A recent point of contention was the widening of Medinah Road to five lanes—after vocal protests, IDOT agreed to widen the road to only three lanes.
The first Post office opened as Meacham Illinois in 1874 in a general store. Meacham was named after the town's first settlers, the Meacham family. A never official but commonly used early name for the community was Meacham's Grove, Illinois. [5] [6] [7] [8]
The second Post Office was in the train station (1940s) until 1963. Meacham, Illinois' name was changed to Medinah in 1924. Medinah is named after the Medinah Country Club. [9] [10] [11]
The third and current Post Office was opened in 1963.
Medinah is located about 23 miles west of downtown Chicago. The community center is located just south of the Medinah Metra Milwaukee District West train station at the corner of Medinah Road and Irving Park Road (Illinois Route 19). Medinah is known for its large properties, with many homes situated on lot sizes of nearly an acre or more. This gives the town rural characteristics, while still being close to shopping and expressways for easy travel. The boundaries of Medinah are more properly defined by the boundaries of its surrounding incorporated cities, but can be approximated by the Elgin-O'Hare Expressway to the north, Plum Grove Road to the west, Lake Street (U.S. Route 20) to the south and the Medinah Country Club to the east.
According to the 2015 American Community Survey [lower-alpha 1] Medinah has an estimated population of 2,097 people and 744 households. The racial makeup of the area was 93.6% White, 1% African American, 5.2% Asian, and 0.3% from other races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.5% of the population. The median age was 42.8 years. The age distribution was as follows; 24.9% were under the age of 19, 14.9% were between 20 years and 39 years, 43.6% were between 40 years and 64 years, and 16.6% were over the age of 65 years.
The median household income was $132,917. The area had an income distribution in which 1.16% of households earned less than $25,000 annually; 15.19% of households earned between $25,000 and $49,999; 33.47% of households earned between $50,000 and $99,999; 16.40% of households earned between $100,000 and $149,999 and 33.79% of households earned more than $150,000.
Medinah is home to the Medinah Country Club, which hosted the USGA US Open in 1990, 1975, and 1949. Medinah also hosted the 1999 and 2006 PGA Championships, as well as the 2012 Ryder Cup and the 2019 BMW Championship. Medinah will also be hosting the 2026 Presidents Cup.
Medinah Elementary School District 11 operates three schools in Medinah, the Medinah Primary School, Medinah Intermediate School, and the Medinah Middle School. In addition, the community of Medinah has a park district that operates several parks within the community. In addition, Lake Park High School District 108 operates the eastern campus of Lake Park High School on Medinah Road south of the community center.
Medinah has a station on Metra's Milwaukee District West Line, which provides daily rail service between Elgin, Illinois and Chicago, Illinois (at Union Station).
DuPage County is a county in the U.S. state of Illinois, and one of the collar counties of the Chicago metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the population was 932,877, making it Illinois' second-most populous county. Its county seat is Wheaton.
Elgin is a city in Cook and Kane counties in the northern part of Illinois, United States. Elgin is located 35 mi (56 km) northwest of Chicago, along the Fox River. As of the 2020 Census, the city had a population of 114,797, the sixth-largest city in Illinois.
Franklin Park is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 18,467 at the 2020 census, up from 18,333 at the 2010 census. It was named for real estate broker Lesser Franklin who bought acres of the area when it was a majority of farming fields.
Hanover Park is a village in Cook and DuPage counties in the U.S. state of Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. The population was 37,470 at the 2020 census. Ontarioville is a neighborhood within the village.
Hazel Crest is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 13,382 at the 2020 census.
River Forest is a suburban village adjacent to Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States. Per the 2020 census, the population was 11,717. Two universities make their home in River Forest, Dominican University and Concordia University Chicago. The village is closely tied to the larger neighboring community of Oak Park. There are significant architectural designs located in River Forest such as the Winslow House by Frank Lloyd Wright. River Forest has a railroad station with service to Chicago on Metra's Union Pacific West Line.
Riverside is a suburban village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. A significant portion of the village is in the Riverside Landscape Architecture District, designated a National Historic Landmark in 1970. The population of the village was 9,298 at the 2020 census, up from 8,875 at the 2010 census. It is a suburb of Chicago, located roughly 9 miles (14 km) west of downtown Chicago and 2 miles (3 km) outside city limits.
Roselle is a suburb of Chicago and is a village located in both DuPage County and Cook in Illinois. Roselle was first incorporated in 1922 as a bedroom community, with its train stop attracting residents commuting to Chicago or nearby suburbs for their jobs. As of the 2020 census, the village's population was 22,897.
Bloomingdale is a village in DuPage County, Illinois, United States, settled in 1833, and 25 miles northwest of downtown Chicago. The population was 22,382 at the 2020 census.
Glen Ellyn is a village in DuPage County, Illinois, United States. A suburb located 24 miles (39 km) due west of downtown Chicago, the village has a population of 28,846 as of the 2020 Census.
Itasca is a village in DuPage County, Illinois, United States. Per the 2020 Census, the population was 9,543. Located approximately 25 miles northwest of downtown Chicago, Itasca is close to O'Hare International Airport, major expressways and rail transportation. Itasca is home to a country club, a resort and shares a border with Medinah's legendary golf course. The population was 9,725 at the 2020 census. BusinessWeek rated Itasca as the Best Affordable Suburb in the state of Illinois.
Illinois Route 390 (IL 390), previously known as the Elgin–O'Hare Expressway, now known as the Elgin–O'Hare Tollway, is a 9.8-mile-long (15.8 km) electronic toll highway in northeastern Illinois. IL 390 currently connects U.S. Route 20 in Hanover Park to the interchange with Illinois Route 83 and Thorndale Avenue in Wood Dale. The only other towns it borders are Schaumburg and Roselle. Construction is underway to extend the road from IL 83 to the western edge of O'Hare International Airport.
The Milwaukee District West Line (MD-W) is a Metra commuter rail line in Chicago, Illinois, and its western suburbs. Metra does not refer to any of its lines by a particular color, but the timetable accents for the Milwaukee District West line are dark "Arrow Yellow," honoring the Milwaukee Road's Arrow passenger train. Trains are dispatched from the Canadian Pacific Kansas City Railway's American headquarters in Minneapolis.
Lake Street is an east–west street in Chicago and part of its suburbs. A portion of Lake Street is designated as U.S. Route 20. Lake Street begins in downtown Chicago and travels west to the eastern terminus of the Elgin Bypass around suburban Elgin. The street travels west through the city and then begins to travel in a northwest fashion through several suburbs. The street is a distance of roughly 34.4 miles (55.4 km).
The Black Hawk was an Amtrak passenger train service that operated from 1974 to 1981 between Chicago, Illinois, and Dubuque, Iowa, via Rockford, Illinois. The original Black Hawk operated over the Illinois Central route, now the Canadian National's Chicago Central/Iowa Zone. From 2010 to 2014, plans called for the restored route to follow the same corridor; however, the state government could not come to an agreement with the railroad. Instead, the route would follow Metra's Milwaukee District / West Line from Union Station to Big Timber Road, then the Union Pacific Railroad to Rockford. Restored service to Rockford was planned to begin in 2015, but was put on hold by Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner. An extension to Dubuque was to open at a later date. The Rockford service was later funded in 2019 with the support of Governor J.B. Pritzker. In July 2023, Pritzker announced that two round trips a day between Chicago and Rockford would began by 2027, with the service operated by Metra as Rockford Intercity Passenger Rail rather than by Amtrak.
The Bloomingdale Trail is a 2.7-mile (4.3 km) elevated rail trail linear park running east–west on the northwest side of Chicago. It is the longest greenway project of a former elevated rail line in the Western Hemisphere, and the second longest in the world, after the Promenade plantee linear park in Paris. In 2015, the City of Chicago converted the former Bloomingdale railway line to an elevated greenway, which forms the backbone of the 606 trail network. The Bloomingdale Trail elevated park is in the Logan Square, Humboldt Park, and West Town community areas.
Lake Park High School is a four-year public high school occupying two campuses, both located in Roselle, Illinois, a western suburb of Chicago. Freshmen and sophomores attend the East Campus, located near Medinah, and juniors and seniors attend the West Campus. It is part of the Lake Park Community High School District 108. Students from Roselle, Medinah, Bloomingdale, Itasca, Wood Dale, Keeneyville, and Hanover Park attend the school.
Knollwood is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Lake County, Illinois, United States. Per the 2020 census, the population was 2,221. It is located within Shields Township and Libertyville Township. Knollwood shares a ZIP Code with the neighboring village of Lake Bluff, and children attend Lake Bluff schools. The residents of Knollwood were served by the Knollwood Fire Department until October 2018, after the trustees of the Rockland Fire Protection District ended their relationship with the department. Residents now receive fire protection from the Libertyville and Lake Forest fire departments. Police protection is provided by the Lake County Sheriff's Department.
Elgin is one of three stations on Metra's Milwaukee District West Line in Elgin, Illinois. The station is 36.6 miles (58.9 km) away from Chicago Union Station, the eastern terminus of the line. In Metra's zone-based fare system, Elgin is in zone H. As of 2018, Elgin is the 116th busiest of Metra's 236 non-downtown stations, with an average of 411 weekday boardings.
The Rockford Intercity Passenger Rail is a proposed Metra intercity train service between Chicago and Rockford, Illinois. The project is being lead by the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) funded with $275 million through the Rebuild Illinois capital plan. The route is expected to begin by late 2027, reinstating rail service to Rockford for the first time in over 40 years after the discontinuation of Amtrak's Black Hawk in 1981.