Carpentersville, Illinois

Carpentersville is a village in Kane County, Illinois, United States. The population was 30,586 at the 2000 census.

Geography
Carpentersville is located at 42.12111°N, -88.27472°W (42.121156, -88.274679).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 7.6 square miles (19.7 km²) of it (1.97%) is water.

History
Carpentersville was first settled by Charles Valentine Carpenter and his brother, Daniel. In 1837, the two brothers, en route to the Rock River, made camp along the east bank of the Fox River to wait out the spring floods that made continuing their oxcart journey impossible. They ended up staying in the area to settle what was then called Carpenters' Grove. In 1851 Charles's son, Angelo, platted the land and renamed the town Carpentersville, which was incorporated in 1887. He acquired a dam and then a mill, which he converted into a yarn and flannel factory. cause od

In 1864 Carpenter established an iron foundry and blacksmith shop called the Illinois Iron & Bolt Company. The company later acquired the Star Manufacturing Company, which produced agricultural machinery. During the 1870s and 1880s German, Swedish, and Polish immigrants came to work in the factories. Carpenter housed the workers, built a church, and held cultural events. Although he moved to Elgin in 1875, Carpenter continued his business interests in Carpentersville. He persuaded the Chicago & North Western Railroad to extend its tracks from East Dundee to the area and built an iron bridge with his own funds to accommodate the rail line. By 1912 Carpenter's two companies employed 2,000 people. Star Manufacturing remained in Carpentersville until 1977.

For the next hundred years, Carpentersville did not grow as rapidly as other Fox River communities which had more direct rail connections to Chicago. The electric interurban railroad came to Carpentersville in 1896. The line was built by the Carpentersville, Elgin and Aurora Railway from a connection with the streetcar system in Elgin, Illinois and ran for four miles, terminating at the Illinois Iron and Bolt foundry on Main Street. This company changed ownership several times, including the Aurora, Elgin and Chicago Railway. It ended up being owned by the Aurora, Elgin and Fox River Electric Company in 1924. This line was always operated separately from the rest of the system, which included all traction lines between Carpentersville and Yorkville. This was a great convenience to factory workers who traveled to Elgin and for Elgin workers to come to Carpentersville. The line was used by everyone to enjoy Elgin's Trout Park and to enjoy the "summer cars" for a cool ride. The line started to fail with the onset of the Great Depression and the establishment and paving of Illinois Route 31, which encouraged automobile use and the creation of a bus route. The final blow came in 1933, when a tornado destroyed the bridge over the Fox River just south of West Dundee.

Until the 1950s, Carpentersville consisted of a street grid along the Fox River centered around Main Street, which was the only highway bridge across the Fox River between Algonquin and Dundee. In the mid-1950s, Leonard W. Besinger began a subdivision named Meadowdale north of Carpentersville. By 1956 Besinger had accumulated more than 2600 acre along Illinois Route 25 between Bolz Rd and Illinois Route 68. Other area residents thwarted his attempts to incorporate Meadowdale as an independent town. So Besinger had Carpentersville annex the property. The Meadowdale Shopping Center, which was anchored by Wieboldt's, Carson Pirie Scott, Cook's and W.T. Grant; it also featured an indoor ice skating rink, overshadowed the commercial district along the River. A large section of the shopping mall on the north side was torn down in the 1990s and a new post office building was built.

In 1956, to reflect this population shift, Dundee Community High School relocated from its former site on Illinois Route 31 to Cleveland Avenue (now Carpentersville Middle School). In 1964, a second high school, named for Irving Crown, opened on Kings Road on the northern edge of Meadowdale. The two schools have now merged. DeLacy (one of the schools built on Kings Road) was closed and made into offices of Dundee-Crown High School(the other school built there) and was remade on Cleveland Ave.

From 1958 to 1969, Carpentersville was home to the Meadowdale International Raceway, a 3.27 mi long automobile race track located west of Illinois Route 31 which was also started by Besinger. The site is now a Township Park and County Forest Preserve.

Governance
Carpentersville operates under the council-manager form of government in which an elected Board, consisting of the President (chief elected official) and six Trustees, appoints a professional manager to oversee the day-to-day operation of government services and programs. The council-manager form of government combines the leadership of elected officials with the experience of a professional manager.

The current office holders are:
 * Ed Ritter, Village President
 * Paul Humpfer, Trustee
 * Judy Sigwalt, Trustee
 * Keith Hinz, Trustee
 * Kay Teeter, Trustee
 * Craig G. Anderson, Village Manager
 * Patricia Schulz

Local School Districts (2)
Barrington Community School District #220

CarDunAl Region Community Unit School District #300

Demographics
As of the census of 2010, there were 37,691 people and 11,583 households in the village. The racial makeup of the village was 62.9% White, 6.8% African American, 0.5%  Native American, 5.5%  Asian, 0.04%  Pacific Islander, 20.9%  other races, and 3.2% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 50.1% of the population.

For the census of 2000, there were 30,586 people, 8,872 households, and 7,239 families residing in the village. The population density was 4,105.4 people per square mile (1,585.1/km²). There were 9,113 housing units at an average density of 1,223.2 per square mile (472.3/km²). The racial makeup of the village was 68.76% White, 4.18% African American, 0.64% Native American, 1.98% Asian, 0.10% Pacific Islander, 20.83% from other races, and 3.50% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 40.57% of the population.

There were 8,872 households out of which 48.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 63.1% were married couples living together, 11.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 18.4% were non-families. 13.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 3.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.45 and the average family size was 3.77.

In the village the population was spread out with 33.2% under the age of 18, 10.9% from 18 to 24, 35.4% from 25 to 44, 15.3% from 45 to 64, and 5.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 28 years. For every 100 females there were 106.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 106.2 males.

The median income for a household in the village was $54,526, and the median income for a family was $55,921. Males had a median income of $38,052 versus $26,957 for females. The per capita income for the village was $17,424. About 6.7% of families and 8.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 11.5% of those under age 18 and 4.2% of those age 65 or over.