Palatine, Illinois

Palatine is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. It is a northwestern residential suburb of Chicago. As of the 2000 census, the village had a total population of 65,479, making it the sixth-largest community in Cook County and the 16th-largest in the state of Illinois at that time. In 2005 its population was estimated to be 67,232.

Geography
Palatine is located at °N, °W (42.116885, -88.040613).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 13.1 square miles (34.0 km²), of which, 13.0 square miles (33.6 km²) of it is land and 0.1 square miles (0.3 km²) of it (0.99%) is water. Palatine's shape resembles that of the head of an axe.

Palatine is in a wooded marshland where several streams rise around the village. Most of these streams meet up with the Salt Creek which rises at Wilke Marsh on the village's east side. The most notable exception is the northeast side, where its streams lie in the Buffalo Creek watershed. A small part of the east and southeast sides lies in the McDonald Creek watershed. As a consequence, floods occur very frequently in Palatine.



History
George Ela was also one of the first of a wave of pioneers to migrate to northern Illinois following the Black Hawk War. A road which passes through the western edge of Palatine is called Ela in his honor.

The Village of Palatine was founded in 1866. It was built around a station on the new Chicago and North Western Railway. Joel Wood surveyed and laid out the village, earning him the title of Palatine's founder. One of Palatine's original downtown streets is named after Wood.

A short line railroad, the Palatine, Lake Zurich and Wauconda Railroad, was built in 1911, and began full passenger service to Wauconda, Illinois in 1912. The line was closed in 1924 after a series of financial misfortunes and the improvement of roads in the area. The PLZ&W provided transportation to Dr. Wilson's Deer Grove Park, just north of Dundee Road in Palatine.

Palatine's first suburb-style subdivision was called Palanois Park, built shortly after World War II. The town has experienced rapid growth since the 1970s, part of Chicago's growing suburban sprawl. Palatine was home to the Cook County Fair from 1914 to 1931. The fairgrounds are now a sub-division with a name that pays tribute to Palatine's former fairgrounds.

During the early 1990s, Palatine along with neighboring Rolling Meadows and far northern suburb Zion was under attack from atheist activist Rob Sherman over its village seal and seal-defaced flag, which had a Christian cross, among other things, inside an outline of an eagle. A 1992 advisory referendum to keep the seal passed but another referendum to use public funds to defend the seal failed, leading the village to drop the seal. While Rolling Meadows and Zion developed new seals with the crosses removed, Palatine has since been without an official seal or flag, and is Illinois' largest city or village as such. The French tricolor reflecting the village's sister city relationship with Fontenay-le-Comte, France, has flown at times on the flagpole meant for the village flag outside village hall.

In 1993, a multiple-homicide—the Brown's Chicken massacre received national attention.

Palatine has been in the process of revitalizing its downtown area since December 1999. This process has spawned a new passenger train station, a nearby parking garage, and several new condominiums, rowhomes, and commercial buildings.

In 2008, Palatine made news by threatening to secede from Cook County over the latter's sales tax hike; as a result of the tax hike, Palatine's sales tax is 9.5% - one of the United States' highest sales tax rates. In 2009, residents of Palatine Township (which includes the village of Palatine) overwhemingly voted to pass an advisory referendum stating that they would like to secede from Cook County. According to Midwest historians Mary Healy and Ben Niewenhuis, there was a similar, less well-known incident in 1934 when a group of disillusioned townspeople wanted to stage an uprising.



Government
Palatine operates under the Council-manager form of local government. Six councilmen are elected from their respective districts, while the entire village elects the Village Clerk and the Mayor. The council then hires a Village Manager to oversee the town's day-to-day operation. The current mayor is Jim Schwantz.

Education
Palatine is part of Community Consolidated School District 15 (CCSD15) for public elementary schools and Township High School District 211 (D211) for public high schools. Both the school districts' main offices are located in Palatine, and have both won numerous awards. In 2003, CCSD15 was awarded the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award by then-President, George W. Bush; few school districts in the nation have been awarded since the awards began in 1988. The village is home to two high schools, Palatine High School on the northeast side and William Fremd High School on the southwest side, and a community college, William Rainey Harper College. Both high schools and the college, as well as the public library, have received high national honors. There are two public junior high schools in Palatine, Walter R. Sundling Junior High, and Winston Campus–Junior High. Some students in Palatine attend Plum Grove Junior High in Rolling Meadows, just outside of Palatine's limits.

Elementary Schools
 * Gray M. Sanborn School
 * Hunting Ridge School
 * Jane Addams School
 * Lake Louise School
 * Lincoln School
 * Marion Jordan School
 * Pleasant Hill School
 * Stuart R. Paddock School
 * Virginia Lake School
 * Winston Campus School–Elementary

Junior High Schools Feeder schools: Lincoln, Marion Jordan, and Sanborn Feeder schools: Winston Campus-Elementary, Jane Addams, Virginia Lake and Lake Louise
 * Walter R. Sundling Junior High
 * Winston Campus–Junior High

Private Schools

Parochial schools serving students Preschool - 8th grade:
 * Saint Theresa (Catholic)
 * Saint Thomas of Villanova (Catholic)
 * Immanuel Lutheran (Lutheran)


 * Quest Academy, an independent school for gifted children serving students Preschool - 8th grade

High Schools Feeder schools: Walter R. Sundling (students that attended Lincoln and Sanborn) and Winston Campus-Junior High Feeder schools: Plum Grove Junior High and Walter R. Sundling (students that attended Marion Jordan)
 * Palatine High School
 * William Fremd High School

Colleges
 * William Rainey Harper College

Park Districts

 * Palatine Park District

The Palatine Park District serves 85,000 residents within the Palatine, Rolling Meadows, Arlington Heights, Inverness, Hoffman Estates and Barrington communities. It is governed by five elected Park Commissioners who oversee a professional staff.

The Palatine Park District operates four swimming pools (Family Aquatic Center, Birchwood, Eagle and Willowwood) for its residents as well as two recreational centers (Community Center & Birchwood). Planning is currently underway for a third rec center at Falcon Park.
 * Salt Creek Rural Park District

It is the mission of the Salt Creek Rural Park District to provide for the community a quality park and recreation system that is committed to excellence in service and facilities, as well as being sensitive to individuals and economics.

The Salt Creek Rural Park District was formed in 1956 and operates under the Park District Code of Statutory Laws which directly governs the power, duties, and purposes relating to park districts in the State of Illinois.

Legal voters from the park district elect seven non-paid park commissioners. Commissioners serve 6, 4, and 2 year terms. The Board of Commissioners elect a President, Vice President, Treasurer and Secretary. The commissioners appoint a Director of Parks and Recreation to manage the day-to-day operations of the district.

The Director of Parks and Recreation hires professional administrative staff to oversee the operation of parks, recreation facilities and recreation programs.

The district provides recreation and leisure services to the residents that live within the corporate boundaries of the district. The corporate boundaries of the district include parts of the Village of Arlington Heights, Palatine and the City of Rolling Meadows.

The district also provides recreation and leisure services to many non-residents of the area on a fee basis.

Economy
JPMorgan Chase (Chase Cards) has a payment processing center located in Palatine.

Weber-Stephen Products Co., manufacturers of the Weber grill, and Square D, one of the largest makers of circuit breakers, are both headquartered in Palatine.

Sister cities

 * 🇫🇷 Fontenay-le-Comte, Vendée, France.

Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 65,479 people, 25,518 households, and 16,586 families residing in the village. The population density was 5,047.2 people per square mile (1,949.2/km²). There were 26,223 housing units at an average density of 2,021.3 per square mile (780.6/km²). The racial makeup of the village was 83.05% White, 2.15% African American, 0.22% Native American, 7.56% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 5.08% from other races, and 1.89% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 14.12% of the population.

There were 25,518 households out of which 32.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.3% were married couples living together, 8.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 3.5% were non-families. 27.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 6.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.56 and the average family size was 3.18.

In the village the population was spread out with 24.8% under the age of 18, 8.5% from 18 to 24, 35.8% from 25 to 44, 22.0% from 45 to 64, and 8.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 99.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.3 males.

The median income for a household in the village was $63,321, and the median income for a family was $76,270 (these figures had risen to $69,336 and $84,186 respectively as of a 2007 estimate ). Males had a median income of $50,341 versus $35,342 for females. The per capita income for the village was $30,661. About 3.5% of families and 4.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 5.2% of those under age 18 and 5.1% of those age 65 or over.

The village is home to a large Sikh gurdwara on its northwest side that is visited by Sikhs from across the country.

Notable Palatinians

 * Twenty Minute Mile - DIY punk band
 * Born of Osiris - deathcore band, several original members
 * Michael Bradley - midfielder U.S. National Team and Dutch side SC Heerenveen, lived in Palatine as a teenager
 * Jon Lee Brody - actor
 * Mauro Fiore - Academy Award winning cinematographer, attended Palatine High School
 * John Gegenhuber - actor
 * Vicki Gunvalson - cast member of The Real Housewives of Orange County
 * Stanley M. Hough - Thoroughbred racehorse trainer
 * Todd Hundley - former Mets, Cubs, and Dodgers catcher throughout the 90's and 2000's, attended William Fremd High School
 * Timothy Huskey - decorated soldier (Distinguished Flying Cross and Bronze Star Medal) and author of multiple novels, including "Blood and Iron" and "The Dreamland Deception"
 * Larry Lujack - radio personality, lived in Palatine during his WLS days
 * Thymme Jones - drummer of Chicago-based progressive rock group Cheer-Accident
 * Carol Marin - journalist, NBC 5 Chicago and Chicago Tonight, attended Palatine High School
 * Christina Moore - actress, former cast member of MADtv during the show's eighth season
 * Kris Myers - percussionist of Chicago-based progressive rock group Umphrey's McGee
 * Marion "Ma" Nugent - mother of Ted, mentor of local rock bands and columnist covering the Chicago rock scene, lived in Palatine from the 1960s until her death in 1989
 * Ted Nugent - lived in Palatine in his teenage years
 * Stuart Paddock - founder of Paddock Press, now the Daily Herald
 * Maria Pinto - fashion designer, multiple of her designs worn by current first lady Michelle Obama
 * Frederik Pohl - science-fiction writer and critic
 * David Saunders - arena football player
 * Jim Schwantz - professional football player for the Chicago Bears, San Francisco 49ers, and Dallas Cowboys, he is the current mayor of the Village of Palatine
 * Mallory Snyder - model, cast member of The Real World: Paris
 * Morgan Ottier - news reporter for KWQC TV-6 News in Davenport, Iowa
 * 20 Over - Midwest Cover Band