Bartlett, Illinois, United States

🇺🇸 Bartlett is a village located in Cook, DuPage and Kane counties, Illinois. A small parcel on the western border is in Kane County.

History In its earliest times, the Village of Bartlett, Illinois was served as a hunting and camping ground for the Cherokee, Miami, Potawatomi, and Ottawa Indians. Throughout the past, the Northwest Territory, Virginia, Indiana, Spain, France and England had staked their claim for Bartlett. However, the territory was owned by a man named Luther Bartlett. Luther and Sophia Bartlett had decided that a station stop would be beneficial for their town and townspeople. In 1873, Bartlett gave a monetary contribution and half of his 40-acre woodlot towards the construction for a train depot, which is why the town is named after Luther Bartlett. Bartlett later became one of the premiere pig towns, becoming their main export for years to come. A petition for incorporation was filed in Springfield on February 11, 1891. The village was incorporated on June 21, 1892. Bartlett experienced the majority of its population growth in the 1980s.

Geography According to the 2021 census gazetteer files, Bartlett has a total area of 15.92 square miles (41.23 km²), of which 15.73 square miles (40.74 km²) (or 98.78%) is land and 0.19 square miles (0.49 km²) (or 1.22%) is water.

Economy Retail and commerce Apart from the downtown area, Bartlett has a large retail area centered by the intersection of Illinois Route 59 and Stearns Road. Businesses include: • The Home Depot, Walgreens, Anytime Fitness, Fifth Third Bank, First Midwest Bank, The DuPage Health Center, Oberweis Dairy, Dunkin' Donuts, T-Mobile, AutoZone, Taco Bell, KFC, McDonald's, Wendy's, and a Starbucks.

Retail expansion At the intersection of Illinois Route 59 and Stearns Road in The Home Depot parking area a four tenant building was voted for on October 17, 2017, successfully. The new building will include Starbucks, Great Clips, and two additional stores. The Great Clips was the first store to open in the four tenant building, leaving the older store across the street vacant.

Arts and culture Notable features On August 8, 2004, the BAPS organization, a sect of Hinduism, opened BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, Chicago, a large 22,442-square-foot (2,084.9 m²) temple, or mandir, on Illinois Route 59, just south of U.S. Route 20. Covering 30 acres (120,000 m²), it is the largest traditional Hindu mandir, of stone and marble, to be constructed in the United States. The mandir took 16 months to build and was constructed with Turkish limestone, Italian marble, and Indian makrana marble. The adjoining cultural centre, known as the Haveli, was opened in October 2000. The large complex contains large rooms with intricately carved walls of stone and wood. It attracts many visitors of all faiths. • Bartlett has retained its original railroad station, built in 1873. It is now the home of the Bartlett Depot Museum. • Bartlett had one of the largest Little League programs in the United States, managed under one board with over 1000 participants in the mid 1990s through early 2010. • Bartlett has one of the largest individual Little League Challenger Baseball programs (Special Needs Baseball / buddy ball) in the nation. • In 2013 The Bartlett Little League Challenger Division along with their Little League Illinois District 13 partners were the 15th team ever from Illinois to participate in the Little League World Series. They participated in the Challenger Exhibition game vs California District 57. • Bartlett's arts council, Arts in Bartlett, presents the village's only juried fine arts fair each year on the last weekend in June. • Bartlett Park District currently supports the Bartlett Park District Youth Theatre Troupe for ages 8 through 18.

Sports and recreation The local park district in Bartlett also has a recreation centre called Bartlett Community Center. This facility hosts a variety of sports that residents can sign up for and this includes: Adult Softball and Adult Basketball, Youth Basketball, Youth Soccer, Youth Girls Softball, Volleyball, Swimming, and an open gym.

Bartlett is home to Villa Olivia, a year round resort with banquet hall, an 18-hole golf course and winter sports such as skiing, tubing, and snowboarding. The championship course filled with mature trees, rolling hills, and beautiful landscaping. It features 6,510 yards of golf from the longest tees for a par of 73, a course rating of 72.4, and a slope rating of 124. Designed by Richard P. Nugent, ASGCA, the course opened in 1926.

Government The village of Bartlett has a mayor/council form of government. A village clerk, six trustees and a village president are elected in nonpartisan, at-large elections. They are elected for four-year terms. Elections are staggered, with three trustees elected every two years and the village clerk and president elected every four years. Municipal elections occur in odd-numbered years.

Public library The Bartlett Public Library was opened in 1973. After outgrowing the original building, the village purchased land in 1981 and opened the new facility in 1983. The library expanded again in 1995 when a second story was added. The library has a cozy, warm, cabin-like feel due to the exposed wooden structure on the interior of the building. In 2015, more renovations to modernize the library were made including the addition of study rooms, conference rooms, and an art room in the youth and teen services department. This renovation also expanded the display area in the entrance of the library.

Lifestyle The City of Bartlett was ranked the ninth-safest city in the United States according to the real estate market data platform NeighborhoodScout, with information analyzed from the FBI Crime Database from 2016.

There is an annual Independence Day festival that takes place located at the corner of S. Stearns and S. Bartlett Road near the Bartlett Community Center, 700 S. Bartlett Road. This festival includes a carnival with rides and games, food, beverages, free entertainment for all ages, bingo, a turtle race, a parade, on-site presence for nonprofit groups, skydivers, fireworks, and a great sense of community pride.