New Lenox, Illinois, United States

🇺🇸 New Lenox is a village in central Will County, Illinois, United States. It is a south-western suburb of Chicago and an eastern suburb of Joliet. New Lenox has schools like Lincoln-Way West High School, Providence Catholic High School, and Lincoln-Way Central High School.

Geography New Lenox is located approximately 36 miles south-west of downtown Chicago. According to the 2010 census, New Lenox has a total area of 15.683 square miles (40.62 km²), of which 15.66 square miles (40.56 km²) (or 99.85%) is land and 0.023 square miles (0.06 km²) (or 0.15%) is water. It is bordered by Joliet to the north-west, Ingalls Park to the west, Mokena to the east, Frankfort to the south-east and Manhattan to the south.

History What is now the Village of New Lenox was first settled in the late 1820s, in the area of Gougar crossing (Route 30 and Gougar Road) and it was called VanHorne Point. New Lenox Township was established when Will County was created in 1852 with the building of the Rock Island Railroad between Chicago and Rock Island, Illinois. Originally named Tracey in honor of the general superintendent of the Rock Island Railroad. Mr. Tracy later requested that the community be renamed. The first supervisor of the Rock Island Railway for New Lenox Township, John Van Duser, named the Township New Lenox from the town Lenox, New York, which was Van Duser's hometown. In 1863, the name for the new settlement officially became New Lenox Township.

The Village of New Lenox was officially created on October 4, 1946. In 1945, 46 community leaders, F. Carlton Cole, Walter Baers and others reasoned that the community should be incorporated. Recognizing the benefits and the potential growth of the area, a community vote in the spring of 1946 resulted in the authorization for the creation of the Village of New Lenox. On October 4, 1946, the State of Illinois officially certified that New Lenox was legally organized and incorporated as a Village in the State of Ill

In 1829, fur traders Aaron Friend and Joseph Brown established an outpost along the north side of Hickory Creek (near today’s Gougar Road), which was one of the earliest settlements in Will County. Friend moved west with the Native Americans after the Blackhawk War of 1832. In 1830, William Rice, Sr. and William Rice, Jr. arrived and began farming and building a log cabin, which they sold along with their land to John Gougar on behalf of his father William Gougar. In 1832, “Uncle Billy” Gougar established a post office at his farm where area residents would pick up their mail. The Gougar farm became the centre of activity in the area.

Joseph Norman, who opened the second area sawmill in 1833, was also the father of Elizabeth Norman, born in 1832, and was the first child born in New Lenox Township. In 1852, the coming of the Rock Island Railroad changed the settlement of the Township. Before the railroad, farmers hauled their goods to the I & M Canal or by wagon all the way to larger cities like Chicago. The railroad brought distant markets to the farmer, along with more visitors and the mail. Later three additional railroads: the Wabash, the Michigan Central, and the Elgin, Joliet and Eastern all crossed New Lenox Township. Gradually the area east of Gougar Crossing along the railroad tracks became the new centre of town and so the Village of New Lenox began.

The village was platted in 1858. The name Tracy was the name shown on the original plat to honor the general superintendent of the Rock Island Railroad. Tracy requested that another name be found. The first supervisor for New Lenox Township J. Van Duser had named the Township New Lenox from the town of Lenox, New York, which was Van Duser's home town. In 1863, the name for the new settlement officially became New Lenox after the Township. The coming of the Rock Island Railroad in 1852 changed the settlement of the Township considerably. Previously farmers could do "cash crop" farming by hauling the products to the I & M Canal or by wagon all the way to larger cities like Chicago. The presence of the railroad brought distant markets to the farmer. Eventually New Lenox Township was served by three additional railroads: the Wabash, the Michigan Central, and the Elgin, Joliet and Eastern.

The most prominent citizen of New Lenox at the turn of the century was H. N. Higinbotham. Although Mr. Higinbotham's home was located in New Lenox, he became famous in Chicago where he was a partner in Marshall Field's, a banker, and the organizing and supervising force behind the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893. He was a colleague and friend of most of Chicago's leaders, including George Pullman, Marshall Field, and the Palmers. Mr. Higinbotham once owned the farms that later became Pilcher Park. He owned and operated one of the largest carnation and rose greenhouse businesses in this area. In 1898, the first rural Bell telephone company in Illinois came to New Lenox. By 1905, there were 132 subscribers. The switchboard operators worked in homes so that 24 hour service could be given to customers to handle emergencies. The Deadmore home at 221 Haven Avenue was the first location for the switchboard.

New Lenox is known as "The Home of Proud Americans", which exemplifies the quality of life in the community.

Health care Silver Cross has built a $400 million hospital just off of U.S. Route 6 nearby the new I-355 extension in New Lenox; replacing their Joliet location on February 26, 2012. The replacement hospital brings services from Children’s Memorial Hospital, the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago (RIC) – the #1 Rehabilitation Hospital in the Nation, and the University of Chicago Medical Center.

Train New Lenox has two Metra commuter rail lines. The New Lenox Metra Station is located on the corner of U.S. Route 30 and Cedar Road, servicing towns on Metra's Rock Island District Line between Joliet Union Station and Chicago's LaSalle Street Station. New Lenox also has Metra Laraway Road Station at the intersection of Cedar Road. This rail line services towns on Metra's SouthWest Service Line between Manhattan and Chicago's Union Station.

Transport: Road New Lenox is located at the junctions of many major roads. U.S. Route 30 is the main East to West road through town. The major north–south streets are Cedar Road, Gougar Road, and Nelson Road. I-80 and I-355, also known as the Veterans Memorial Tollway, pass through New Lenox. These expressways provide transportation to many other major highways and to Chicago, Joliet, Naperville, Wheaton, Bolingbrook.

Transport: Air New Lenox-Howell Airport is an abandoned airfield located on Laraway Road.

Economy The crossroads of I-355, Route 6, and Cedar Road was intended as the future site of two major development projects; Cedar Crossings and Spring Creek Outlets. Cedar Crossings will be constructed at south-west corner of Cedar Road and Route 6, adjacent to Silver Cross Hospital. Cedar Crossings is a proposed 970,000-square-foot retail centre to be developed by the Zaremba Group. However, development of Cedar Crossings has been delayed due to economic reasons.

Arts and entertainment

The Commons In 2005, the village opened the Commons anchored by the Performing Arts Pavilion. The village organizes a Summer Performing Arts Program including a series of free concerts and family movie nights. Each year the village hosts the Triple Play Concert Series featuring national recording artists performing on three different dates each summer. The 2011 Triple Play headline performers were Starship starring Mickey Thomas, Cheap Trick, and REO Speedwagon.

Outdoors New Lenox features the Sanctuary Golf Course. Bordering the west end of New Lenox and Joliet is Woodruff Golf Course. Opened in 1926, Woodruff is a course with sweeping elevation changes and small greens.

The New Lenox French Market made its debut in 2011. The Market runs late spring through October and offers fresh produce and fruit, hanging baskets, perennials and potted herbs, gourmet cheeses, dips, candies and sauces, bake goods, fresh coffee and much more. Festivals and various other events play an important role in family culture and entertainment. The Park District hosts the annual Proud American Days festival the last weekend in July. This festival includes food vendors, carnival rides, a craft show and live music. The Annual Kids Fest includes a day filled with fun activities just for kids. The Chamber’s Halloween Parade & Costume Contest features frightful fun for hundreds of area families.

During the Summer of 2011 (July 7 and 8), Lincoln-Way Central hosted the New Lenox All-Star Experience presented by Mayor Tim Baldermann which included a Dwyane Wade Skills Academy camp, a Devin Hester football camp, a Jim Peterik band camp, as well as the Annual Kids Fest.

Semi-pro football The now disbanded Lincoln-Way Patriots were part of the Mid States Football League and played throughout the Lincoln-Way area.

Parks and trails The New Lenox Community Park District maintains 40 parks and athletic fields comprising nearly 600 acres; while also utilizing 14 facilities throughout New Lenox.

New Lenox also offers a number of paved asphalt and crushed gravel trails. Old Plank Road Trail is a 22-mile pavement hiking and biking nature trail that travels through the heart of New Lenox with many access points to include access at the Village Hall in the Commons. The Hickory Creek State Nature Preserve provides a 2.8-mile asphalt hiking and biking nature trail as well as access to the historic one-room Schmuhl School Museum on the south-east corner of Route 30 and Schoolhouse Road, which is owned and operated by the New Lenox Historical Society. Additionally, the Hadley Valley Preserve offers a unique 4.85-mile crushed Spring Creek Greenway Trail that welcomes pedestrians and equestrians.