Rolling Meadows, Illinois

Template:Geobox Rolling Meadows is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 24,607 at the 2000 census.

Geography

Rolling Meadows is located at 42°4′34″N 88°1′33″W (42.076209, -88.025911)Template:GR.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 5.5 square miles (14.1 km²), all of it land.

History

Rolling Meadows is located in Cook County and is 24 miles (39 km) NW of the Loop. In 1836 Orrin Ford became the first landowner in the area that is now Rolling Meadows, staking his claim of 160 acres (0.65 km²) in the tranquil forests and gently rolling terrain of an area known as Plum Grove. Other farm families followed, many traveling from Vermont. By the early 1840s settlers had built a dam across Salt Creek and had laid claim to the entire Plum Grove area.

The community became part of newly formed Palatine Township in 1850 as German immigrants arrived. In 1862 they erected the Salem Evangelical Church, whose 40-foot (12 m)-square church cemetery at the corner of Kirchoff and Plum Grove Roads still stood in 1998, a bit of history amid bustling traffic and a strip shopping center.

In 1927 H. D. “Curly” Brown bought 1,000 acres (4.0 km²) of what became Rolling Meadows to build a golf course and land adjacent to it for a racetrack. In the early 1950s Kimball Hill purchased the land intended for the golf course, and began home sales by advertising a floor plan of his basic house in the Chicago Tribune. Although the response was positive, officials in neighboring Arlington Heights protested, hoping to buy the land themselves for estate homes. But prospective buyers of the Kimball Hill homes persuaded the Cook County Board for zoning changes to allow Hill to proceed.

In 1953 the first families moved into the development, which Hill named Rolling Meadows. With a production schedule of 20 houses a week, 700 houses sold by 1955, mostly to blue-collar workers. Hill donated $200 per home for a school system, then built and equipped the first elementary school. He also founded the Rolling Meadows Homeowners' Association, donated land for parks, and funded the Clearbrook Center, a home for the mentally handicapped, which opened in 1955.

Rolling Meadows incorporated in 1955 as a city named for its gently rolling terrain, and soon began annexing land for future development. The town boomed during the 1950s and 1960s as businesses moved into the area. When Crawford's department store opened in the 1950s it was the largest in the northwest suburbs (it closed in 1993). An industrial park opened on North Hicks Road in 1958, and Western Electric opened a facility in the 1960s which employed 1,500 workers. Developers inundated the area with apartment buildings and by 1970 multifamily dwellings made up 35 percent of the total structures in Rolling Meadows. Ramblin' Rose North, renamed Meadow Trace, opened in 1966, followed by Three Fountains. Rolling Meadows complexes, however, suffered from a series of fires in the decade. This prompted the city to become more stringent in their building codes, which had allowed for frame multifamily structures. Single-family housing continued to flourish in Rolling Meadows as developers utilized the natural wooded setting for the subdivisions of Tall Oaks, Dawngate, and Creekside.

By 2000 the population was 24,609, with 19 percent at Hispanic origin, 7 percent Asian, and 3 percent African American. The city had begun revamping commercial areas along Kirchoff Road. To the south on Golf Road, corporations such as 3Com, Helene Curtis, and Charles Industries established bases in what has become known as the Golden Corridor.

Demographics

As of the censusTemplate:GR of 2000, there were 24,607 people, 8,923 households, and 6,174 families residing in the city. The population density was 4,510.4 people per square mile (1,743.1/km²). There were 9,151 housing units at an average density of 1,677.6/sq mi (648.3/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 82.33% White, 2.83% African American, 0.27% Native American, 6.61% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 5.95% from other races, and 1.98% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 19.20% of the population.

There were 8,923 households out of which 33.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.8% were married couples living together, 9.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.8% were non-families. 24.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.72 and the average family size was 3.26.

In the city the population was spread out with 25.1% under the age of 18, 9.3% from 18 to 24, 33.9% from 25 to 44, 21.1% from 45 to 64, and 10.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 102.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 101.5 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $59,535, and the median income for a family was $68,571. Males had a median income of $45,101 versus $35,039 for females. The per capita income for the city was $26,178. About 3.5% of families and 5.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 7.4% of those under age 18 and 2.9% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Almost all of Rolling Meadows is served by Palatine Community Consolidated School District 15[1]. District 15 schools in Rolling Meadows include Central Road (K-6), Kimball Hill (K-6), Willow Bend (K-6), John G. Conyers Learning Academy (early childhood and multiple needs), Carl Sandburg Jr. High (7-8) and Plum Grove Jr. High (7-8).

A very small portion is served by Schaumburg Consolidated School District 54[2].

A small portion extends into Community Consolidated School District 59[3]; that portion has no residents.

About half of Rolling Meadows is served by Township High School District 214's Rolling Meadows High School [4]. The other half is served by Township High School District 211[5].

St. Colette School[6] is a PreK-8 Catholic school serving all of Rolling Meadows. St. Colette School was awarded as a 2007 Blue Ribbon School from the U.S. Department of Education. The Rolling Meadows Park District[7] offers early childhood classes.

Park Districts

• Rolling Meadows Park District
• Salt Creek Rural Park District

Rolling Meadows Park District

As a separate Municipal Governing Agency, the Rolling Meadows Park District's purpose is to provide parks, facilities and recreation programs for the children and adults of the community. The Park District's policies for operation are governed by seven elected Commissioners. The goal of the Illinois Distinguished Agency program is to improve the delivery of recreation services to the residents of Illinois through a voluntary comprehensive evaluation process. The desired result is to improve the quality of life for Illinois residents and to recognize those agencies that provide this quality service. The Rolling Meadows Park District was certified in 1996 and recertified in 2002.

Mission Statement

The purpose of the Rolling Meadows Park District is to maximize the recreational leisure opportunities of our residents, thereby enhancing their "quality of life". Our desired result is to deliver superior quality programs, facilities and parks; accommodating the assessed leisure needs of all our residents.

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.

Notable residents

• Gary Cole, actor
• Timothy Goebel, figure skater
• Sgt. Bryan Anderson, Iraq War veteran who lost both legs and left arm after getting hit by an IED

This carillon bell tower stands at the bridge on Kirchoff road.

External links

• City of Rolling Meadows Website
• Rolling Meadows Chamber of Commerce
• Rolling Meadows Park District
• Salt Creek Rural Park District