Village of Glenview history

John Kennicott arrived from New England in 1836 and became the first physician to practice in the area.

Kennicott also ran a nursery, and in 1856 he had as many as 134 varieties of apple trees along with various other trees and shrubs.

Hutchings and family vetoed the idea because a shabby little box car used as a station did not seem an appropriate recognition of their name and benevolence. It was an awkward and confusing name, temporarily changed to North Branch and on March 6, 1878, was renamed Oak Glen by Fred Hutchings.

The name Glenview won the majority vote and it was on May 7, 1895, four years before the incorporation of the village of Glenview that the name “Barr” was removed from the railroad station and replaced by the name of “Glenview.”

Under the leadership of the Swedenborg businessmen, a referendum to incorporate at as a village was held in 1898.

However, on June 17, 1899, a second try was made; and, by a vote of 59 to 51, the decision was made to form a village from Section 34 and most of Section 35 of Northfield Township.

Dedicated in 1917, the Bear has come to symbolize Glenview's tradition of community giving, caring and service.

In 1923 the Curtiss-Reynolds Airport was built.

In 1967 the University of Illinois at Chicago purchased a five-acre parcel west of Greenwood and east of Milwaukee for use as a botanical laboratory and conservation area.

The base closed in 1995, and developers turned the site into a mixed residential and retail area.

​The following are excerpts from "Glenview: The First Centennial," published by Paul H. Thomas and the Glenview Centennial Commission in 1999.