Winnetka is a village located approximately 19 mi (30 km) north of downtown Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, but bordering close to its Northern boundary. It has a population of 12,419. The population trends to be well above average wealth. New Trier High School, a nationally renowned public school, is located in Winnetka.
The first houses in Winnetka were built in 1836, the first school in 1856. The village was incorporated in 1869 with a population of 450 by Charles Pack and Walter S. Gurnee, President of Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad.
The name Winnetka is claimed to have been found in a book, meaning beautiful land in a local Native American language. However, no language has been found with a word anything resembling both Winnetka and the definition.[1] Though a charming story, the name was most likely made up. Recently, Winnetka has been nicknamed "the land of bankers and lawyers".
The oldest house in Winnetka is the Schmidt-Burnham House. It was relocated in the 2003 from its original location on Tower Road to the Crow Island Woods.
Interest facts about the city:
- In 1965, Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke in Winnetka. A plaque dedicated to him is on the Village Green, a park in the town, where he spoke.
- It is the childhood home of Donald Rumsfeld, the former United States Secretary of Defense.
- It is also the place of birth of actor Rock Hudson as well as rock/pop star artist Richard Marx.
- Robert F. Kennedy's son, Christopher George Kennedy, was married in Winnetka.
- Movies filmed in Winnetka include Uncle Buck, The Breakfast Club, Sixteen Candles, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, and Home Alone, and parts of Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (the McCallister's home), Ocean's 12 (Danny and Tess Ocean's house that is supposed to be in New Haven, Connecticut), and Planes, Trains & Automobiles (Page's home) were also filmed in Winnetka.
- Winnetka lent its name to the short-lived 1994 television series Winnetka Road.
- Winnetka is also indirectly the namesake of Winnetka, California, a community in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 10.2 km² (3.9 mi²). 9.9 km² (3.8 mi²) of it is land and 0.2 km² (0.1 mi²) of it (2.30%) is water. As of the censusGR2 of 2000, there were 12,419 people, 4,162 households, and 3,433 families residing in the village. The population density was 1,252.0/km² (3,242.7/mi²). There were 4,310 housing units at an average density of 434.5/km² (1,125.4/mi²).
There were 4,162 households out of which 47.2% had children under the age of 18, and 7.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.98 and the average family size was 3.35.
In the village the population was spread out with 34.6% under the age of 18, 3.4% from 18 to 24, 21.5% from 25 to 44, 27.6% from 45 to 64, and 13.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 94.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.6 males.
The median income for a household in the village was $167,458, and the median income for a family was $200,000+. Males had a median income of $100,000+ versus $61,513 for females.