Located in McHenry County, almost 40 miles northwest of the Chicago Loop, Cary, Illinois was first settled in 1856 by a local farmer named William Cary. Cary purchased 82 acres of land in the area for a mere $1.25 an acre in order to layout the town. The Illinois and Wisconsin Railroad was quick to accept the area for a station and soon after, Cary Station and a local post office was established in town.
Street improvements in the town became necessary as the population grew, so residents moved to incorporate the town into Cary, Illinois in 1893. The town was accommodating for farmers but also served as a place of residence for the people who worked on the railroad. The Illinois and Wisconsin Railroad became the Chicago and North Western Railway in 1859 and employed even more workers.
Away from the railroad and working in the pits, the surrounding grasslands provided the perfect atmosphere for dairy cattle and the 1880s showed the trains hauling away thousands of containers of milk from Cary every morning. By the early 1900s, Borden dairy opened a bottling plant operation in the town and shortly thereafter the Oatman Milk Company came into existence in the area.
The Fox River Valley, not far from Cary, proved to be the perfect setting for those wishing to vacation in a rustic, natural area. Hotels and resort spots popped up all over town and increased the area’s tourism business by a very large margin. From 1950 to 1980, Cary’s population grew from under 1,000 residents to 6,600 in just 30 short years. The population hit another high in 200, reaching over 15,000.
Today, the city of Cary spans over six square miles and boasts a population of over 18,000 residents. While the primary industries during the town’s birth were railroad and dairy farming, the current primary industry for Cary and the surrounding county is manufacturing, with residents bringing in an average salary of just over $35,000 a year. The landscape, however, is just as picturesque as ever
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