About Wauconda

Wauconda resides in Lake County, Illinois, approximately 37 miles northwest of the Loop. In 1863, Justus Bangs was interested in land located on the south side of what is now known as Bangs Lake. This land was located along a horse trail that ran from Chicago to Janesville – since the area lacked good transportation and fertile soil to support farming, Bangs supported his family be developing a mail carrying service that ran between Chicago and Janesville, which went right through his new settlement.

In 1839, a friend of the Bangs family names Andrew Cook moved to the settlement and built a cabin near the Bangs’ homestead. Together, Bangs and Cook designed and constructed the town’s first schoolhouse. Soon after, in the 1850s, the two men began plotting a village to help increase the interest in selling land in the area. The unincorporated town was named “Bangs Lake,” although many began to refer to it is “Wauconda,” for the lore that was associated with the area.

According to tradition, Wauconda was named for an Native American Chief by the same name who is rumored to be buried somewhere along the southern bank of Bangs Lake, located behind the current day town hall. When translated, the word “Wauconda” means “Spirit Water.” The first Wauconda town meeting was held on the first Tuesday of April in 1850, more than likely in the town’s “Old Tavern.”

Wauconda saw the majority of its economic growth between the 1840s and early 1850s but that growth began to slow. Due to the village’s stagnant development, the town was not formally incorporated until 1877. By 1910, Wauconda’s population had only reached 368 residents, but the area became well-known as a vacation spot. Blue-collar workers from Chicago and other, larger cities enjoyed visiting Bangs Lake and Wauconda to rent summer homes. This caused a small commercial center to develop.

The 1920s saw added expansion in the area with the surfacing of Rand Road and the migration of many World War II veterans to the area. Wauconda’s population in 1946 of 650 residents had almost doubled by 1952. While more permanent residents were moving the area, Wauconda and Lake Bangs remained a popular vacation spot through the 1960s. The beaches of Lake Bangs were memorialized in 1980 by the popular movie “Blues Brothers” and, by 2000, its population had risen to over 9,000 residents.