1850
A township named Cuba
When Illinois required townships to be named in 1850, the first choice, Troy, was already taken. Supervisor Lewis Bute suggested Cuba, and the name stuck.
Settlers and a township
The first settlers reached the area in the 1830s, and by 1840 they could travel to the land office in Chicago to buy their claims. In 1850, when state law required townships to be organized and named, Troy was already taken, so supervisor Lewis Bute proposed Cuba. In 1854 the railroad built its first station in Barrington, and dairy farmers sent their milk to Chicago on the early train.
Honey Lake’s first families
Dr. Edmund S. Kimberly, who arrived in Chicago in 1830 and was among its first elected trustees, built a summer house on Honey Lake in 1857. The family eventually owned almost 200 acres along the lake, and their son married a cousin of Theodore Roosevelt. In 1907 William Grace, a Chicago contractor whose buildings included City Hall, bought about 500 acres between Honey and Grassy lakes and built a mansion there.
Biltmore
In 1925 Clifford Leonard bought the Grace estate and neighboring farms, 804 acres in all, and planned a weekend retreat for city families called Biltmore. The Grace mansion became the Biltmore Country Club, the golf course was finished in 1926, and Bruce Bell built the first house in 1927.
Keeping the countryside
The North Barrington Association, founded in 1934, led the push for zoning that would protect the area’s semi-rural character. At the first hearing on December 5, 1957, more than 350 residents turned out. Residents then petitioned to incorporate, and on October 31, 1959, they voted 108 to 28 in the garage of Douglas T. Krumlinde’s farmhouse at 615 Signal Hill Road. On November 21, 1959, C. Richard Anderson was elected the first village president. The eastern part of Biltmore joined on May 20, 1961.
Wynstone and today
Wynstone and its Jack Nicklaus course began development in the late 1980s, and The Club at Wynstone was established in 1989. The Village Hall at 111 Old Barrington Road was built in 1992. Today about 3,171 residents live in roughly 1,100 homes, with two country clubs, on a little less than five square miles.
Source: Quintessential Barrington: North Barrington · Village of North Barrington: History · Village of North Barrington: Demographic Info · Wynstone