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Deerfield, Illinois

22 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1900 and the latest in 2000. It stands in West Deerfield Township. It lies in ZIP code area 60015. The Survey maps it on the Highland Park quadrangle. 19,196 people lived here at the 2020 count.

Deerfield within Lake County

On record in Deerfield

Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.

On the National Register 2 records

Population over time

2 figures

Deerfield grew from 18,225 to 19,196 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.

YearPeople Change
201018,225
202019,196+971 (+5%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

10 surveys from 22 printed sheets

Matched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.

In the county-history sources

7,940 words on this township

The Past and Present of Lake County, Illinois, published 1877 names this settlement in its chapter on West Deerfield Township. These are the passages that mention it, exactly as the scans read.

The name of Deerfield was given to this town by the Commissioners having the matter in charge, in accordance with the wishes of the inhabitants as expressed at a public meeting called for that purpose at the house of Michael Mehan, when a formal election was held to decide upon a name. Philemon Caldwell and Michael Yore were chosen Judges, and Edwin Caldwell, Clerk. There were seventeen votes for Deerfield, and thirteen for Erin. The former name was therefore declared to be the choice of the inhabitants of the town. The result being laid before the Commissioners, the name of Deerfield was adopted as the name of the town.

Passage source: The Past and Present of Lake County, Illinois, published 1877.

Jacob Caldwell and sons came west from Norfolk, N. Y., in 1835, and settled in this town at what is now Deerfield Comers, in the Spring of 1836. It has been claimed that this family were the first settlers in what is now the town of Deerfield. But by some this is disputed, claiming that Horace Lamb was the first settler, and built the first house in the town, on the land now occupied by Phillip Yedder and his son Almon, and that the house was built before 1835. When we take into account the fact that the Indians remained in possession of the lands lying in Lake County by stipulation with the Government until 1836, and that occupation by settlers was not permitted before that time, except by consent of the Indians, we cannot expect to find settlers attempting to occupy the lands much before that year. It is well understood that Capt. Daniel Wright was the only settler in what is now Lake County in 1834, except, perhaps, Amos Flint, who is claimed to have settled on Fox River the latter part of this year. There are those now living who remember of hearing Capt. Wright say that he was allowed to remain in the country as a special favor of the Indians from the regard they had for him ; that no other person was alike favored. In 1835, the time in which the Indians were to leave the country being near at hand, which they seemed more to realize, they became more indifferent as to the encroachment of the whites, whereby during this year some progress was made by settlers, as has been already related in the com¬ mencement of this history. It is possible that settlers may have entered the town of Deerfield in 1835, but it is certainly not probable that any came before that time.

Passage source: The Past and Present of Lake County, Illinois, published 1877.

The first school in what is now the town of Deerfield is said to have been taught by Rosilla Caldwell, at the residence of Philemon Caldwell, in 1848. The names of the scholars attending are now forgotten, except that of Mrs. Walter H. Millen, who is still a resident of the town.

Passage source: The Past and Present of Lake County, Illinois, published 1877.

Machine-read from a century-old scan, so expect the errors a machine makes: misspelled names, dropped words, stray characters.

Read the whole chapter on West Deerfield Township - it names this place 7 more 7 times.

Fires near this place

2 since 2020

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 2 fires within 5 miles of Deerfield in 2020, burning about 23 acres in total. None started naturally. None was recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause Fires
Debris and open burning1
Equipment and vehicle use1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
15 December 2020Debris and open burning23 acresIllinois Division of Forestry Resources2020-2498
4 November 2020Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreIllinois Division of Forestry Resources2020-2239

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Lake County

Mines and quarries near this place

4 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 4 workings within 5 miles of Deerfield: 3 past producers, 1 producer. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Stone, Stone, Crushed/Broken. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Deerfield PitStonePast Producer
Northbrook City Dept of Public WorkStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
Aptakisic Sand Corp.Sand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Cow Hey PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer

Every working recorded in Lake County

Storms near this place

14 since 1995

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Deerfield in 14 storm reports between 1995 and 2024: 5 thunderstorm wind, 5 hail, 1 lightning, 1 flash flood. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
June 2010LightningDeerfield$5,000Lightning struck a house causing minor damage.
June 2011Thunderstorm WindDeerfield$2,000Numerous trees, tree limbs and power lines were blown down.
June 2024Heavy RainDeerfield-Mesonet station DRWI2 recorded 3.17 of rain.
August 2024Thunderstorm WindDeerfield-Multiple reports of tree damage in Deerfield including large branches down and at least one tree uprooted.
September 2021Thunderstorm WindDeerfield-Video shared on social media showed the top of a large tree getting snapped off.
May 2020FloodDeerfield-Residential street flooding was reported near Deerfield and Wilmot Roads.
May 2011Flash FloodDeerfield-Several feet of water flooded the Laurel Avenue underpass at First Street where two cars were stranded in the flood waters. Flooding was also reported at the Sheridan Road entrance to Rosewood Beach. Many other streets were flooded with standing water in Highland Park.
July 2003HailDeerfield-Gilmer and Fairfield in Wauconda.
April 2023HailDeerfield-no account filed
April 2023HailDeerfield-no account filed
April 2017HailDeerfield-no account filed
April 2014HailDeerfield-no account filed
July 2003Thunderstorm WindDeerfield-no account filed
August 1995Thunderstorm WindDeerfield-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Lake County

Nearest settlements

The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.

Map PlaceDistance Sheets
Blodgett1.0 miles22
Briergate Station1.4 miles22
Briergate1.6 miles22
Bannockburn1.9 miles22
Highmoor2.0 miles22
Del Mar Woods2.1 miles22
Woodridge2.3 miles22
Highland Park2.5 miles22

Elsewhere

Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.

Wikipedia article on DeerfieldAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q287895The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0).

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 407086. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.

Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.