Deerfield is a village in Lake and Cook counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. A northern suburb of Chicago, Deerfield is located on the North Shore, about north of downtown Chicago. The population was 19,196 at the 2020 census.
Deerfield is home to the headquarters of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Baxter Healthcare, and Fortune Brands Home & Security. Deerfield is often listed among the wealthiest and highest-earning places in Illinois and the Midwest. According to the United States Census Bureau, the median household income in Deerfield was $185,762 in 2022.
History
Beginnings
Originally populated by the Bodéwadmiakiwen (Potawatomi), Myaamia (Miami), Kiikaapoi (Kickapoo), and Peoria Native Americans, the area was settled by Horace Lamb and Jacob B. Cadwell in 1835 and named Cadwell's Corner. A shopping center located on the site of Cadwell's farm at Waukegan Road and Lake Cook Road still bears that name. The area grew because of the navigable rivers in the area, notably the Des Plaines River and the Chicago River.
By 1840, the town's name was changed to "Leclair". Within a decade, settler John Millen proposed a further name change to "Deerfield" in honor of his hometown, Deerfield, Massachusetts and the large number of deer living in the area. At the time, the alternate name for the village on the ballot was "Erin". "Deerfield" won by a vote of 17–13.
The village's first school, Wilmot School, was founded in 1847. Originally a one-room schoolhouse, Wilmot is now an elementary school which serves 548 students. It is located on land donated by Lyman Wilmot, whose wife, Clarissa, was the village's first schoolteacher. with a population in the low 400s.
In the 1850s, the Deerfield home of Lyman Wilmot served as a stop on the Underground Railroad as escaped slaves attempted to get to Canada. Following World War II, a portion of Waukegan Road (Route 43) that runs through Deerfield was designated a Blue Star Memorial Highway.
In 1959, when Deerfield officials learned that a developer building a neighborhood of large new homes planned to make houses available to African Americans, they issued a stop-work order. An intense debate began about racial integration, property values, and the good faith of community officials and builders. For a brief time, Deerfield was spotlighted in the national news as "the Little Rock of the North." Supporters of integration were denounced and ostracized by angry residents. Eventually, the village passed a referendum to build parks on the property, thus putting an end to the housing development. Two model homes already partially completed were sold to village officials. The remaining land lay dormant for years before it was developed into Mitchell Pool and Park and Jaycee Park. At the time, Deerfield's black population was 12 people out of a total population of 11,786. This episode in Deerfield's history is described in But Not Next Door by Harry and David Rosen, both residents of Deerfield. On June 18, 2020, the Deerfield Park District Board voted to remove James Mitchell's name from the park and later renamed it to Floral Park, which was the name originally intended for the sub-division that would have been built at that location.
Since the early 1980s, Deerfield has seen a large influx of Jews, Asians, and Greeks, giving the community a more diverse cultural and ethnic makeup. By 1991, headquarters employees had moved to downtown Chicago. In 2007, Sara Lee severed its final tie to its former home town with the closure of the Sara Lee Bakery Outlet Store.
In 1982, Deerfield began an experiment with a community farm.
In November 2007, BusinessWeek.com listed Deerfield third in a list of the 50 best places to raise children. The rankings were based on five factors: school test scores, cost of living, recreational and cultural activities, number of schools and risk of crime. Deerfield ranked behind Groesbeck, Ohio, and Western Springs, Illinois.
In 2015, a plan to rezone a parcel of land originally zoned for single-family homes, in order to allow the construction of a 48-unit affordable apartment building complex, was proposed. Some Deerfield residents were opposed to the proposition.
In 2018, the Village Board of Trustees unanimously approved a ban on what were described as certain types of assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, amending a 2013 ordinance that regulated the storage of those items. This was done despite an Illinois State Preemption on any further municipal firearms restrictions after 2013, and the fact that amendments to municipal ordinances have to pass said amendments as separate ordinances. Lawsuits were filed challenging the Ordinance and the ban was eventually blocked by Lake County Circuit Court Judge Luis Berrones until the lawsuits could be heard. One of the lawsuits is based on the Illinois state preemption statute regarding local bans enacted after 2013.
Deerfield was a sister city with Lüdinghausen, Germany, until the commission was dissolved in October 2019 due to inactivity.
Deerfield Historic Village
thumb|[[Caspar Ott Cabin, 1837]]
Located in front of Kipling Elementary School is the Deerfield Historic Village, founded and maintained by the Deerfield Area Historical Society, this outdoor museum consists of five historic buildings and includes the headquarters for the Deerfield Historical Society. Tours are offered during the summer months.
The Historic Village includes the Caspar Ott House, where the Ott family assisted in the passage of slaves in the Underground Railroad, considered to be the oldest building in Lake County, built in 1837. It was restored by Bob Przewlocki. The George Luther House (1847) now includes the Society's offices and Visitor Center. The Bartle Sacker Farmhouse (1854) is a typical 19th century home. While those buildings are all original (although relocated from their original sites), the carriage house and little red school house are replicas.
Geography
According to the 2021 census gazetteer files, Deerfield has a total area of , of which (or 99.60%) is land and (or 0.40%) is water.
Climate
Due to its proximity to the city, Deerfield's climate shares many of the same traits as Chicago. Deerfield lies in a humid continental climate zone (Köppen: Dfa) and experiences four distinct seasons. Like all Chicago suburbs, Deerfield lies within USDA plant hardiness zone 5b.