Gages Lake is a census-designated place (CDP) in Warren Township, Lake County, Illinois, United States. The population was 10,637 at the 2020 census.
History
thumb|upright=0.6|left|John Gage, 1880
The body of water known as Gages Lake was estimated to have formed nearly 10,000 years ago during the most recent ice age.
In 1838 a schoolhouse was built in the area that would in time become Warren Township High School in 1917. In the 1840s a man known as John Gage and his brother George Gage began sellings parcels of land surrounding the lake which he called the North Grange Resort. Sometime prior to the developments in the 1920s, Richard Warren Sears (no relation to the name of the township) had purchased and owned the lake/surrounding land.
The census-designated place has received fire and police service from the neighboring village of Grayslake since the 1960s.
As part of the Wildwood Park District, in the 1970s the Gages Lake Conservation Committee (GLCC) was formed which still exists to this day.
Geography
The CDP is located in central Lake County in southwestern Warren Township and is bordered to the north and east by the village of Gurnee, to the northwest by the village of Third Lake, and to the west by the village of Grayslake. The water body of Gages Lake is in the western part of the CDP and extends into the village of Third Lake. The CDP includes the communities of Idlewild and Wildwood.
U.S. Route 45 runs along the western edge of the community, leading south to Mundelein and north to Bristol, Wisconsin. Illinois Route 120 runs along the southern edge, leading east to Waukegan and west to Hainesville. The CDP is northwest of downtown Chicago.
According to the 2021 census gazetteer files, Gages Lake has a total area of , of which (or 94.00%) is land and (or 6.00%) is water.
Major streets
- Washington Street
- Gages Lake Road
- Hunt Club Road
- Almond Road