Glendale Heights is a village in DuPage County, Illinois, United States. Per the 2020 census, the population was 33,176. The village is almost entirely residential, and is a far west suburb of Chicago.
History
Glendale Heights was a small farming area served by the Glen Ellyn post office up until the 1950s, with a population of just 104 in 1959. Midland Enterprises, run by Charles and Harold Reskin, started building houses in Glendale Heights in 1958. The Reskins bought two farms on Glen Ellyn Road north of North Avenue. Houses were first built on Glen Ellyn Road and Larry Lane near Fullerton Avenue. On June 16, 1959, a petition was filed and on July 13, the village became incorporated. The first election was held later that summer on August 2.
The town was originally named Glendale as it was between Glen Ellyn and Bloomingdale, but after a conflict arose with the small town of Glendale in Southern Illinois, the city decided in March 1960 to add the term Heights, in reference to its different topographies, a difference of about because of its location straddling the Valparaiso Moraine, thus becoming Glendale Heights.
Geography
According to the 2021 census gazetteer files, Glendale Heights has a total area of , of which , or 97.45%, is land and , or 2.55%, is water.