It's not too hard to tell that the Northwest suburbs sit a little higher than the ground of downtown Chicago. On a clear day, a drive down I-355 yields a far-off vista of the Sears Tower and other buildings in Chicago's Loop.

When Ezra Carpenter Eggleston bought land in 1874 that is now part of Mount Prospect, he noticed that, too.

"It was situated on one of Cook County's highest points," said Kim Dewis in the Mount Prospect clerk's office. "There was swamp that surrounded Chicago at that time ... but this land was higher up, and you didn't have to worry about living in swampland."

Eggleston named the land Mount Prospect - after all, he reasoned, the name made the place sound inviting, and he had high hopes for his subdivision.

Today, Mount Prospect sits about 665 feet above sea level, thanks to a boost from the Tinley Moraine.

Chicago sits at a measly 580 feet.

"You can safely say that Mount Prospect is about 85 feet higher than downtown Chicago," village engineer Jeff Wulbecker said.

Settlers in other villages, like Arlington Heights and Park Ridge, also had their enviable height in mind when they named the towns.

-Erin Holmes

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