The Fox River valley has a rich history filled with tales of hopeful and hardy immigrants who became the first white settlers in the area and in the mid-1800s established communities such as Algonquin, Elgin, East and West Dundee, and Cary, towns that still exist today.

But there are also towns that got a much later start. Fox River Grove was incorporated in 1919, Sleepy Hollow in 1958 and Lake in the Hills in 1952.

Lake in the Hills is by far one of the youngest towns in the Fox River Valley, but despite its short history, its growth rate has well outpaced that of its older neighbors, according to U.S. Census Bureau statistics.

The village of Lake in the Hills is not even 50 years old, but its population in that time has jumped from about 300 people to nearly 20,000, and it is still growing.

Since 1990, Lake in the Hills grew nearly 250 percent, giving it the fifth-highest growth rate in the nation for communities of its size, according to the census bureau.

Before Lake in the Hills became an official village in the post-World War II building boom, it was just a small resort area created by federal judge Walter J. LaBuy. In the 1920s, LaBuy dammed Woods Creek to create the lake, bought 473 acres surrounding it and built five vacation cottages on the land.

The summer homes eventually turned into year-round residences, and businesses sprouted up to serve the needs of the residents.

In 1994, Lake in the Hills annexed another 905 acres, to make room for even more expansion.

In contrast to Lake in the Hills' massive building boom, Sleepy Hollow has remained tiny and almost exclusively residential.

Sleepy Hollow began when Carpentersville resident Floyd Falese purchased the former Peck Farm in 1953, when he was just 34 years old.

Falese had a vision for a certain kind of community, and set out to turn that vision into reality. He bought up additional land surrounding the farm and subdivided the property into large residential lots for upscale homes.

He hired a planner and landscape architecht named Raymond W. Kazekamp, to create the development, initially called Sleepy Hollow Manor. Kazekamp designed a layout of winding roads and curvy cul-de-sacs without sidewalks or curbs. The entire community was built around existing trees, so none had to be cut down. Lot sizes were kept to at least a half an acre or larger.

"In the rapid expansion of the suburbs, too many areas simply transplanted a city type of atmosphere to outlying areas," Falese once said. "They lost the country atmosphere that many people were hungry for when they moved. Houses were hastily built in rows, one on top of another."

Falese was not only Sleepy Hollow's creator, he was also the first village president, helping to ensure that his vision for the community was followed.

Sleepy Hollow continues to hang on to the rural charm of the village. Even village offices are set up in the barn where Falese once kept his horses.

While surrounding towns have seen an explosion in residential growth, as well as commercial and industrial, Sleepy Hollow has remained about the same over the years.

Fox River Grove is the oldest of the 20th century towns in the area. The town was incorporated in 1919 as an agricultural community and resort area.

Even before that, however, the land was settled by Norwegian immigrants, who founded the Norge Ski Club in 1905, an organization that is still going strong today.

In 1920, Fox River Grove was the fastest growing village in McHenry County and the town got its first post office. Four years later, the village hall was built at a cost of $6,116.

By 1970 more than 2,000 people called Fox River Grove home. Since then, Fox River Grove has grown into a village of nearly 5,000 people.

The demand for suburban living continues to grow, paving the way for further expansion of both the oldest and newest towns in the Fox River valley.

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