It would be difficult to imagine Lake County without towns such as Vernon Hills and Lincolnshire.

However, while landmarks such as Marriott's Lincolnshire Resort and Hawthorn Center in Vernon Hills are now part of everyday life in the county, the municipalities in which they reside were not born until the late 1950s.

Cows - not gridlock - were commonplace in the areas where some of Lake County's youngest villages were spawned. For example, Hawthorn Center's name came about because it was the site of the former Hawthorn Mellody dairy farm.

"Just up until 14 years ago, (Vernon Hills) wasn't much," said Larry Laschen, the village's manager from 1984 until his retirement in 1998. "They used to advertise the mall as being just south of Libertyville."

Vernon Hills started as an outgrowth of a 125-home subdivision built by developers Quinn Hogan and Barney Loeb, according to an official village history. It was incorporated with a few hundred residents on July 16, 1958.

Police and village business originally was conducted in a local motel lobby. Late Village Clerk Joanne Korstanje's home then served as Vernon Hills' headquarters until 1971, when two portable buildings were purchased on Oakwood Road.

Tally Ho Country Club was one of the village's gems that drew golfers from across the Chicago area, but it eventually disbanded. The golfers' loss became the village's gain, because its offices moved into the clubhouse in 1980.

By 1980, Vernon Hills grew from just a few hundred residents to 9,827. Today the village has nearly 18,000 residents.

Laschen said Vernon Hills could have assumed a radically different look had original plans from the late 1970s materialized.

Fifteen-story buildings had been approved for what now is the Continental Executive Park along Milwaukee Avenue, Laschen said. Moreover, another business park south of Milwaukee Avenue and Route 60 took the place of 3,000 homes that at one time were on the drawing board.

Laschen said he knew Vernon Hills would explode because malls, such as Hawthorn Center, historically attracted other businesses. He expressed satisfaction with how the town evolved.

"One of the things I'm most proud of is how we diversified our tax base and put in a lot of business and retail," Laschen said.

At Vernon Hills' southern border lies Lincolnshire, which moved toward becoming a village in 1955 when a subdivision by that name was recorded with the Lake County Clerk's office. Village documents say Ladd Enterprises constructed homes on 280 acres that were first occupied in 1956.

Lincolnshire became a tourist destination with the addition of the Marriott resort and highly acclaimed theater-in-the-round in 1975. The village, incorporated on Aug. 5, 1957, now boasts 5,914 residents and is home to Fortune 500 companies.

Until Marriott came to town, Mayor Barbara LaPiana said, Lincolnshire was virtually invisible. She said when Lincolnshire was mentioned to someone in the 1960s, most often the reply was, "You mean Lincolnwood?"

LaPiana, who moved to Lincolnshire 29 years ago, said several village officials "almost got run out of town" for approving the Marriott complex and the Lincolnshire Corporate Center at Milwaukee Avenue and Route 22.

"Absolutely, (the Marriott) is the one that gave us an identity as a community," LaPiana said.

Other Lake County newcomers include Hawthorn Woods, Green Oaks and Round Lake Heights. Those towns have become known primarily as bedroom communities.

Green Oaks incorporated on March 5, 1960. It originally was known as the village of Oak Grove at its inception - a name that lives on with the elementary school district that serves the village.

One major attraction in the village is Lambs Farm. Village Administrator Elaine Palmer said Green Oaks gained in status when it annexed Lambs Farm in 1996.

Palmer said one major accomplishment for Green Oaks has been maintaining a strong residential character.

"We're unique in that way, having the businesses on the west side and the residential on the east," said Palmer, who was Green Oaks' mayor from 1981 to 1993.

Hawthorn Woods' beginning was traced to 1948, when Forest Farm was purchased by Matt and Germaine Larson. Ground was broken on a road system for the area in 1953.

After the road was established, the Rae Branch family built a home in the area that was affectionately known as "the woods." Branch served as the first village president after incorporation on Feb. 17, 1958, making way for Matt Larson in 1959, according to the Ela Township Historical Society.

Round Lake Heights made its debut as a village on April 4, 1960. Its population has not leaped dramatically, going from a few hundred at the start to 1,261 who live there today.

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