Prior to the 1830's: The inhabitants of the land that now encompasses Morton Grove was inhabited by the Potawatomi and the Miami. The Miami Indian tribe lived in Illinois, Indiana, and southern Michigan at the time of European colonization of North America. Miami Indians were known for their quilt work, bead work, and embroidery. They traded with all the other tribes of the Great Lakes region, and sometimes with tribes who lived further away. By 1832, the territories of the powerful Potawatomi Nation were all but lost. The Black Hawk War ended in defeat for the Native Americans, and in 1833 the Potawatomi and other remaining tribes ceded their land to the U.S. government for only 6 cents per acre, thus relinquishing their ancestral territories to European settlers who would purchase land for $1.25 per acre from the U.S. Government beginning in 1840.
1831: John Curtis, the first white settler in the area, comes to what will eventually be Morton Grove.
1860: “The Little Red Schoolhouse,” first school in the area, opens at Waukegan and Beckwith Roads.
1872: The Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul Railroad track is laid through Morton Grove. Today, we know this train line as Metra’s MD-N line.
1874: Morton Grove’s first post office is established.
1891: Morton Grove’s first subdivision, Bingham and Fernald’s, is established.
1895: Village of Morton Grove is officially incorporated.
1895: The police department is founded. They were known as the "Village Marshall" at this time.
1897: First village school is built.
1899: Morton Grove gets its first telephones.
1904: The local Volunteer Fire Department is formed.
1904: The Morton Grove Exchange, colloquially known as the “Dilg Building” opens near the Morton Grove train station. This building, which would serve as the village hub for the next several decades, contained a tavern, general store, post office, ice cream shop, hotel, and ballroom. It was demolished in 1970.
1907: Coal gas comes to Morton Grove from the Northwestern Gas Light and Coke Company. It was used to light streets and homes. Kerosene was used in oil cooking stoves.
1910: First local automobile laws are established, prohibiting cars to travel faster than 8 MPH.
1911: Morton Grove's water system is established. The original water source was a deep well on Callie Avenue behind the former police station site.
1911: Electric service is established.
1912: First bank opens.
1914: First sewerage plant is built.
1919: Morton Grove gets its first paved streets.
1920: Outhouses are outlawed in Morton Grove, 8 years after the first sewage lines are laid.
1921: Morton Grove’s Doughboy Statue is unveiled by the Women’s War Working Circle, a tribute to Morton Grove men who had fought in WWI. The festival organized for the event became the first of what we today know as Morton Grove Days.
1931: Morton Grove buys Chicago water.
1938: The first Morton Grove Public Library is built.
1951: The Morton Grove Park District is established; Harrer Park, named for Morton Grove’s first mayor, becomes its first park.
1957: Northwest Suburban Jewish Congregation formed with 20 families that met at the Piel Residence and later rented a storefront on Lincoln Avenue. In 1961, they broke ground. The synagogue opened and was dedicated in 1962 with the sanctuary added in 1974. They closed in 2007 due to declining membership.
1970: The Morton Grove Historical Society is formed.
1970: The original Pequod’s opens in Morton Grove.
1976: The Morton Grove Historical Society is founded. They met in the old fire station and later Village Hall.
1981: Morton Grove’s handgun ban is passed, making international headlines. The ordinance is repealed in 2008.
1984: Haupt-Yehl House is moved to Harrer Park from its original location near Lincoln/McVicker. 1986: The Morton Grove Historical Museum - Haupt-Yehl House opens.
1989: Burt Katz, original founder of Pequod’s, opens his own Morton Grove pizza restaurant, Burt’s Place.
1990: Morton Grove’s Muslim Community Center and Education Center open. In the early 2000's, they purchase the former Borg School. A mosque is built attached to the school building and opened.
1995: Centennial of Morton Grove's founding.
2008: John & Mary Helen Slater Education Annex Opens.
2013: Eagle Dancer Statue dedicated.
2017: Doughboy monument restored and re-dedicated.