Homes for sale in
Western Springs.

Western Springs was named for local mineral springs on the southwest side of town, on land that was originally flat prairie with a swamp along its western border. The Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad built a line through the area in 1863, filling in much of the west-side swamp in the process. In 1870 the Western Springs Land Association, led by promoter Thomas Clarkson Hill, bought the tracts that make up the area for 105,000 dollars, and Hill moved to the community in 1872 to attract commuters. A large number of early residents were Quakers, and deeds often prohibited the sale of alcohol. In 1886 Western Springs incorporated as a village by a public vote of 34 to 25, and the voters elected Quaker developer T. C. Hill as the town's first president.

After the spring dried up in 1890, the village hired engineers Edgar and Benezette Williams to build a waterworks system, including the Western Springs Water Tower. Constructed from Naperville stone, the tower stands about 112 feet high and held a 133,000-gallon tank. A new water tower built in Spring Rock Park in 1962 replaced it as the village water source, and the old tower became a museum in 1970 before entering the National Register of Historic Places in 1981. The village added a fire department in 1894, an electric plant in 1898, a park district in 1923, and a library in 1926, and later annexed the Forest Hills, Springdale, and Ridgewood subdivisions south of 47th Street.