Biohazard Cleanup Near Berkeley Historic District Berkeley, IL

Berkeley is a village in Cook County, pronounced 'BURK-lee,' located on the western edge of the county about 14 miles west of the Chicago Loop.

Berkeley incorporated in 1924 and had a population of 5,338 at the 2020 census, living in about 1,800 households within just 1.4 square miles, all of it land.

The Berkeley area was farmed from 1835 onward, mostly by settlers of German and Dutch ancestry, the Dutch working as truck farmers and the Germans in general farming.

The area got its first passenger rail service in 1902 when the Chicago, Aurora and Elgin interurban railroad opened a stop called Berkeley, and subdivisions in 1908 and 1914-1915 brought the newcomers who pushed for incorporation.

Berkeley experienced a huge postwar boom, tripling in population from 1,882 in 1950 to 5,792 in 1960.

The village has a commuter station on Metra's Union Pacific West Line with service to downtown Chicago, and Interstates 290 and 294 form its western and part of its southern boundaries.

Immediately north of Berkeley lies Union Pacific's Proviso Yard, one of the railroad's large freight classification yards.

The World Dryer Corporation, a leading hand-dryer manufacturer for more than half a century, was founded in Berkeley and long headquartered there.

Berkeley's first school, the one-room Sunnyside schoolhouse, was established by the community in 1948 and has grown into today's Sunnyside Elementary School.

Residents have easy access to the Illinois Prairie Path, a network of about 61 miles of biking and hiking trails crossing the western suburbs.