24/7 Trauma & Biohazard Cleanup Near Markham Historic District Markham, IL

Markham is a city in Cook County, Illinois, about 20 miles south of the Chicago Loop, spanning roughly five square miles across Bremen and Thornton townships.

Markham was incorporated in 1925 and was named in honor of Charles H. Markham, then the president of the Illinois Central Railroad.

Markham grew up around the Illinois Central Railroad's operations, and the railroad's sprawling Markham Yard in neighboring Harvey still carries the city's name.

Markham's population was 11,661 at the 2020 census, down from 12,508 in 2010.

Census Bureau figures put Markham at about 3,655 households with an unusually large average household size of just over three people, and about three-quarters of its homes are owner-occupied.

African Americans moved into Markham in large numbers during the second half of the 20th century to take up the area's industrial jobs, and Markham developed into a predominantly African American community.

Markham is home to the Cook County Sixth Municipal District Courthouse, making the small city a judicial hub for Chicago's south suburbs.

Markham packs its 11,000-plus residents at a density of about 2,160 people per square mile, low by Cook County standards, reflecting its single-family, residential character.

Before suburban development, Markham's flat prairie land sat along the Illinois Central line south of Chicago, and the community that formed there took its identity from the railroad from the start.

Markham is governed as a city with an elected mayor and city council, and Roger Agpawa has served as its mayor in recent years.