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Northbrook is an affluent village on Chicago's North Shore at the northern edge of Cook County, about 25 miles north of downtown Chicago.

The earliest recorded residents of the Northbrook area were the Potawatomi under Chief Shabbona, who ceded their Illinois lands in 1833 and relocated near Council Bluffs, Iowa.

When the village incorporated in 1901 with just 311 residents and 60 houses, it was called Shermerville, after Frederick Schermer, who donated the land for its first train station.

In 1923 residents voted to rename the village Northbrook to improve its public image, choosing the name because the West Fork of the North Branch of the Chicago River runs through it.

Northbrook grew slowly at first — its population was only 1,265 in 1940 — but post-World War II subdivisions pushed it past 33,000 by 2010.

The population of Northbrook was 35,222 at the 2020 census.

Northbrook has about 13,300 households, and roughly 87% of its homes are owner-occupied, according to Census Bureau QuickFacts.

Census survey figures put Northbrook's median household income at about $150,000, among the highest of any large Chicago suburb.

Northbrook is the global headquarters of UL Solutions, the safety-science company founded as Underwriters Laboratories, whose campus covers about 110 acres in the village.

The Northbrook Park District maintains more than 500 acres across 21 parks, including Wood Oaks Green Park with its man-made Lake Shermerville.