Crime Scene & Biohazard Cleanup Near Williamsburg Rolling Meadows, IL

Rolling Meadows is a city in Cook County, Illinois, a northwest suburb located 24 miles from the Chicago Loop, with the motto "Progress Thru Participation."

The first recorded land claim in the area was made in 1836 by Orrin Ford, who acquired 160 acres in an area known as Plum Grove; German immigrants later settled the area after it became part of Palatine Township in 1850.

Rolling Meadows began as a planned postwar subdivision: developer Kimball Hill bought land once intended for a golf course, the first families moved in during 1953, and about 700 homes had been sold by 1955, mostly to blue-collar workers.

Kimball Hill donated $200 from each home sale to the local school system, built and equipped the first elementary school, founded the Rolling Meadows Homeowners' Association, and helped fund the Clearbrook Center for people with cognitive disabilities, which opened in 1955.

Rolling Meadows incorporated as a city on February 26, 1955, and boomed to 10,879 residents by the 1960 census.

Rolling Meadows had a population of 24,200 at the 2020 census, with 9,369 households and 6,013 families, and a median age of 40.1 years.

Crawford's department store, which opened in Rolling Meadows in 1957, was the largest department store in Chicago's northwest suburbs before it closed in 1994.

Northrop Grumman's defense operations are the largest employer in Rolling Meadows, and the city's southern Golf Road corridor forms part of the suburban "Golden Corridor" of corporate offices.

About half of Rolling Meadows attends Rolling Meadows High School in Township High School District 214, while the other half attends William Fremd High School in Palatine; most elementary students attend District 15 schools such as Central Road, Kimball Hill and Willow Bend.

The Rolling Meadows Park District, formed in 1958, has been a finalist four times for the National Gold Medal award for excellence in parks and recreation management.