Crime Scene & Biohazard Cleanup Near North Worth Worth, IL

Worth is a village in Cook County, Illinois, a southwest suburb of Chicago whose motto is "The Friendly Village."

The land under Worth was one of ancient Lake Michigan's beaches some 10,000 years ago, sitting about 40 feet above the level of the present-day lake.

John Blackstone purchased the Worth land in 1835 in one of the area's first recorded land sales; it was sold a year later to Dwitt Lane and became known as Lane's Island.

Worth was named after General William Jenkins Worth, a U.S. Army commander who won fame in the War of 1812 and the Mexican-American War.

John Crandall, Worth's first permanent settler, built the town's first home on 111th Street in 1858.

Worth was incorporated on August 29, 1914, when voters approved incorporation by a lopsided 115-to-2 margin; the village then had only about 300 residents, and growth driven by construction of the Calumet-Sag Channel made organized government necessary.

Worth is framed by historic waterways: Stony Creek, a waterway some 14,000 years old, runs along its north border, and the Calumet-Sag Channel, completed in 1922, forms its south border.

The 2020 census counted 10,970 people in Worth, and Census QuickFacts puts the village at about 4,433 households.

Worth's population exploded after World War II, leaping from 1,472 in 1950 to 8,196 in 1960 and peaking at 11,999 in 1970.

Worth covers just 2.38 square miles and straddles two townships, Worth Township east of Harlem Avenue and Palos Township to the west.