From Goodings Grove To A Conservation Village
Long before there was a Homer Glen, there was Homer Township — and within it, an unincorporated census-designated area called Goodings Grove. The early settlers were drawn here by the construction of the Illinois & Michigan Canal in the 1830s, when newly immigrated Irish, German, and Scandinavian laborers came to dig the canal and stayed to farm. Through the 19th and early 20th centuries the township remained agricultural, with scattered farmsteads and small crossroads communities. As late as the 1990s, much of what is now Homer Glen was still farmland.
That changed when developers from neighboring municipalities began annexing land along Homer Township's edges. Residents watched as parcel after parcel was absorbed into Lockport, Orland Park, and Lemont — and saw what came with annexation: denser zoning, smaller lots, brighter streetlights, the slow erasure of the rural character that had drawn families here in the first place. Three referendum attempts to incorporate failed in the mid-1990s. The fourth attempt, in 2001, succeeded.
On April 17, 2001, residents voted to incorporate Homer Glen as a village. The new municipality immediately covered roughly 20 square miles with about 22,000 residents — making it one of Illinois's largest by land area on the day of its creation. The mayor, clerk, and trustees couldn't take office for two weeks until the referendum was certified. State revenue-sharing funds couldn't flow until the census count was certified four months later. The new village ran out of a 1,000-square-foot office in the Ace Hardware shopping center, with no source of municipal funds for over four months. Volunteers ran it.
The first village board moved fast on what mattered most — adopting four water resource ordinances within months, then upgrading the Storm Water Drainage and Detention, Stream and Wetland Protection, and Soil Erosion ordinances. The comprehensive plan emphasized "countryside character," large lots, environmentally sensitive development, and dark-sky-friendly outdoor lighting. In 2010 Homer Glen became one of fewer than 30 communities worldwide certified by DarkSky International for the quality of its outdoor lighting code — a credential that has since influenced lighting plans in Arlington Heights and elsewhere.
Modern Homer Glen reflects the choices made at incorporation. Population is approximately 24,500. Median household income is $128,500. Roughly 38% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher. Owner-occupancy is approximately 94% — among the highest of any Chicago suburb. The community has meaningful Polish, Lithuanian, and Serbian populations, plus the Sri Ramakrishna Universal Temple and the Annunciation Ruthenian Greek Catholic Church (with 10 acres of native landscaping). 13 community parks, 17 miles of multi-use trails, over 1,300 acres of public open space. Bengtson's Pumpkin Farm — a Homer Glen institution since 1981 — anchors the fall calendar.
Lincoln Limo Inc serves Homer Glen because Homer Glen's logic and the service's logic match. A village built on the principle of doing one thing well rather than many things passably, on conservation rather than expansion, on residents-first rather than developer-first — this is a community that values consistency and quality. Reservation-based black car service for residents who want a vehicle that arrives when promised, charges what was quoted, and treats every booking as if the next twenty depend on it. Same driver, same Escalade ESV, every booking, year after year.