A Village Named For Its Station Agent
In 1853, German-American settlers along the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad founded a village they called Bremen — after the German port city most of them had passed through on the way to Illinois. The railroad came first; the village formed around the depot. By 1880, the Diamond Spiral Washing Machine Company was operating out of Bremen, and a local inventor named John Rauhoff had developed ironite, the cement waterproofing additive later used to build the Hoover Dam.
In 1890, the village renamed itself. Not for a politician, not for a founder, but for the man who ran the railroad station: Samuel Tinley Sr., the depot's first station agent. Two years later, on June 27, 1892, the village was formally incorporated by a vote of 34 to 24 — held in the train depot itself. Henry Vogt, the first mayor, was elected on the spot.
That origin matters for the way Tinley still organizes itself. Today the population is 55,971, with a median household income above $82,000 and a median family income above $103,000. BusinessWeek named Tinley Park "the best place in America to raise a family" in 2009. The Rock Island line still runs through the original 1892 boundaries. The Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre — opened 1990, 28,000 capacity — is one of the largest outdoor concert venues in the Chicago region. The Bettenhausen racing family is from here.
Lincoln Limo Inc serves Tinley Park because Tinley Park is built around the same logic as the service: by reservation, on schedule, in a vehicle worth the wait. The Escalade ESV Platinum Sport Executive turns the 35-minute MDW run into the most relaxed part of the day. Reservations required, surge pricing never used.