Today, the Village of Gurnee in the northern Chicago, Illinois suburbs is primarily known for the Gurnee Mills shopping mall, an indoor mall that bills itself as the largest outlet shopping destination in the state. Gurnee is also known as the location of the Six Flags- Great America regional theme park and the Key Lime Cove Water Resort. The sites together draw more than 26 million visitors annually.
Gurnee is located in Lake County, Illinois bordering the city of Waukegan and considered part of the greater Chicago metropolitan area. At the 2010 census, the population of Gurnee was 31,295. Located on the banks of the Des Plaines River, Gurnee is split by Interstate 94 – known in the Chicago area as the Edens Expressway -- which divides Gurnee into east and west sides.
The racial makeup of the village was 73 percent Caucasian, 12 percent Asian, 8 percent African American, less than 1 percent Native American, 3.5 percent from other races, and 3.2 percent from two or more races, according to the 2010 census.
Among the 12,031 households in Gurnee, 42.3 percent had children under the age of 18 living with them, 62.6 percent were married couples living together, 7.8 percent had a female head of household with no husband present, and 27.4 percent were non-families. The census reported that 22.7 percent of all households were made up of individuals and 6.4 percent were single people living alone and 65 years or older. The average family size was 3.25 people.
The median income household income was estimated to be $85,421 compared to the state of Illinois as a whole, which had a median income of $55,137. In 2010, only 5.1 percent of the population in Gurnee was reported to be under the poverty line. Meanwhile, in the state of Illinois, 14.1 percent of the population was reported to be under the poverty line.
The Gurnee Mills shopping mall and the Six Flags amusement park are the village’s two top employers. The shopping mall employs 5,000 people, while 3,000 employees work at the amusement park.
Gurnee Mills is located at the intersection of Interstate 94 and Grand Avenue (IL 132), equidistant between Chicago and Milwaukee. The mall is a 40-minute drive to either city, according to its website. Visitors to the mall can enjoy shopping at more than 200 stores, as well as indoor ice skating, miniature golf and laser tag.
The eastern part of Gurnee is served by school district 56, which is made up of four schools, some elementary and some middle schools. The western part of the village is served by Woodland Grade School District 60, which includes four schools ranging from kindergarten through 8th grade.
Warren Township High School serves high school students from Gurnee. Due to the size of the student body, the school is split between two campuses: the O'Plaine Road Campus for freshmen and sophomores, and the Almond Road Campus for juniors and seniors. During the 2012-13 school year, the high school did not meet federal education standards, according to the Chicago Tribune. The school’s website reported a total enrollment of 4,373 students in the 2012-13 academic year. Of that total, 45 percent of the students identified themselves as minorities.
Gurnee was first settled in 1835 by pioneers from New York State. It was first known as Warren Township and named after Major General Joseph Warren, who had been killed at the Battle of Bunker Hill in the American Revolutionary War. One of the early employers in the area was the Bowman Dairy Co. of Chicago.
In early 1973 the Marriott Corporation applied to the town for permission to build an amusement park near the intersection of Illinois 132 and U.S. Highway 94. Many hearings were conducted regarding the application. The Gurnee village council and Marriott entered into an annexation agreement for special use to construct the amusement park. A referendum was held; voters in Gurnee cast their ballots overwhelmingly (773 yes vs. 252 no) in favor of the park, which was opened in May 1976. The park was purchased by Six Flags Corporation in 1984.
Kreisman Law Offices handles Illinois civil lawsuits for the entire Chicago metropolitan area, including Gurnee. Kreisman Law Offices has over 40 years of trial experience and specializes in a wide range of legal services, including Illinois business litigation, personal injury law, Illinois product defect/product liability law, Illinois medical malpractice claims, birth injury cases and Illinois nursing home abuse cases. Please call us 24 hours a day at 312.346.0045 or toll free 800.583.8002 for a free and immediate consultation, or complete a contact form online. Kreisman Law Offices offers clients personalized and tireless service and prides itself in its unrivaled attention and results to its clients.
Our Chicago loop office is in a convenient location for Gurnee residents. Kreisman Law Offices is located at the corner of Dearborn and Monroe streets. There are many convenient modes of public transportation to Kreisman Law Offices, including the Metra and CTA.