1962 Map of Arlington Heights

About this map

The Des Plaines River corridor and its surrounding preserves anchor this study of the suburban landscape in Northwest Cook County. The map documents a period of rapid post-war expansion where once-separate farming communities like Arlington Heights and Mt Prospect begin to merge into a continuous urban corridor. This growth is evidenced by the purple-tinted urban extensions and the proliferation of infrastructure, from the Randhurst Shopping Center to the massive Chicago O'Hare International Airport footprint at the southern edge. Large institutional properties and cemeteries, including the sprawling All Saints Cemetery and Memory Gardens Cemetery, provide significant open space alongside the Ned Brown Preserve. Transportation networks define the era's development, as the Northwest Tollway and the Chicago and North Western railway lines facilitate the movement between these growing residential hubs and the city beyond.