What is the history of Barrington, Illinois?
Pioneers who traveled from Troy, New York, by way of Fort Dearborn-newly renamed the City of Chicago-set down their roots in what was to be Cuba Township in Lake County. Others, primarily from Vermont, upper New York State and Massachusetts, most notably from that state’s Great Barrington in Berkshire County, settled in what is now Cook County. Their settlement was originally called Miller Grove but was later renamed Barrington Center. It was established at the point where Sutton Road crosses Illinois Route 68. William Butler Ogden became interested in connecting the developing northwest to Chicago’s growing port facilities. He gained control of the Chicago, St. Paul & Fond du Lac Railroad (later the Chicago & North Western Railway) in 1854 and pushed its tracks to the northwest corner of Cook County, where a station named Deer Grove was built. Many area farmers feared the railroad would bring too many saloons and Irish Catholics to the area. In response to the opposition, Robert Campb
