19th century

In the 1830s various settlers arrived in the area and created the foundation for McHenry. Some of the family names can still be seen today: McCullom, McLean, Boone, and Wheeler.^[8][9][10]

George Gage came to the area in 1835 and purchased a plot of land west of the Fox River. This area eventually came to be known as Gagetown. In 1854, George Gage played an instrumental role in bringing the railroad to the city.^[11] Gagetown was eventually renamed to West McHenry.^[12]

In 1851, a dam was built on Boone Creek which created Mill Pond. The pond encompassed an area between today's rail road tracks and Route 31 and north of Waukegan Road.

In 1860, the historical Count's House was completed.

On August 4, 1875, the first issue of the city newspaper, the McHenry Plaindealer, was published by Jay Van Slyke.^[13][14]

In 1880, the first bridge in McHenry was built at Pearl Street.^[15]

20th century

On March 30, 1908 a train bound for Ringwood crashed near the McHenry train depot. One person was killed.^[16]

In 1929, Mill Pond was drained by removing the dam on Boone Creek.^[17]

The original single lane ^[18] Pearl Street bridge was built 1880-1881 over Fox River. The iron truss bridge was dismantled and a section of it was relocated to Terra Cotta Industries in Crystal Lake in Nov. 1976 to be used as a pedestrian bridge. ^[19] Other sections remain in storage. The original bridge was replaced with a concrete bridge. ^[20]

In 1985, the McHenry Plaindealer newspaper became part of the Northwest Herald. ^[21]

Mayor

See the full article, List of mayors of McHenry, Illinois.

• Wayne Jett^[25]

City Council

The city council consists of representatives from the 7 city wards:^[25]

• Ward 1 - Victor A. Santi
• Ward 2 - Andrew Glab
• Ward 3 - Frank McClatchey
• Ward 4 - Chris Bassi
• Ward 5 - Vacant (as of 2024-05-07)
• Ward 6 - Michael Koch
• Ward 7 - Sue Miller

City Clerk

Trisha Ramel is the City Clerk and is supported by the Deputy City Clerk, Monte Johnson.^[26]

City Administrator

• Derik Morefield

Police Chief

• John Birk

2020 census

2000 Census

The population density was 1,850.2 inhabitants per square mile (714.4/km²). There were 8,127 housing units at an average density of 699.4 per square mile (270.0/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 94.18% White, 0.35% African American, 0.21% Native American, 0.89% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 3.31% from other races, and 1.02% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 7.10% of the population.

There were 7,872 households, of which 38.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.2% were married couples living together, 9.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.4% were non-families. 24.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.70 and the average family size was 3.25.

Age distribution was 28.5% under the age of 18, 7.8% from 18 to 24, 32.7% from 25 to 44, 19.9% from 45 to 64, and 11.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females, there were 94.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.2 males.

The median household income was $55,759, and the median family income was $66,040. Males had a median income of $46,552 versus $29,808 for females. The per capita income for the city was $23,272. About 3.8% of families and 4.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 6.1% of those under age 18 and 2.6% of those age 65 or over.

Historic Places on the National Register

• The Count's House

Schools and libraries

There are two school districts serving the city of McHenry: McHenry Community High School District 156 and McHenry School District 15. District 156 is composed of two high schools while District 15 is composed of five elementary schools and three middle schools.

McHenry is served by one public library which is part of Cooperative Computer Services (CCS) consortium.^[46] The library itself houses physical books, DVDs, magazines, and more as well as providing access to online digital content. The library also offers various training classes on various topics and has several meeting rooms available for use by request.^[47]

Colleges

The City of McHenry is also home to the Shah Center, which offers business seminars and trainings from the McHenry County College,.^[48]

Airports

The closest public international airports to the city of McHenry are Chicago's O'Hare International Airport and Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport in Wisconsin.

The closest privately owned airport to the city is Galt Field in Wonder Lake, with a 3000ft by 50ft runway. The airport is used by small general aviation aircraft. ^[49]

Public transportation

McRide, a paratransit service provided by Pace Bus, and Metra are available services which offers transportation options between nearby towns in the area.^[50]

Bike

The Prairie Trail runs through the middle of McHenry from Crystal Lake and connects to trails near the border of Wisconsin.^[51]

Passenger rail

McHenry is currently the terminus of a branch line on Metra's Union Pacific Northwest Line, with weekday passenger service to Ogilvie Transportation Center (formerly Northwestern Station) in downtown Chicago.^[52] The line that now terminates at McHenry once continued to Williams Bay, Wisconsin, but that service was discontinued in stages in the 1960s and 1970s.^[53]

Road

Illinois Route 31 and Illinois Route 120 intersect in the city center. They are the main roads in and out of the city.