Photo gallery: A history of Elk Grove Village

April 10, 1922: Teacher Esther Miller stands outside Elk Grove school district 56, which is 85 years old and the oldest in Cook County. The enrollment was 10 boys and four girls. (Tribune Archive Photo / Chicago Tribune)

Chicago Tribune

Sept. 11, 2013 10:17 AM PT

First settled by German immigrants in 1834, Elk Grove Village began as a rural community populated by families such as the Biesterfields, Landmeiers and the Busses, most of whom are buried in Elk Grove Cemetery. Alongside O’Hare International Airport, Elk Grove Village grew into an industrial business hub -- housing 90 companies in 1962. Elk Grove Business Park now boasts about 3,600 business and 100,000 employees. Links to the village’s history can be found throughout the community, from the streets named for its earliest settlers and the elk that roam Busse Woods.

May 31, 1958: Illinois Bell Telephone company linemen plan for laying buried, “no-pole” cable in Elk Grove Village. (Tribune Archive Photo / Chicago Tribune)

Oct. 15, 1959: Elk Grove Shopping Center at Higgins and Arlington Heights roads. (Tribune Archive Photo / Chicago Tribune)

July 13, 1967: Commonwealth Edison crewmen are perched on a switching structure at Tonne Road and Devon Avenue in Elk Grove Village. The structure is part of a $400,000 project to install two 33,000 kilowatt transformers to serve 60,000 customers in the area around Elk Grove Village. (Tribune Archive Photo / Chicago Tribune)

Oct. 23, 1967: A fireman walks toward a fire at the Penray Chemical Co., at 1801 Estes Rd. in Elk Grove Village. (Walter Kale / Chicago Tribune)

May 21, 1970: A typical migrant worker’s home located in Elk Grove Township. An Elk Grove group is working to raise the standard of living of the migrant workers in the township. (Alton Kaste / Chicago Tribune)

Aug. 27, 1970: Although her ankle and leg were in a cast, Bonnie Schaffhauser ran off the orders for the Marilyners of Belleville. The American Legion Department of Illinois held its annual competition on Elk Grove High School’s grounds. Drill teams and drum and bugle corps from across the state competed. (Tribune Archive Photo / Chicago Tribune)

Feb. 8, 1971: Teachers at Ira L. Rupley School in Elk Grove Village go on strike. (Tribune Archive Photo / Chicago Tribune)

Jan. 17, 1972: Children play outside ice-covered ruins of the Terrace Apartment Building, 912 Ridge Square in Elk Grove Village, where a fire sent more than 100 people fleeing into the cold night. (James O’Leary / Chicago Tribune)

Dec. 14, 1973: Six inches of snow blanketed Elk Grove Village and the surrounding communities. (Tribune Archive Photo / Chicago Tribune)

July 26, 1977: Allen Busse works his combine in a field of oats at Allen Busse Farm, 955 E. Higgins Rd. in Elk Grove Village. (Tribune Archive Photo / Chicago Tribune)

Sept. 5, 1980: Firefighters come to the aid of a worker injured when a 20-by-75-foot wall collapsed at an industrial building under construction in Elk Grove Village. Seven other workers were injured, one seriously, when a wind gust apparently pushed the wall onto the scaffold on which they were working. (Larry Schreiner / Chicago Tribune)

March 30, 1981: Exuberant Grenadiers accept homage from Elk Grove fans during a triumphant ride through the village after their return from Champaign with the Class AA title. (Walter Neal / Chicago Tribune)

Oct. 18, 1983: Jack Jones accompanies Elk Grove Village police officer Stephen Schmidt in the department’s “ride-along” program. (Walter Neal / Chicago Tribune)

Oct. 4, 1989: David Schmerler checks the damage to new cars at Schmerler Ford in Elk Grove Village after jet fuel was dumped on them. (Val Mazzenga / Chicago Tribune)

Dec. 6, 1989: Stephanie Rilley, 5, of Bensenville, gets to know a couple of elk at the Busse Woods Forest Preserve in Elk Grove Village. They are among the herd from which the village takes its name. (James Mayo / Chicago Tribune)

July 17, 1991: Elk Grove Village ran Operation Tailspin, a realistic exercise complete with a billowing smoke plume, simulating a traffic accident in an industrial park that caused a release of dangerous fumes. (Matt Marton / Chicago Tribune)

May 10, 1992: Jennifer Nordmeyer listens to Clifford Long play the mandolin at the Elk Grove Historical Society’s Spring Planting Festival. (Tribune Archive Photo / Chicago Tribune)