Hinsdale, IL

The railroad arrived before Hinsdale and still establishes its center. The Chicago, Burlington and Quincy completed its line through the area in 1864; landowner William Robbins then hired landscape designer H. W. S. Cleveland to plat a village that incorporated in 1873. Today Metra's BNSF Line has three Hinsdale stops—Highlands, Hinsdale, and West Hinsdale—although the central station receives far more service than the two smaller stops, so schedules should be checked by address. Downtown spreads around that main platform in compact blocks of shops, restaurants, offices, the Memorial Building, and Burlington Park. Interstate 294 forms the eastern edge of the village and Route 83 the western edge, placing a regional highway on either side of the rail-centered community.

ATTRTeemu08 at English Wikipedia / CC BY-SA 3.0

Two National Register districts preserve different parts of that rail-era development. The Downtown Hinsdale Historic District contains late Victorian and revival-style commercial and civic buildings near the tracks. Immediately east, the Robbins Park Historic District is residential and includes houses representing the village's successive architectural periods. The current village code requires certificate-of-appropriateness review for demolition and new residential construction in Robbins Park and for exterior work on designated landmarks, a practical consideration for buyers planning major work. Health care is the other conspicuous local institution. UChicago Medicine AdventHealth Hinsdale operates a hospital near the center, with additional outpatient care at Salt Creek Lane. Medical services, professional offices, rail passengers, and downtown businesses consequently bring different kinds of activity to the same central streets.

ATTRDavid Wilson / CC BY 2.0

The Memorial Building joins the library and village government beside Burlington Park, making one block useful well beyond business hours. Hinsdale Public Library runs classes, children's and teen programs, technology services, study rooms, and concerts from its portion of the building. In summer, the weekly Uniquely Thursdays concert series and the long-running farmers market bring recurring public gatherings to Burlington Park and the downtown streets. Larger outdoor spaces sit farther from the tracks. Katherine Legge Memorial Park occupies the village's southern side with a lodge, playing fields, and platform-tennis facilities, while the 220-acre Fullersburg Woods Forest Preserve lies just east of Hinsdale along Salt Creek. Burlington Park's summer stage occupies the same compact downtown as the library, village offices, and main train station.