Orangeville, IL

Orangeville is a Stephenson County village along Richland Creek, about two miles south of the Illinois-Wisconsin line on Illinois Route 26. The 2020 census counted 738 residents. Orangeville Community Unit School District 203 keeps public education in town, while Freeport and Monroe, Wisconsin, are the nearby places for larger shopping, medical, and employment needs. Village hall, Water Tower Park, the Orangeville Wetlands, historic downtown, and local churches and organizations make up the everyday civic map. The Jane Addams Trail has a trailhead in the village with parking, a picnic shelter, camping, and access for biking, hiking, cross-country skiing, and snowmobiling.

ATTRIvoShandor / CC BY 2.5

The town grew from John Curtiss's 1823 gristmill on Richland Creek. John Bower renovated the mill, settled near it, and platted Orangeville in 1851; the village incorporated in 1867. The Illinois Central Railroad arrived in 1887, bringing a population and building boom that left many of the brick downtown buildings still standing. Five local properties are listed on the National Register, including the 1877 Masonic Lodge, whose restored first floor hosts community dinners and the Mighty Richland Players dinner theater. The old rail corridor now carries a different kind of traffic on the Jane Addams Trail, while Orangeville continues to serve the surrounding farm country.