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Wauconda ( or ) is a village in Lake County, Illinois, United States. Per the 2020 census, the population was 14,084. It is the site of the Wauconda Bog Nature Preserve, a National Natural Landmark. Wauconda Community Unit School District 118 serves students from Pre-K through 12th grade who live in Wauconda and surrounding communities (Island Lake, Lakemoor, Volo, and unincorporated sections of McHenry County). Fremont School District 79 also serves students from communities from northern part of Wauconda. [edit] History
According to local legend, Wauconda was named after an indigenous chief whose name translated to "spirit water". “Waconda,” it says in the Otoe language, Great Mystery, meaning that vital thing or phenomenon in life that cannot ever be entirely comprehensible to us. It is a derivative of its linguistic predecessor, Wakanda. What is understood though, through the spoken word, is that silence is also Waconda, as is the universe and everything that exists, tangible and intangible, because none of these things are separate from that life force. It is all Waconda. . . .” [Anna Lee Walters, Talking Indian: Reflections on Survival and Writing (Ithaca, N.Y.: Firebrand Books, 1992), 19–20.] Many indigenous people had already been victims to the ongoing genocide that began the moment Columbus arrived. Those who survived the genocide, were forcefully pushed out of their homes to the west or to northern states. Many early “settlers” of Wauconda came from New England and New York by covered wagon or through the Erie Canal and the Great Lakes. Elihu Hubbard built the first log cabin on the bank of Bangs Lake in 1836. Justus Bangs, the first settler in Wauconda, built a house next to the lake in 1848 and the lake was later named after him. In 1840, members of the Winnebago tribe who did not leave the shores of the Fox River often went to the area to trade. In 1849, Wauconda was formally organized and the first town meeting was held in April 1850 on the first Tuesday.[1] Wauconda's first school was built in 1839 and the area's post office was moved to Wauconda on June 27, 1849, with Hazard Green becoming its first postmaster.[1] Elder Joel Wheeler of McHenry built the first Baptist church in Wauconda in the autumn of 1838. A Methodist church was organized on September 3, 1852 by Reverend C. French, and built in 1856 on the Commons. Both Methodists and Baptists attended prayer at the church until February 1870, when the Baptists reorganized and built a new church on October 30, 1870. A Roman Catholic church was built in 1877 and its first trustees were James S. Murray, Charles Davlin, Felix Givens, John Givens, Hugh Davlin, and Owen McMahon. Its first priest was Father O'Neil.[1] In 1850, Wauconda had a population of around 200 residents, and the town had three goods stores, two public houses and various mechanics.[1] [edit] Research Tips
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