Village of West Dundee

In 1835 Elder John and Nancy Oatman established a tavern and a store that became the core of the community. Others settlers came, and in 1837 they held a lottery to determine who would name the town. Alexander Gardiner won and named the town Dundee in honor of his Scottish hometown. In 1843 Scotsman Allan Pinkerton, later the renowned detective, set up business as a cooper. The town was incorporated in 1887 West Dundee was hemmed in from development for years. The river formed a natural eastern barrier. To the north and west, the D. Hill Nursery, founded in 1855 by William Hill, specialized in fruit trees. The business grew to include evergreens, some of which were sent to Chicago for the Worlds Columbian Exposition in 1893. Expanding to 900 acres, the nursery survived the Great Depression by running a cattle feed operation that continued through World War II. Some of the thousands of seasonal workers traveled to work from Chicago by electric car, while the majority lived on the nu...