History:

It is claimed this area was a beach 10,000 years ago. After countless ages of geological swamps, marshes and sloughs, the prairies dominated the landscape with groves of trees, flowers and wild life in abundance!

Markham, at the southern tip of Lake Michigan, had been a crossroad for early pioneers. In 1861, a treaty was made with the Ottawa, Chippewa and Pottawatomi Indians which ceded a corridor of land located between the mouths of Chicago and the Calumet Rivers to the settlers. The southern boundary, known as the Indian Boundary Line was to run along a line which is now Interstate 57, which runs through our city.

The village of Markham was established in 1925 with a population of less than 300. In the middle 1930’s the Croissant Park subdivision was built and increased the population from 349 to 1,388. After World War II, Markham’s population doubled to 2,753 residents by 1950. The village developed into a bedroom community as residents sought homes, not industry. An airport developed at 165th and Kedzie and was the nearest field to Chicago outside the urban smog range. The airport site was near the location which is now the Cook County Sixth District Courthouse. On August 24, 1967, the Village of Markham was incorporated, as a city.