Editing Bull Valley, Illinois (section)

==History==
[[File:Terwilliger House1.jpg|left|thumb|The [[Terwilliger House]] in Bull Valley.]]
In 1942, a group of neighbors organized the Countryside Improvement Association.<ref name="History">{{cite web|url=http://villageofbullvalley.org/History.aspx|title=Village of Bull Valley History|work=villageofbullvalley.org|access-date=September 8, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150901121103/http://villageofbullvalley.org/History.aspx|archive-date=September 1, 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref> It gradually became involved in questions of land use, and in 1955, in an unprecedented action, owners of about 3,000 acres, half of the Bull Valley area at the time, voluntarily put their land into 3-acre zoning, the highest residential classification then offered by the county.<ref name="History"/> This single decision would establish the future character of the community.<ref name="History"/>

In 1960, money was raised from residents by subscription, to pay for a land use study and professional planning advice.<ref name="History"/>  The Eastern McHenry County Plan Association (EMCPA) was then formed to address the common problems of four townships.<ref name="History"/> That Association's recommendation in a report of July 25, 1961, was that a large part of the Bull Valley area be zoned for a residential/estate use of a minimum of 5-acre tracts.<ref name="History"/> Unlike the traditional concept of a community where the most intense use is at the center of the area and becomes more open as the distance from the center increases, the EMCPA area has at its center, a very attractive rolling, wooded area currently developed in low density, open estate type residential and farm development (and) included in this center portion are two very broad, scenic valleys which should be retained for non-intensive development.”<ref name="History"/> When McHenry County established a Planning Commission in 1963, the EMCPA dissolved and turned its studies over to the County Planning Commission.<ref name="History"/>

As the county began to consider land use policy, Bull Valley residents continued to oppose development that threatened the farms, forested hills, and wetlands.<ref name="History"/> Through their association, they bore the costs of legal representation at numerous zoning hearings, until it became obvious that private efforts could not win the fight to save the rural character of the land.<ref name="History"/>

In 1977, the Countryside Improvement Association was reorganized as the Bull Valley Association, which initiated and campaigned for a referendum on incorporation.<ref name="History"/> The referendum passed at an election held on July 23, 1977, giving residents for the first time, the authority to implement their long-standing purposes.<ref name="History"/> Because state law required that a new municipality could have no fewer than 200 voters in an area of two square miles, the Village had to reach out for scattered households, hence its peculiar shape and boundaries.<ref name="History"/>

In the early years of the village, there was nearly no government infrastructure. Later, a small tax was assessed to provide for simple road repairs. By the 1980s, the village had hired a police officer part-time who shared time with the neighboring village of Prairie Grove.{{citation needed|date=September 2015}}

===The village today===
[[File:George Stickney House2.jpg|thumb|The [[George Stickney House]] in Bull Valley.]]
Today the Village government occupies [[George Stickney House|Stickney House]], one of the oldest brick buildings in the area.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://villageofbullvalley.org/Stickney.aspx |title=Village of Bull Valley Stickney House |access-date=September 9, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150907082034/http://villageofbullvalley.org/Stickney.aspx |archive-date=September 7, 2015 |url-status=dead }}</ref> This house was originally built without any corners due to the belief of the Stickneys that evil spirits could live in corners. While the village has grown, and even includes some subdivisions now, it remains rural, with areas of woods, farms, and low-density housing between larger, [[exurb]] towns of [[Crystal Lake, Illinois|Crystal Lake]], [[Woodstock, Illinois|Woodstock]], and [[McHenry, Illinois|McHenry]].<ref name="History"/>