Editing Palatine, Illinois (section)

==History==
The first European-American to settle in Palatine is generally thought to be George Ela, who built a log cabin in the area now called Deer Grove. Ela was one of the first of a wave of pioneers to migrate to northern Illinois following the [[Black Hawk War]]. A road that passes through the western edge of Palatine is called Ela Road in his honor.  Palatine is thought to be named after [[Palatine, New York|a town in New York]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/945.html|title = Palatine, IL|year = 2005}}</ref>

[[File:Palatine Metra Station from central platform.jpg|thumb|left|The [[Palatine station|Palatine Metra]] station along the Union Pacific Northwest Line]]

The Village of Palatine was founded in 1866. It was built around a station on the new [[Chicago and North Western Railway]]. Joel Wood surveyed and laid out the village, earning him the title of Palatine's founder. One of Palatine's original downtown streets is named after Wood.

In 1920, the Indian Fellowship League held its first [[American Indian Day]] celebration at [[Forest Preserve District of Cook County|Camp Reinberg]], in Palatine. According to the Daily Herald, the festivities were attended by 60,000 people, which packed the highways leading to the camp with motorists.<ref>{{Cite book |last=LaPier |first=Rosalyn |title=City Indian: Native American Activism in Chicago, 1893-1934 |publisher=University of Nebraska Press |year=2015 |location=Lincoln}}</ref>

[[File:George Clayson House (5978651248).jpg|thumb|left|Palatine's historic [[George Clayson House]] was built in 1873.]]

A [[shortline railroad]], the [[Palatine, Lake Zurich and Wauconda Railroad]], was built in 1911, and began full passenger service to [[Wauconda, Illinois]], in 1912. The line was closed in 1924 after a series of financial misfortunes and the improvement of roads in the area. The PLZ&W provided transportation to Dr. Wilson's Deer Grove Park, just north of Dundee Road in Palatine.<ref>Whitney, Richard. ''Old Maud: The Story of The Palatine, Lake Zurich and Wauconda Railroad.'' [[Polo, Illinois]]: Transportation Trails, 1992.  {{ISBN|0-933449-14-3}}</ref>

Palatine's first suburb-style subdivision was called Palanois Park, built shortly after [[World War II]]. The town has experienced rapid growth since the 1970s, part of Chicago's growing suburban sprawl. Palatine was home to the Cook County Fair from 1914 to 1931. The fairgrounds are now a subdivision, Fairgrounds Park, whose name pays tribute to Palatine's former fairgrounds.

During the early 1990s, Palatine along with neighboring [[Rolling Meadows, Illinois|Rolling Meadows]] and far northern suburb [[Zion, Illinois|Zion]] were sued by [[Atheism|atheist]] activist [[Rob Sherman]] over its village seal and seal-defaced flag, which had a [[Christian cross]], among other things, inside an outline of an [[eagle]].<ref>{{Cite web|title = Atheist Targets Palatine Seal|url = https://www.chicagotribune.com/1991/03/26/atheist-targets-palatine-seal/|website = tribunedigital-chicagotribune| date=March 26, 1991 |access-date = February 16, 2016}}</ref> A 1992 [[advisory referendum]] to keep the seal passed, but another referendum to use public funds to defend the seal failed, leading the village to drop the seal.<ref>{{Cite web|title = Palatine's Cross Heads Into Sunset|url = https://www.chicagotribune.com/1992/11/11/palatines-cross-heads-into-sunset/|website = tribunedigital-chicagotribune| date=November 11, 1992 |access-date = February 16, 2016}}</ref> While Rolling Meadows and Zion developed new seals with the crosses removed, Palatine has since been without an official seal or flag, and is Illinois' largest city or village to be so.{{citation needed|date=July 2012}} The [[Flag of France|French tricolor]] reflecting the village's [[sister city]] relationship with [[Fontenay-le-Comte]], [[France]], has flown at times on the flagpole meant for the village flag outside the village hall.

In 1993, a multiple homicide, the [[Brown's Chicken massacre]], received national attention.

Palatine has been in the process of revitalizing its [[downtown]] area since December 1999.<ref>Village of Palatine. "Downtown Land Use Guide Update. Online: {{cite web |url=http://www.palatine.il.us/downtown/index.htm |title=Downtown Palatine |access-date=April 25, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070418223515/http://www.palatine.il.us/downtown/index.htm |archive-date=April 18, 2007 }}.</ref> This process has spawned a new [[Palatine (Metra)|passenger train station]], a nearby parking garage, and several new [[Condominium (living space)|condominium]]s, rowhouses, and commercial buildings.

In 2008, Palatine made news by threatening to secede from Cook County over the latter's [[sales tax]] hike; as a result of the tax hike, Palatine's sales tax is 9.0%. In 2009, residents of Palatine Township (which includes the village of Palatine) overwhelmingly voted to pass an advisory referendum stating that they would like to secede from Cook County.