Editing Lincolnshire, Illinois (section)

===Prior to incorporation===
The first inhabitants of what would become the village of Lincolnshire were Native American [[Potawatomi]] migrants from Canada and Wisconsin. The tribesmen left these northern places in the 16th century in search of a warmer, more temperate climate.<ref name=Bookypoo1 /> The first Europeans to visit the area were the French [[Jesuit]] explorers Father [[Jacques Marquette]] and [[Louis Jolliet]]. Shortly after arriving in 1673 at the site of what later became [[Waukegan, Illinois|Waukegan]],<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/1328.html |title=Waukegan, Illinois |access-date=June 18, 2009 |encyclopedia=Electronic Encyclopedia of Chicago |publisher=Chicago Historical Society |year=2005 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090614052004/http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/1328.html |archive-date=June 14, 2009 }}</ref> they sailed down the [[Des Plaines River]] and made contact with the local Potawatomi, who would dominate the area by 1768.<ref name=Bookypoo1>{{cite book| last = Dretske| first = Diana| author-link = Diana Dretske |title = Lake County, Illinois: An Illustrated History| publisher = Heritage Media Corporation|date=May 2002| location = Dallas, TX| page =16| isbn = 1-886483-61-2}}</ref> One of the Potawatomi villages that they encountered stretched along the west bank of the Des Plaines River, from what later became [[Illinois Route 22]] south to Aptakisic Road, the first real settlement in the Lincolnshire and Half Day region.<ref name=history1 /><ref name=history2 />

The Lincolnshire area was originally a part of the town of [[Half Day, Illinois|Half Day]], the first region settled by non-Native American peoples in Lake County.<ref name="reichelt">{{cite book | last = Reichelt | first = Marie Ward | author-link = Marie Ward Reichelt | title = History of Deerfield | publisher = Glenview Press | year = 1928}}</ref> The first white settler in the Lincolnshire area was Captain Daniel Wright, who arrived in 1834. Chief Halfda allowed Wright to build his cabin at the south end of the Potawatomi village at the site of the intersection of present-day [[Milwaukee Avenue (Chicago)|Milwaukee Avenue]] and Aptakisic Road. The Potawatomi tribesmen were ousted and faced relocation through the [[1833 Treaty of Chicago]], which was ratified in 1835 and thereafter implemented.<ref>{{cite book| last = Dretske| first = Diana| author-link = Diana Dretske |title = Lake County, Illinois: An Illustrated History| publisher = Heritage Media Corporation|date=May 2002| location = Dallas, TX| pages =16–17| isbn = 1-886483-61-2}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1 = Gerwing |first1 = Anselm J. |title = The Chicago Indian Treaty of 1833 |journal = Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society |date =Summer 1964 |volume = 57 |issue = 2 |pages = 117–142 |jstor = 40190019 |issn = 0019-2287 }}</ref>

The Half Day area experienced an economic boom with the arrival of new settlers during the two decades after Wright's arrival. Among these pioneers were Seth Washburn, the first [[postmaster]] of the [[Vernon Township, Lake County, Illinois|Vernon Township]], who settled at the site of what later became the Lincolnshire-Prairie View School District 103's Half Day Intermediate School, and Laura Sprague, the first teacher to reside in the area.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.vernontownship.com/history.html| title=History| access-date=September 13, 2008 |work=Township of Vernon, Lake County, Illinois| publisher=County of Lake, Illinois| year=2008 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080507232510/http://www.vernontownship.com/history.html |archive-date = May 7, 2008}}</ref> By 1855, 21&nbsp;years after the settling of the Half Day area by Wright, the town was a thriving community with a [[blacksmith]]'s shop, [[sawmill]], country store, and a church. At this time, the [[Chicago and Milwaukee Railway]] connected Milwaukee to the county seat of [[Waukegan, Illinois|Waukegan]], and it expanded throughout the Lake County area over the next few decades; this also contributed to the town's prosperity.<ref>{{cite book| last = Dretske| first = Diana| author-link = Diana Dretske |title = Lake County, Illinois: An Illustrated History| publisher = Heritage Media Corporation|date=May 2002| location = Dallas, TX| pages =33–34| isbn = 1-886483-61-2}}</ref> [[Henry Ford]]'s invention of the automobile in the early 20th&nbsp;century made Half Day a more accessible destination to other communities within the [[Chicago metropolitan area]], and the village became a popular recreation area. This prompted the opening of many businesses, including an amusement park, a race track, a bowling alley, a dance hall, and taverns, that catered to visitors.<ref name=history1 /><ref name=history2 />