Editing Wauconda, Illinois (section)

=== 1900s ===
By the early 1900s, Wauconda was a popular resort village for Chicago residents and Bangs Lake was made suitable for beaches. The [[Palatine, Lake Zurich and Wauconda Railroad]] was completed and hauled agricultural products, delivered mail, transported local passengers, and brought vacationers and day-trippers out from Chicago. Although the railroad did not help develop Wauconda, which remained a small town, it flourished as a resort, and residents depended on it for supplies and for mail.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Wauconda Government |date=April 25, 2023 |title=FY2023 Budget Book |url=https://files4.1.revize.com/wauconda/Document_Center/Finance/FY23%20Budget%20Book-Adopted%20(April%205,%202022).pdf |access-date=May 7, 2023}}</ref>

The railroad closed in 1920 due to lack of business. Later in the decade, Phil's Beach was opened by Phil Froehlke and the right-of way was purchased for [[Illinois Route 176|Route 176]] (Liberty Street) through the center of town.

By the end of the 1930s, Wauconda's population exceeded 500 residents. At the end of the 1960s, Wauconda had three elementary schools, a junior high, and a high school. By the end of the 1970s there were about 5,600 residents living in Wauconda.

In the early 1950s, a bypass for US-12 was built to go around Wauconda.

Throughout the 1980s, most of the beaches on Bangs Lake gradually closed down. They were replaced by houses, townhomes, and other development. Development continued into the 1990s and 2000s as individuals from the outlying Chicago suburbs sought cheaper land. Large new subdivisions were developed north of the town center and small suburbs were established in the surrounding areas.