Winnetka

Inspired by the historic homes nestled along the wooded Green Bay Trail, with notes of sandalwood, cedarwood, and dew. Sixteen miles north of Chicago along Lake Michigan, Winnetka takes its name from a Native American phrase meaning “beautiful land,” a name chosen by Sarah Peck. The first homesteads and a tavern went up along the Green Bay Trail in 1836, but remained remote until the railroad arrived in 1854 to transform the area. The Pecks donated the Village Green in 1869, and it remains the community’s gathering place. Today, Winnetka’s tree-lined streets, lakefront beaches, and historic homes carry on the small-town spirit its early settlers envisioned. Source: Village of Winnetka; contributed by Grace Kaage.