Brookfield (formerly Grossdale) is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States, located 13 miles (21 km) west of downtown Chicago.

Large portions of the area were inhabited by the Native Americans who long ago developed agriculture and corn cultivation, built villages and burial mounds, invented the bow and arrow, and made beautiful pottery.

"Grossdale", as his development was originally called, offered suburban living at prices affordable to working-class families.

In addition to parcels of land, he had a number of house designs to offer at "cheap" prices.

Gross later added the subdivisions of Hollywood (1893) and West Grossdale (1895), each with its own train station.

The name was changed in 1905 after residents became displeased with Gross, whose personal life and fortune had floundered.

A contest to choose a new name yielded "Brookfield" in respect for Salt Creek, which runs through the area.

In 1920, the old Plank Toll Road, now called Ogden Avenue (US Hwy 34), was paved, providing easy automobile access to and from Chicago.

The zoo is located on land given to the Forest Preserve District by Edith Rockefeller McCormick in 1919.

These oak savannas are the primary ecosystem of Brookfield, and sprawl out from large, forested areas into small pockets in the village.

It was started in 1932 by Porter Reubendall, then owned and expanded in the 1950s by Elmer C. Johnson, and ceased publication in 1985.