[4] Julius Angelo Carpenter (August 19, 1827 – March 30, 1880) was the founder of Carpentersville, Illinois and its first prominent citizen.

For the next hundred years, Carpentersville did not grow as rapidly as other Fox River communities which had more direct rail connections to Chicago.

The final blow came in 1933, when a tornado destroyed the bridge over the Fox River just south of West Dundee.

Grant; it also featured an indoor ice skating rink, overshadowed the commercial district along the River.

A large section of the shopping mall on the north side was torn down in the 1990s and a new post office building was built.

In 1964, a second high school, named for Irving Crown, opened on Kings Road on the northern edge of Meadowdale.

DeLacey (one of the schools built on Kings Road) was closed and demolished, and was remade on Cleveland Ave. From 1958 to 1969, Carpentersville was home to the Meadowdale International Raceway, a 3.27 miles (5.26 km) long automobile race track located west of Illinois Route 31 which was also started by Besinger.

[9] In the 1990s and 2000s, Carpentersville began to expand is development further west along Randall Road with the construction of many new subdivisions and shopping centers.

Carpentersville operates under the council-manager form of government in which an elected Board, consisting of the President (chief elected official) and six Trustees, appoints a professional manager to oversee the day-to-day operation of government services and programs.

The council-manager form of government combines the leadership of elected officials with the experience of a professional manager.

[17] Nearby communities (Algonquin, Huntley, Lake in the Hills, Gilberts, Sleepy Hollow, West Dundee, East Dundee, Pingree Grove) have also seen an increase to their Latino population, although at a more gradual pace, resulting in more integrated communities.

In 1952, the Village of Carpentersville proposed a plan for an enclosed shopping center amid residential areas.

The opening festivities included fashion shows on the ice rink, pony and other kiddie rides, and children's theater performances.

However, the ice rink did not return, and in 1965, Carson Pirie Scott was converted into a Clark's discount department store,[22] then again to Cooks in May 1971.

[citation needed] The shopping center continued on through the 1970s with roughly the same number of tenants, counting 56 stores and services in 1979.

Besides the post office, these included apparel, food, drug, video, electronics, shoe, wine and liquor, and hardware stores; cinemas; a print shop, beauty salon, barber shop, cleaners, bakery, Domino's pizza, Chinese restaurant, hair salon, bowling alley, insurance and travel agencies and a laundromat.

[34][35] Pace provides bus service on multiple routes connecting Carpentersville to Crystal Lake, Elgin, and other destinations.