Miller's Mill Road, now Lincoln Avenue, connected the former riverside sawmill to the township's central settlement (Niles Center, now Skokie).

Farmers from Germany and Luxembourg started arriving by the end of the decade, clearing the land by cutting the walnut, oak, hickory, elm and maple trees.

Immigrant John Miller erected a water-powered sawmill near where the Chicago River met the future Dempster Street shortly after 1841.

That reduced a four-day journey into Chicago to about a half day, and also helped sales of produce and farm products from the rich bottomland.

The Morton Grove settlement began growing from about 100 persons, and by 1874 had grown enough to have its first postmaster, Civil War veteran Medard Lochner.

Rural mail service started 21 years later, although a blacksmith shop was opened at the settlement by 1884, and a trading post and saloon had operated since 1847.

[7] The first subdivision (177 lots) was platted by real estate developers George Fernald and Fred Bingham in 1891, and a convalescent home for German-American aged was built in 1894.

The first greenhouses were built in Morton Grove in 1885 (the railroad transported 135,000 tons of coal annually to heat them in cold weather), and the Poehlman Brothers' floral business grew into one of the world’s largest floral firms, receiving international recognition when one of its roses won first place at the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair.

The orchid department alone included eight greenhouses, and the nearby railroad station received flowers from the Philippines and South America to service customers with more exotic tastes.

The 20 acres (8 hectares) of land surrounding Greenhouse C was purchased by the Morton Grove Days Committee and ultimately became Harrer Park.

Lochner's and the wholesale firm Platz Flowers (retail business name "Jamaican Gardens") continue to operate in the village.

[9] August Poehlman long served as one of Morton Grove's six trustees (and as its second mayor), and his brother Adolph was the village attorney.

A one-room "little red schoolhouse" had existed at Waukegan in Beckwith roads from 1860 until finally torn down in 1990, and the Jerusalem Lutheran pastor also operated a school.

That year, considerable land in the village became forest preserve property, including the banks of the North Branch of the Chicago River (now part of the Ralph Frese Trail) and a section known as the Skokie marshes.

[15] As the "Jazz Age" roared on, Morton Grove also became known for its night clubs and speakeasies, especially the Dells club (originally the Huscher family residence at Austin and Dempster streets, which burned down in 1934), the Lincoln Tavern (now the American Legion hall, it burned down in 1918 and was rebuilt across the street, and became a gambling casino in the 1930s with over 400 slot machines, plus dice tables, roulette, blackjack, etc.

The clubs offered live music and entertainment, dancing, fine food, and ambiance (and discreetly served liquor during Prohibition).

Morton Grove gained a Bell & Gossett plant in 1941, which as part of W.W. Grainger Industrial Supply remained a major employer for decades.

Morton Grove gained many Filipino immigrants, as well as many from Syria, India and Pakistan, so that by 2010 it had among the largest Asian communities on the North Shore.

[19] The northwest Chicago Muslim Community Center (founded in 1969) established a branch in Morton Grove and a school in Skokie.

[24] The North Branch of the Chicago River runs through the middle of the suburb; land along both banks is within Cook County Forest Preserve.

Regularly scheduled Board meetings are held on the second and fourth Mondays of each month, beginning with a closed door executive session at 6:00 PM.