[specify][citation needed] Originally, several Native American tribes inhabited this land, which is a part of an area of high ground surrounding Lake Michigan known as the Valparaiso Moraine.

[11] Though the original settlers of Sauk Village moved here from the East Coast, their roots were in Western Europe, especially France and Germany.

After these original settlers, a second wave of families moved to the Sauk Village area, including such familiar names such as Parrino, Gatto, Kavelage, Reichert, Sauter, Rickenberger, Kloss, Barnes, Jung, Schaller, Schmidt, Kline, and Peters.

The name of the church was changed from the German St. Jakob to St. James in 1917 as a result of anti-German attitudes due to World War I.

The original bell, cast in the 19th century, stands outside St. James Church today as a testament to the history and sacrifices of so many families of Sauk Village.

The AMBO I Construction firm moved into the area in 1956, building homes in what is now known as the Garden Section, near the Calumet Expressway and just south of Sauk Trail.

Strassburg and Cynthia Street (now known as Wagoner) Schools were built during this time to accommodate the needs of residents' children.

2005 saw an investigation into the finances of School District 168 and what was described by the Cook County State's Attorney as the "worst case of financial fraud by a public official."

Because of the national economic downturn by 2012, impact fees generated were not adequate to cover the debt service on the Revenue Bonds issued in 2007 to build the Municipal Center.

With the Village stuck in political gridlock and a legal battle with the State of Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, by 2012 the Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan stepped in and forced the Village to provide bottled water to the residents until a temporary air strippers were installed to remove the vinyl chloride from the well water.

By August 2012 the State of Illinois installed temporary air strippers and the village discontinued providing bottled water.

Permanent Air Strippers were on the drawing board in 2012 and construction finally became a reality as the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency approved a low-interest loan of $4.8 million for the village.

To date, there has been no plan or timeline provided as to when the Village will transition to Lake Michigan water as "Permanent" air strippers are scheduled to be installed in Fall, 2014.

A group of avid readers began a volunteer library which was housed in the basement of Katz Corner School, once located on Burnham Avenue.

[16] The library outgrew the basement at Katz Corner School and moved to a single-story house at 1909 Sauk Trail, and Linda Gapsewitz became the new director.

DSI on Torrence Avenue, the expansion of Roadway Express and Carolina Freight, two very successful Tax Increment Financing (TIF) districts, and Pacesetter Steel were all attributed to the vision of Edward Paesel.

An ambitious project spearheaded by Paesel which did not come about was the GM-Saturn automobile plant, proposed for the northwest corner of the Calumet Expressway and Sauk Trail.

Collins survived his re-election bid for a second term as mayor in April 1993, beating out trustee Joseph Wiszowaty and another candidate, again with the same core of supporters that brought him to office in 1989.

Shortly afterward, the Cook County State's Attorney began an investigation into the mishandling of the CDBG program and several other blunders by the Collins administration.

November 7, 2012, residents of Sauk Village were stunned to hear via email that embattled Mayor Lewis Towers resigned.

On November 8, 2012, the Village Board of Trustees selected David Hanks as acting mayor to serve out the remainder of Lewis Towers' unexpired term until May 2013.

On April 5, 1986, McConathy collapsed at the village's annual Appreciation Dinner and died just short of serving a full year in office.

In 2009, Sauk Village elected its first African-American mayor, Lewis Towers,[24] whose slate of candidates under the party banner Citizens for Progress would take office on May 12.

Numerous industrial construction projects which had hoped to bring jobs to the area had been halted in 2008 as one of the worst economic recessions began.

On November 8, 2012, the Village Board of Trustees selected David Hanks as acting mayor to serve out the remainder of Lewis Towers' unexpired term until May 2013.

Also elected were Cecial Tates, a retired Lieutenant-Colonel and former District 168 School Board President along with newcomer Kelvin Jones.

The largest parcel annexed came in 1991 when 500 acres (2.0 km2) at the northwest corner of Sauk Trail and the Calumet Expressway was finally added to the village.

The 500-acre (2.0 km2) parcel was previously proposed for the GM-Saturn plant by Mayor Paesel and the new Chicago Bears Stadium by Trustee Wiszowaty.

LogistiCenter Business Park currently occupies 325 acres (1.32 km2) and has a 496,260-square-foot (46,104 m2) distribution facility (expandable up to 1.2 million square feet).

[45] Winpak announced it was locating a portion packaging facility in Sauk Village, after purchasing 28.9 acres of land within the LogistiCenter development in 2011, a Class A business park.