The early settlers of the Wadsworth area were farmers who arrived in the 1830s. A saw mill was built in 1835, on Mill Creek, by Jacob Miller. Other businesses that supported the farmers were feed and grain mills, and blacksmith shops. A few general stores operated out of private homes.

These early settlers were interested in the education of their children, and the first grade school was organized in 1847. A one-room school was built on donated land.  The school had various locations and buildings over the years until a brick school was built in 1925. This one-room school continued in use until 1963, when the Wadsworth School District was annexed to the Gurnee Grade School District. The day of the one-room school was over. In 1984, the Wadsworth Village Board voted to acquire the school property on Wadsworth Road, and, in 1985, the Wadsworth school building became the Wadsworth Village Hall.

An early settler named Mr. Lux laid out the first plat of what became the Village of Wadsworth. He also sold and donated some of the land needed by the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad. This railroad completed its first line in 1872. Mr. Lux had hoped to name the developing town Luxville or Luxberg, but that honor went to Elisha Wadsworth, who was a major shareholder in the railroad. This railroad had a major influence on the local economy. Trains stopped in Wadsworth to take on water and coal for their steam engines. There was a depot, an agent, and a telegraph operator, plus other railroad employees. Farmers shipped milk to Chicago and would take the milk train to Chicago once a month to collect their milk money from the dairies. After a high school was built in Gurnee, students from Wadsworth could take the milk train in the morning and the return train in the afternoon. However, by the mid-1930s, the trains no longer stopped in Wadsworth and thus the economy faltered and waned.

A major industry in Wadsworth in the late 1800s and early 1900s was the production of bricks and field tile. Winter’s Brick Yard and Cashmore Tile and Brick Yard were two involved enterprises. Several brick houses in Wadsworth were built by Jonathan Cashmore or his children, and these structures are still in use today.

Many of the buildings in downtown Wadsworth date back to the late 1800s or early 1900s. There were grocery stores, taverns, restaurants, general stores, and even dance halls. Some of these buildings are gone, but others still remain, although with different uses.

The Village of Wadsworth was officially incorporated in 1962.      

* Special thanks to the Newport Township Historical Society for providing the above article.