Page "Lake County, Illinois" Paragraph 5

The county, which was primarily unsettled prairie and was still home to its native Potawatomi Indians, was created by the Illinois State Legislature in 1839.

At that time, Libertyville, then known as Independence Grove, was the first county seat.

In 1841, however, the county's residents voted to move the county government to Little Fort, now Waukegan, where the commissioners had purchased a section of land from the state.

Lake County's first courthouse was built on part of that land in 1844 and the remainder was sold to pay for the $ 4, 000 construction cost.