The territory which is now the Village of Bartlett was, at various times in the past, a part of Spain, France, Virginia, England, the Northwest Territory, Indiana, the Illinois Territory, and, finally, the State of Illinois. The area was at one time a camping and hunting ground of the Pottawatomie, Ottowa, Miami, and Cherokee Indians.

The original forty acre town site was owned by Mr. Luther Bartlett, a native of Conway, Massachusetts, He came to Illinois by way of Michigan in 1844. The Bartlett family used this site as a "woodlot," the source of their lumber for buildings and wood for fires.

In 1873, Mr. Bartlett offered the Chicago & Pacific Railroad a right-of-way through his forty acres, as well as a train station site, as an inducement to bring the railroad to the town. The first train came through Bartlett that fall.

The Village was incorporated in 1891. (The original Minutes' books and Ordinances are on file in the Village Clerk's office.) The Village's first President was George Struckman, who served until 1899 and again from 1901 - 1911.

Bartlett's population has grown from 360 in 1900, to 3501 in 1970, to 36,706 in 2000. We have grown from a forty acre town site to an area covering nearly 16 square miles with over 100 miles of streets. The Village now lies in Cook, DuPage, and Kane Counties.

Bartlett's future is one of continued, and controlled, well-planned growth. This growth includes an active program designed to attract business and industry to Bartlett, primarily along the western edge of the Village, and to expand the commercial and industrial tax base. Our projected population for the year 2020 is 47,500.