McKenzie Square

McKenzie Square is the part of Wilmette between Green Bay Road, Ridge Road, Lake Avenue and Wilmette Avenue, named for McKenzie Elementary. It's a mostly residential pocket of tree-lined blocks just west of downtown, close to school, the library and the Metra. I'm Sarah Jividen, and here's what I'd tell a friend who was looking here.

Ridge Road was once the eastern edge of the separate village of Gross Point, incorporated in 1874. After Gross Point dissolved in 1919, Wilmette annexed it in the 1920s, and its old village hall at 609 Ridge Road is now the Wilmette Historical Museum.

At the corner of Lake Avenue and Ridge Road, St. Joseph Catholic Church dates to 1845. Just south across Wilmette Avenue, Oak Circle's bungalows from the late 1910s and early 1920s make up a National Register historic district.

Who McKenzie Square fits

McKenzie Square is worth a look if you want to walk to school, the library, downtown and the train on quieter, tree-lined blocks. Some homes here date to the late 1800s, so a thorough inspection matters, and you're close to the Green Bay Trail and Vattmann Park.

Beyond the Square: The McKenzie Area

McKenzie Elementary's attendance area reaches past the Square: west of Ridge Road, north of Lake Avenue and south of Wilmette Avenue. Just south of Wilmette Avenue is Oak Circle, a curved brick street of 15 single-family homes, mostly bungalows, built in the late 1910s and early 1920s in the Prairie School and Craftsman styles and listed on the National Register in 2001. West of Ridge Road is the former village of Gross Point. Always confirm a specific address with the D39 School Locator.

If you want to walk to McKenzie Elementary, the library and downtown Wilmette, tell me what you're looking for and I'll let you know as soon as something in McKenzie Square fits, or start with my free North Shore Upsizing Guide.