Orangeville, Illinois

Orangeville
Village
Sign upon entering the village of Orangeville.
Motto: The best little town on earth.
Country	United States
State	Illinois
County	Stephenson
Township	Oneco
Elevation	820 ft (250 m)
Coordinates	42°28′01″N 89°38′46″W / 42.46694°N 89.64611°W / 42.46694; -89.64611Coordinates: 42°28′01″N 89°38′46″W / 42.46694°N 89.64611°W / 42.46694; -89.64611
Area	0.63 sq mi (2 km2)
- land	0.63 sq mi (2 km2)
- water	0.00 sq mi (0 km2)
Population	793 (2010)
Density	1,168.9/sq mi (451/km2)
Founded	1851
Village President	Alexander Mills
Postal code	61060
Area code	815
Location of Orangeville within Illinois

Orangeville is a village in Stephenson County, Illinois. The population was 793 at the 2010 census, up from 751 in 2000. The area's earliest white settlers arrived in the year 1833, and the village was platted in 1851 by John Bower, who is considered the village founder. In 1867 Orangeville was incorporated as a village. The town's central business district contains several 19th century commercial buildings, many of which were built during the railroad boom of 1888–1914. By the time the Great Depression was ongoing, business in Orangeville had started to decline, with the last bank closing in 1932. Although recently infrastructure jumps have given back some of its old decor.

Orangeville is about two miles (3 km) south of the Illinois–Wisconsin border and about 35 miles (56 km) west of Rockford, Illinois. The town itself is located in farmland surrounded by vale and rises from Richland Creek on its west end, down High Street and into the central business district, where the Central House hotel occupies the highest lot. Public education in Orangeville is the responsibility of Orangeville Community School District #203 which operates an elementary school on the south side and a combination junior and senior high school on the east side.

Before 1837, the area was occupied by Native Americans who utilized it for hunting grounds; the Sioux tribe had a camp near Oneco. Game that populated the Orangeville area included buffalo and deer. John H. Curtis purchased the 80 acres (32 ha) of land, which included the area that would eventually become Orangeville, on January 1, 1838 at the Dixon Land Office. Curtis constructed a dam on Richland Creek, and on the creek's west bank erected a gristmill and a saw mill. Curtis died in 1843 and both mills stood idle until John Bower arrived in 1846, with his family, after having visited the area the year before. Bower purchased the 80 acres (32 ha) and the mills.