Kane County town offers fresh air, friendly faces
Burlington, a quaint little rural community in Kane County, offers great schools, friendly folks and large open spaces.
One resident moved to Burlington because of its small-town atmosphere with an Andy Griffith-type setting - where horses walk down Main Street, tractors pull their plows and folks meet up at the post office and gas station to talk town business.
When you live in a rural area, the sense of community is so strong, said Mary Ann Wilkison, village clerk and 36-year Burlington resident.
"When I first moved here, everyone waved when I drove or walked by. The great part of living here is that everyone is so friendly," she said. "We love it; we raised our children here, and I can't speak more highly of our community."
Located at the crossroads of Plank, Peplow, French and Burlington roads - all county routes, Burlington sits 13 miles west of Elgin and 48 miles west of Chicago.
Although the village offers a quiet lifestyle, it's within a short reach of other towns and the larger city benefits of Elgin.
If someone sets out to live in Burlington, there's not much real estate available, said Leslie Kiesel, Realtor with RE/MAX Excels.
"Four houses sold last year, and there are eight houses on the market now. Most of them are in-town ranches with a fair amount of land, even though they're in town. There's also a cute little vintage farmhouse for sale that's in town and has been updated."
Once you're west of Route 47, you see larger properties, 4 to 6 acres on which you can raise animals. People who want to grow some corn or have horses or a "farmette" might want something out there, Leslie said.
Kelly Crowe, Realtor with Baird & Warner, believes the Burlington school district is a big plus for homebuyers who want to live in Burlington. Crowe, who is marketing an older house on Main Street (a two-story home with its original woodwork and a big front porch), said the schools were a big motivator for her clients when they moved there.
Wilkison, who loves talking about Burlington, says the area has a rich history. The concrete block for the current village hall was made by the grandfather of a resident who now lives in one of Burlington's earliest homes, she said.
"We also have a very old established restaurant in town, Art & Alma's Century Inn, which shows many old pictures of the town in the early 1900s, has a little lamplight in the window and the original bar - a 35-foot back bar hand made by a regional craftsman. People come from all over the area to eat there."
The restaurant started out in 1908 as the Rulhausen Tavern, the hub of town at the time at the corner of Center and Main streets. The Rulhausens lived in the rear of the establishment and rented out the rooms above. The tavern also headquartered meetings during the near-violent dairy strike of 1916. The restaurant's slogan is "serving honest food since 1908; cooking from scratch."
Genoa Pizza and Mott's Tavern - a tavern and lunch place famous for its burgers - are popular spots for locals. "When we had some workmen here, they didn't want to leave town without a Mott's burger," Wilkison said.
Recreation in town includes parks and hiking trails, local sports, and movie theaters in nearby Sycamore and Elgin. Amenities in nearby Elgin include historic architecture, the Elgin Symphony Orchestra, Elgin Opera and a mecca of theater and arts groups. Entertainment venues like the Grand Victoria Riverboat casino have made the city a focal point for the Fox Valley and neighboring communities like Burlington.