River Forest Public Library

River Forest is a suburban village adjacent to Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, U.S. Per the 2020 census, the population was 11,717. Two universities make their home in River Forest, Dominican University and Concordia University Chicago. The village is closely tied to the larger neighboring community of Oak Park. There are significant architectural designs located in River Forest such as the Winslow House by Frank Lloyd Wright. River Forest has a railroad station with service to Chicago on Metra's Union Pacific/West Line.

The River Forest Historic District is a national historic district encompassing much of the village of River Forest, Illinois. The district includes 830 buildings, most of which are houses as the village is almost entirely residential. The oldest structure in the district is the 1831 Bickerdike and Noble sawmill, the first permanent structure built by European settlers in River Forest; residential development began in the mid-nineteenth century and continued through the 1930s. The district has a considerable number of Prairie School houses, including a rare example of an entire block of small-scale Prairie homes. Several works by Frank Lloyd Wright are within the district, including the Winslow House and stable, the Chauncey L. Williams Residence, the Isabel Roberts House, the J. Kibben Ingalls House, and the River Forest Tennis Club. The Prairie School architects William Eugene Drummond, Tallmadge and Watson, Purcell & Elmslie, John S. Van Bergen, and Spencer & Powers designed homes in the district as well. Examples of other popular architectural styles, most prominently Italianate and Classical Revival, can also be found in the district.The district was added to the National Register of Historic Places on August 26, 1977.

River Forest Township is one of 29 townships in Cook County, Illinois. The population was 11,172 at the 2010 census. River Forest Township is coterminous with the Village of River Forest. It is one of four coterminous townships in Cook County and one of seventeen coterminous townships statewide. Like the village, the township is bounded by Harlem Avenue, North Avenue, Madison Avenue to Lathrop Avenue, to Central Avenue and back to Harlem.

The William H. Hatch House is a historic house at 309 Keystone Avenue in River Forest, Illinois. Grain trader William H. Hatch built the house for his family in 1882, early in the village's development and two years after its incorporation. The house has a Queen Anne style design, a popular choice both locally and nationally at the time. The design includes three spindlework porches, a tower at the southeast corner, and a shingled gable atop the front and rear facades. The emphasis on spindlework, while common in early Queen Anne designs, is unusual among examples of the style in River Forest.The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places on September 5, 2007.

Concordia University Chicago is a private university in River Forest, Illinois. Formerly a college exclusively for parochial teacher education, Concordia-Chicago now offers more than 100 undergraduate and postgraduate degrees and enrolls more than 5,000 students. The university is a member of the Concordia University System, a nationwide network of colleges and universities affiliated with the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod (LCMS). Concordia Chicago, originally named Addison Teachers Seminary, was founded in the Lutheran tradition by Saxon German immigrants in 1864.: 7, 9  The university continues to maintain strong ties to its faith-based heritage.

Trinity High School is a Roman Catholic college preparatory high school for girls located in River Forest, a suburb of Chicago, Illinois. Located in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago, it was founded in 1918 by members of the Sinsinawa Dominican Sisters. Originally the school was built on the grounds of Rosary College, which is now Dominican University, but in 1926 the campus was relocated a few blocks away from the original site. Today, Trinity High School has an enrollment of 500 young women divided among four grade levels. Trinity students come from 45 zip codes and 144 different grade schools.

The Harlem Yard is a CTA rail yard in Forest Park, Illinois which stores cars for the Green Line of the Chicago Transit Authority. Currently, 5000-series railcars are stored here. It is adjacent to Harlem/Lake station.

Forest Park was an at-grade station on the Chicago Transit Authority's 'L' system, serving as the former western terminus of the Lake Street Elevated.

The Forest Preserve District of Cook County is a governmental commission in Cook County, Illinois, that owns and manages a network of open spaces, containing forest, prairie, wetland, streams, and lakes, that are mostly set aside as natural areas. Cook County contains Chicago, and is the center of the most densely populated urban metropolitan area in the Midwest. The Forest Preserve lands encompass approximately 70,000 acres (110 sq mi; 280 km2), about 11% of the county, providing open space within its urban surroundings. It contains facilities for recreation, as well as a zoo and a botanic garden.

Marshall Field and Company Store is a building in Oak Park, Illinois that was added to the National Register of Historic Places on January 21, 1988. It is one of the two locations (along with the Evanston location) that the company chose to expand to when it decided to add suburban stores. The store is a miniature replica of the Marshall Field and Company Building in the Chicago Loop and a twin of the Evanston store.The building served as a Marshall Field's store from its opening until 1986, when Marshall Field's then-owner BATUS Inc. closed it because it was deemed out of date and too costly to operate. The building housed a Borders book store, until all the locations were closed in 2011. Today, it houses several offices.

Harlem Avenue/Lake Street, announced as Harlem, or Harlem/Lake, is a station on the Chicago Transit Authority's 'L' system, serving the Green Line. It is the northwestern terminus of the Green Line.

Dominican University (DU) is a private Roman Catholic university in River Forest, Illinois, affiliated with the Sinsinawa Dominican Sisters. It offers bachelor's and master's degrees, certificate programs, and a PhD in information studies. Dominican University offers more than 50 majors in the Rosary College of Arts and Sciences and 20 programs in five graduate academic divisions.