Brookfield il Wedding

Brookfield (formerly Grossdale) is a village in Cook County, Illinois, 13 miles west of Chicago, Illinois. The population was 19,085 at the 2000 census. It is home to the world famous Brookfield Zoo.

Settlement of the village dates to 1889 when Samuel Eberly Gross, a Chicago lawyer, began selling building lots platted from farms and woodlands he had acquired along both sides of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad line, which provided passenger and freight service between Chicago and Aurora, Illinois. "Grossdale," as his development was originally called, offered suburban living at prices affordable to working-class families. Prospective buyers were enticed with free train rides, brass bands, picnic lunches, and an inevitable sales pitch.

Grossdale was incorporated as a village in 1893. The name was changed to Brookfield in 1905 after residents became displeased with Gross, whose personal life and fortune had floundered.

In 1920, the old Plank Toll Road, now called Ogden Ave (US Hwy 34), was paved, providing easy automobile access to and from Chicago.

The Chicago Zoological Park, commonly called the Brookfield Zoo, opened in 1934.

Brookfield is located at 414922N, 875051W (41.822681, -87.847532)GR1.