Chicago Fire of 1871 destroyed much of that city, thousands of its citizens sought new homes and opportunities far from the city's ills but within a convenient commute. La Grange was ideally situated to accommodate them. Telephones were first set up by Dr. George Fox in the 1880s for quick communication between his home office and a drug store, enabling him to order prescriptions to be delivered by buggy in a moment's notice. Growing to 52 lines in 1894, it increased twofold to 120 by the next year, and surged to 2,346 by 1921 (36 percent of the population at the time). There was a large spike in population is the 1880s and 1890s as the village grew from just over 500 to nearly 4,000 residents, over 600% growth in twenty years. The population continued to grow steadily through the 1960s, peaking at 17,814 according to the 1970 census. The population declined slightly in the '70s & '80s and has been relatively stable since then. Geography La Grange is located at (41.807938, −87.873455), about west of Chicago. The village is roughly flat, only deviating from the elevation of 645 feet by at most ten feet. La Grange is surrounded by incorporated places of similar sizes on all sides except to the South West, where the generously named La Grange Highlands are. As of 2020, La Grange has a total area of , all land. Two major railroad tracks run through the village, including the Burlington Northern Santa Fe, and the CSX/Indiana Harbor Belt lines. Some 14,000 years ago, the land under La Grange sat on the western shore of Lake Chicago, a predecessor to Lake Michigan. The prehistoric shoreline today is delineated by Bluff Avenue, a north–south street on the village's east side. Demographics As of the 2020 census there were 16,321 people, 5,445 households, and 3,974 families residing in the village. The population density was . There were 6,415 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the village was 84.09% White, 3.71% African American, 0.29% Native American, 1.72% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 2.88% from other races, and 7.30% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 8.71% of the population. There were 5,445 households, out of which 80.20% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.07% were married couples living together, 10.49% had a female householder with