The history of Fort Hill begins in 1837, soon after the early settlers moved into the area.  The obituary of Joseph Wood provides a brief detail of its naming:

“Joseph Wood.

   Joseph Wood, the oldest settler of Wood county, Wis., in whose honor the county was named, died in his home in the city of Grand Rapids, the 31st inst.  He was in his seventy-ninth year.  He was County Judge and a member of Legislature in an early day.  His wife, a sister of J. and R. Compton of Volo, died Jan., the 17th, 1887.  He leaves three grown sons and many old settler acquaintances in Lake and McHenry county Ill.  Joseph Wood, Thomas H. Payne of Freemont (sic) Center, and Joel H. Johnson of Woodstock, Ill., came together to Illinois in 1836 and all located in Fremont, in January, 1837.  Those three were the first white men that stepped foot on Fort Hill mound, and to Thomas H. Payne belongs the honor of naming said mound Fort Hill, so Wood and Johnson informed the writer not long since.  Those three were on said mount on Sunday in March, 1837, to view the wild prairie landscape, when T. H. Payne suggested to name, said mound, Fort Hill.  It was agreed to.  A post office was established in 1838, Joseph Wood P. M. at Fort Hill.  A post office was established in Little Fort, now Waukegan, in 1841, Joseph Wood commissioned post-master.  J. Wood sold his farm in Fremont to David Balentine in 1850 and moved to Wisconsin.” – The McHenry Plaindealer (McHenry IL) Wednesday, February 19, 1890

(NEW 8/2021) Battle of Saipan – History.com (Click to Read)
PFC Clarence LeRoy Hagen, Jr., who is buried in the Fort Hill Cemetery, was killed in action during the Battle of Saipan.  The History.com article provides a brief but informative overview of the events that took place between June 15 and July 9, 1944.

(NEW 8/2021) The Battle of Saipan – The Final Curtain (Click to Read)
Another good read about the Battle of Saipan is by David Moore, P.E. (1921-2012), a retired Navy Commander who served in combat on Saipan.  Mr. Moore wrote this essay to detail the events of June 15, 1944 and the days that followed.  PFC Clarence LeRoy Hagen, Jr. was killed in action on June 17, 1944.

Lake County War History and Record (Click to Read)
Charles Addison Partridge (1843-1910) writes an extensive article of the regiments and companies consisting of the boys that volunteered from Lake County, Illinois to fight in the Civil War.

Autobiography of a Lake County Pioneer (Click to Read)
Reuben Smith Botsford (1833-1918) was the son-in-law of Levi and Elizabeth (Granger) Marble who are laid to rest in the Fort Hill Cemetery.  In his autobiography Reuben gives a glimpse of early life in Avon Township and Lake County, Illinois.

1844 Fort Hill Reminiscences newspaper article (Click to Read)
A description of the Fort Hill area written in 1844 of the virgin countryside
before the population growth and vast farming that changed the landscape.

Fort Hill Cemetery Burials (Click to Read)
A short history of the Fort Hill Cemetery and a list of those buried there.

Thirty-Seventh Illinois Infantry Regiment (Click to Read)
Lieutenant Arthur Whitney, buried in the Fort Hill Cemetery, was a Veteran of the 37th Regiment.  Read a history of the regiment of which Lt. Whitney was a member providing a probable insight of the veteran’s experience.

Ninety-Sixth Illinois Infantry Regiment (Click to Read)
Privates Erastus Tyler Cleveland and James H. McMillen, buried in the Fort Hill Cemetery, were Veterans of the 96th Regiment.  Read a history of the regiment of which Privates Cleveland and McMillen were members providing a probable insight of their experience.

1918 School History Notebooks
Local area students documented a history of their schools and their surroundings in
celebration of the Illinois Centennial.