Places

Dundee, Illinois

Dundee, Illinois is a community in Kane County, Illinois, situated along the Fox River. The town — which in later years would formally distinguish its two sides as East Dundee and West Dundee — was home to a number of German-speaking immigrant families during the Gilded Age, among them the Müller family, who became tragically known to the wider region following a catastrophic railroad disaster in October 1887.

Cover of
Cover, The History of Elgin, Kane County, Illinois, 1835 to 1875, 1875. Source: Internet Archive.

According to History of Kane County, Ill. (Joslyn, 1908), Dundee was the northernmost Kane County village on the Fox River, with a population of approximately 600 to 800 inhabitants in its early period. The village took its name from Dundee, Scotland, and the same source notes that it had a correspondingly large Scotch population, with several Scotch families residing in and around it. (Source: History of Kane County, Ill., Vol. 1 (Joslyn, 1908, Internet Archive)) This characterization is corroborated by The History of Elgin, Kane County, Illinois, 1835 to 1875 (1875), which similarly identifies Dundee as the most northern Kane County village on the Fox River and notes its Scottish inhabitants. (Source: History of Elgin, Kane County, Illinois, 1835–1875 (Internet Archive)) The 1875 history further situates Dundee approximately 5 miles north of Elgin. (Source: *History of Elgin, Kane County, Illinois, 1