From a 1673 Portage Route to a Postwar Boomtown
The Crest Hill area was first explored by Louis Joliet and Père Marquette in 1673 as they passed through on their journey toward the Mississippi, but the community as it exists today grew out of a post-World War II building boom that filled the area with new subdivisions and veterans' housing through the 1940s. Crest Hill incorporated as a village on January 22, 1960 -- specifically to avoid annexation by the City of Joliet and keep the tax revenue from a shopping center then under development -- with a population of 5,887 at incorporation. It became a city in 1969, and by 1970 its population had jumped to 7,460, a 26.7% rise driven by continued subdivision construction.
Crest Hill's Postwar Housing Stock Meets the Des Plaines Watershed
That single postwar construction wave left Crest Hill with a lot of housing built to the same-era plumbing and drainage standards, sitting inside the broader Des Plaines River watershed where regional stormwater planning documents basement flooding and sewer backup as an ongoing concern. When one house on a Crest Hill block floods a lower level, it is often a sign that the same-vintage systems next door are due for the same problem.
Getting Started
Scoping a Complete Crest Hill Restoration
Water category, elapsed time, hidden cavities, electrical safety, and material porosity determine the right response. This site does not promise emergency availability.