Battle of the 'Burbs: East Dundee vs West Dundee
The Tale of Two Villages
Sitting on the western bank of the Fox River, West Dundee is a quaint Chicago suburb with historic homes and a popular downtown area. In 1835, the community began with only a tavern and a store before being incorporated in 1887. Over the next hundred years, West Dundee’s economy grew steadily until the completion of Spring Hill Mall in 1980 caused a major boost. Today, West Dundee houses a charming riverwalk, thriving local businesses, and a full calendar of community events and festivals. It also has its very own retrocade.
On the eastern bank of the Fox River, East Dundee had its first settlers in 1834, but the town was platted in 1837 by the son-in-law of the West Dundee founders. A train line running straight through town used to transport East Dundee’s production of dairy and cheese, but the old railroad is now a bike path and the train depot became The Dundee Township Visitor’s Center (also known as just “The Depot”). This Visitor’s Center is home to the Depot Market, a farmers market running from May through October at 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturdays. Most suburbanites in the area know East Dundee as the home of the Santa’s Village amusement park, but the village is in the middle of creating a culinary district, which should attract even more visitors.
The Rivalry
Despite a shared history, the width of a river is enough to divide the two towns, allowing each to develop a separate identity and strong hometown pride. These identities are partially linked to culture; for example, West Dundee was home to German settlers while East Dundee was settled by Scots and the English. Though five attempts have been made within the last century to bring the communities together, none succeeded. To this day, East and West Dundee have separate village halls as well as separate fire and public works departments.
The rivalry usually manifests in friendly competitions such as a battle between bridal shops. In 2014, the all-female staff at Shelley’s Bridal Couture of West Dundee competed against the all-male staff of Complete Bridal from East Dundee. The suburban rivalry was broadcasted on “Best in Bridal,” a reality series that aired on the FYI Network.
Despite this rivalry, East and West Dundee share a high school and the Dickens in Dundee event, a holiday festival held during the first weekend in December to kick off the Christmas season. And until recently, the two towns shared their most notable claim to fame: Heritage Fest.
Heritage Fest
For several years, East and West Dundee have co-hosted the annual Heritage Fest celebration—a weekend-long festival in September meant to celebrate Dundee’s historic roots and local pride. With food and drink vendors, a business expo, a craft fair, live music, fireworks, a car show, an antique market, and kids activities, the festival is massive—especially in the past few years as East Dundee decided to make a more significant contribution to the festival with its own midway, food vendors, and live performances.
This year, however, the old rivalry struck again as East Dundee opted out of co-hosting the event with its western cohort, leaving the east bank of the Fox River oddly quiet during the festival. Instead of cohosting this iconic suburban event, the eastern neighborhood hosted its own Oktoberfest with a carnival, food, and entertainment.
“There was a consensus that we should move the date of our fest to another weekend to eliminate the competition between the two towns and allow West Dundee to thrive on their Heritage Fest and East Dundee to thrive on its new festival,” village administrator Jennifer Johnsen told the Chicago Tribune.
East and West
Rivalry aside, the Villages of East and West Dundee are both popular suburban havens with high-performing schools and a thriving community. According to Neighborhoods.com, homes in West Dundee typically range from the low $100s to the mid $500s with most homes offering two to five bedrooms. In East Dundee, home prices start below $100,000 and go up to the high $400s with most homes offering one to five bedrooms. Though both neighborhoods are primarily comprised of single-family homes, East Dundee has a few options for homebuyers seeking a townhome or condo.