Best Web Design in Tinley Park, IL (2026)

Web Design for Tinley Park, Illinois

Tinley Park is a southwest suburb of Chicago that grew from a German farming settlement called Bremen into a village of roughly 56,000, its downtown still centered on the Oak Park Avenue rail depot that gave the town its name. It is best known regionally as home to one of the Chicago area's biggest outdoor concert venues and, more grimly, to a vast abandoned state mental-health campus that became a magnet for urban explorers. The village leans hard into community festivals, from an Irish Parade to a summer Block Party.

AppWT works with Tinley Park, IL businesses from Livonia, Michigan, mostly online and travelling as needed.

About Tinley Park

Also known as. Tinley. Bremen (original 1853 name).

History. European settlers, largely German Americans, established farms in the area in the 1840s; the community was formally founded as Bremen in 1853. The Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad reshaped the town in the late 19th century. In 1890 the village was renamed Tinley Park in honor of Samuel Tinley Sr., the first station agent of the local railroad depot. Tinley Park was formally incorporated on June 27, 1892, by a vote of 34 to 24, with Henry Vogt elected as its first mayor.

Local economy. Rail access spurred early industry: the Diamond Spiral Washing Machine Company opened its first factory in 1905, a local electric utility was founded in 1909, and a cola-bottling plant operated into the 1950s. Local inventor John Rauhoff developed 'ironite,' a waterproofing additive for cement later used in the construction of the Hoover Dam. The village transformed into a major bedroom suburb during a postwar building boom; more than 11,000 housing units were constructed between 1970 and 1994. Today the economy is driven by suburban retail, services, and commuter households, reflected in a median household income around $82,000.

Culture and community. The Credit Union 1 Amphitheatre (opened 1990 as the World Music Theatre) is one of the Chicago region's largest outdoor concert venues, seating roughly 28,000. Tinley Park hosts an annual Irish Parade along Oak Park Avenue in the downtown historic district. The Tinley Park Block Party, held the third weekend in July along Oak Park Avenue, features food, live tropical bands, and family activities. The village maintains sister-city ties to Budingen, Germany; Mallow, Ireland; and Nowy Sacz, Poland, reflecting its immigrant roots. Olympic swimmer Christine Magnuson, a two-time silver medalist, and NFL players Tevin Coleman and Miles Boykin are among the community's notable residents.

What makes Tinley Park distinct. The abandoned Tinley Park Mental Health Center, which opened around 1953 and closed in 2012, became one of the largest abandoned sites in Illinois and a notorious draw for urban explorers before demolition and cleanup began in the 2020s. A February 2, 2008 mass shooting at a Lane Bryant store remains unsolved, one of the region's most infamous cold cases. The town's cement-waterproofing invention, ironite, links this quiet suburb to the Hoover Dam. Tinley Park spent its first 37 years under the name Bremen, a nod to its German founders.

Tinley Park is a southern Chicago suburb in Cook and Will counties, founded in 1853 as Bremen by German American settlers and renamed in 1890 for early railroad station agent Samuel Tinley Sr. It retains a historic downtown around the Oak Park Avenue Metra station.

Tinley Park Landmarks and Local Life

• Old Zion Landmark Church - An 1884 prairie Gothic frame church on the National Register of Historic Places, home to the Tinley Park Historical Society museum
• Credit Union 1 Amphitheatre - Large outdoor concert venue that opened in 1990, formerly known as the Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre
• Landmark Church, Museum and Schoolhouse - Historic district site maintained with the Tinley Park-Park District and Historical Society

Tinley Park at a Glance

U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2023.

• Median household income: About $103,819
• Adults with a bachelor degree or higher: About 38.4%
• Housing: About 88% of housing units are owner-occupied
• Housing: Roughly 56% of housing is detached single-family homes, with the balance in townhomes and multi-unit buildings