The saloonkeepers banded together in 1922 and officially incorporated the Village.  This was so they would have the power to grant liquor licenses.  A heavy burden was placed on the farmers in the form of skyrocketing taxes.  The revenue was needed to pay for the water pipes for the growing town, and by 1920 an even larger Village Hall had been constructed.

These tillers of the soil were irate but essentially powerless, at least until the mid-1920's, when the introduction of electric rail service came to Niles Center, since renamed Skokie, and forced a change in Tessville's civic and social life.

At the end of the decade and into the 1930's, Tessville was establishing itself as a popular haven for people who needed to commute into Chicago but did not want to live there.  The election of Henry Proesel, a grandson of the Village's co-founder, as mayor in 1931 was seen as a positive move for the town's prosperity.  An early move by Proesel during the Great Depression was to assign Works Progress Administration (WPA) workers the monumental task of planting 10,000 elm trees along all Village streets.  In 1934, an ordinance limiting the number of liquor licenses was passed and became Village law.  It served as a model for the Illinois State Liquor Control Laws.

By 1936, the name of the Village had been changed to Lincolnwood, a move that substantially changed its image for the better.

The practice of offering large parcels of relatively inexpensive land continued over the years, but at the same time Lincolnwood was able to keep taxes attractively low by fostering the growth of light industry and by attracting such giants-to-be as Bell & Howell.  The opening in 1951 of the Edens Expressway, though, probably had the most profound impact on the growth in the Village's history.  It offered easy and fast access to and from Chicago, causing the Lincolnwood population to grow from 3,072 in 1950 to more than 12,000 in 1970, a figure which has since remained fairly constant.

Mayor Proesel ended his 46 years in office in 1977, a record mostly unmatched by any other mayor in American history.  Succeeding him was John Porcelli, who introduced the Village's paramedic service during his two terms.  Porcelli was followed by Frank Chulay.  In his two terms he oversaw development of the Lincolnwood Town Center, with its 70 stores, Lincolnwood Place, Barclay Place, and construction of a new Village Hall.

Lincolnwood's first woman mayor, Madeline Grant, succeeded Chulay, and in 1995 created a nine-member Economic Development Commission.  She was involved in overseeing such major public works programs as the construction of a 1.5 million-gallon water tower, the renovation of the Village's 13 parks, and needed infrastructure repairs.

Peter Moy exemplified honorable civic service in his multifaceted career in public service to this Village, first as a Trustee from 1995-2000, then as Village President until 2005. Peter Moy was the first Asian American to serve any municipality in Illinois as its President, making Lincolnwood a leader for minority representation. During his tenure as Village President, Peter Moy was instrumental in making significant improvements to the Village, including the new business roadway known as the Northeast Parkway, and the construction of our aquatic center in Proesel Park and a new public parking lot in the Touhy/Crawford Business District. Additionally, Peter Moy, led the Village to the successful completion of several economic development improvements including, the Loeber Mercedes Dealership expansion, Grossinger Toyota's complete renovation, the ENH Health Facility, MB Financial Bank, Studio 41, Lowe's, Dominick's, Kohl's, Osco, and also worked for the approval of the new and improved Walgreens site on Lincoln Avenue. 

Since 2005, Jerry Turry has served as the Village President. Prior to serving as Mayor, President Turry served as Village Trustee from 1995 to 2005. During his tenure as Trustee, he served as the chairman of the Streets & Alleys Committee, the liaison to the Plan Commission/Zoning Board of Appeals, a member of the Police, Licenses and Health Committee and Committee on Ordinances, Rules and Building (CORB).