James Anderson Company

920 West North Shore Drive
Lake Bluff, Illinois 60044
847-295-0032

A fourth-generation family business providing engineering, surveying, and ecological consulting services in northeastern Illinois for more than a century.

James Anderson

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History, Reputation, Service Since 1891

James Anderson Company was founded in 1891 in Lake Forest, Illinois.  Our extensive experience providing civil engineering, land surveying, topographical surveying, and ecological consulting services in northeastern Illinois has enabled us to develop an unprecedented depth of knowledge about all aspects of design, development, and construction in the area.  We provide accurate and custom solutions for municipalities, developers, homeowners, attorneys, and realtors who need assistance planning, developing, and managing land, water, sewer, drainage, and paving projects in Illinois's Lake and Cook Counties.

Founder James Anderson, Jr.

​Services

We offer Civil Engineering Services that include the surveying, design, construction, management, operation, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment.  We are proficient in designing, building, managing, and operating a wide range of infrastructure systems, including water distribution systems, sanitary sewage systems, storm drainage systems, large retention reservoirs, streets, and parking lots, all in an environmentally friendly manner.  We also provide Ecological Consulting Services and offer ecological design and restoration, natural resource assessment and management, and environmental planning and permitting.

We Go Deep

Our firm has weathered two World Wars, the Great Depression, multiple recessions and now two pandemics.  In fact, we've been around so long that our founder, James Anderson, served as an engineer at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair.  Since our inception, our firm has remained highly influential in developing Lake and Cook Counties, completing more than 20,000 projects and 50,000 drawings, and serving an estimated 12,000 clients since 1891.​

Principled Performance

While James Anderson Company is widely respected for the depth of our historical and land development archives, more importantly, we are also known to be forthright, meticulous, and financially prudent.  We operate debt-free and can serve our customers at rates that reflect our low overhead and restrained spending.   We are known for accuracy and are often called upon to review others' work.  And once we earn a client's trust, we are regularly retained for future projects.  Our longevity in this business earns us credibility.  ​

Deep Roots ​

If your goal is to get your construction, drainage, paving, ecological consulting, or surveying project done the right way, the first time, we should talk.  Over a hundred years of local experience has given us the knowledge, relationships, tools, and insight to go deep to resolve your construction, development, watershed, and ecological challenges.  ​

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"No doubt as years go by, people forget which engineer did it, even if they ever knew. Or some politician puts his name on it. Or they credit it to some promoter who used other peoples' money with which to finance it. But the engineer himself looks back at the unending stream of goodness that flows from his successes with satisfactions that few professions may know. And the verdict of his fellow professionals is all the accolade he wants."
​― Herbert Hoover

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