Founded in 1857 as Lake Forest University, a group of Chicago Presbyterians set out to establish a college and a community at a midpoint between Evanston and Waukegan. The college became Lake Forest College in 1858. During the Civil War years, instruction ceased, at the college and resumed in 1876 thanks to Mary E. Smith Farwell, who wanted her daughter, Anna, to stay close to home to attend college and launched Lake Forest College.

In the 1990s, enrollment dipped below 1,000, but in the last decade it has remained at more than 1,200 students representing 47 states and 71 countries. The college has 30 majors.

Just this year, the college opened a new 68,000-square-foot recreation, sports and fitness center.