Old and New Cities & Townships
Compiled by Ted Cash
1850 Clinton; 1875 divided into Reed and Custer
| Late 19th & Early 20th Century Cities, Towns & Villages | Additional Information | Township |
|---|---|---|
| Alden’s Island | Is now a part of Wilmington, IL; named for James F. and H. O. Alden who came to the area from Maine ca. 1847. Thomas Cox is credited with being the first permanent settler of the vicinity. In 1836 Cox laid claim to all of the land, including the island, on which the City of Wilmington now stands. The entire Cox Family moved to Salem, Oregon in 1847. The area was also known as Cox Island. | Wilmington |
| Andres | Peotone RFD | Peotone |
| Arbury Hills | Frankfort | |
| Arnon | Post Office opened Dec. 13, 1848 and closed March 2, 1860 | |
| Baker Station | named for Clarke Baker who came from New York to Will Co. in 1850 | Manhattan |
| Ballou | RFD Wilmington; on Wabash RR | Wesley |
| Barber’s Corner | settled in 1832; name for John Barber; Post Office established Dec. 21, 1846; changed to DuPage April 16, 1856 | Dupage |
| Beebe’s Grove | Now a part of Crete; named for Minoris Beebe, a pioneer settler arriving in Will Co. about 1834 | Crete |
| Beecher | Founded 1872; Named after Henry Ward Beecher | Washington |
| BelAir | Now part of Joliet | Joliet |
| Bemes/Bemis | Post Office established Sept. 22, 1893; discontinued Jan. 31, 1907 | Crete |
| Bergan Station | Named for H. & D. Bergan; on Wabash RR | Manhattan |
| Beverly Farm | Frankfort | |
| Big Road Settlement | Along the State Road in Washington and Crete | |
| Birds/Birds Bridge | On the Illinois & Michigan canal about 5 miles south of Joliet; named for a Mr. Bird who lived near the bridge; Post Office established in 1869; discontinued in 1905 | Troy |
| Blackstone Grove | Settled in 1833; named for Judge John Blackstone; Hadley Post Office | Homer |
| Blodgett | Now a part of Joliet Arsenal land Post Office opened in 1898 & closed in 1905; Located in Wilmington??? | Channahon |
| Bolingbrook | Dupage | |
| Boulevard Heights | Part of Joliet | Joliet |
| Braidwood | On the Chicago & Alton R.R. | Reed |
| Brisbane | RFD New Lenox; located on Wabash RR | New Lenox |
| Brooklyn | Part of Joliet | Joliet |
| Bucktown | Now in Braidwood; settled about 1877 | Reed |
| Buena Vista | Part of Joliet | Joliet |
| Buffalo | Platted and recorded June 1836 by Dr Isaiah M Treat in the northwest quarter in Section Two on the west bank of the river. [Source: Juliet and Joliet, 1904] | Channahon |
| Butterfield’s Ford | On Des Plaines River; used as a crossing by first settlers entering what is now Lockport and Homer; existed in early 1830’s | Lockport |
| Camp Goodell | Near present day Ingalls park; established in 1861-62 as a Civil war training camp | Joliet |
| Canal | Part of Homer and Lockport; named for the Illinois and Michigan canal | |
| Caton Farm | Post Office opened 1893; closed 1900 | Plainfield |
| Carlyle | ||
| Channahon | First known as Swifton1 | Channahon |
| Chelsea | Changed to Frankfort Station; now Frankfort; Post Office opened 1838; first post master was L.M. Clayes | Frankfort |
| Cherry Hill | New Lenox | |
| Claus | Chicago Heights RFD | Washington |
| Coon Grove | Also known as Racoon Grove Indian reservation | Monee |
| Cox Island | See Alden’s Island | |
| Cougar’s Crossings | . | |
| Coynes | Lockport??????? | Plainfield |
| Crest Hill | Lockport | |
| Crete | Crete | |
| Custer Park | Post Office opened Sept. 14, 1877; changed to Custer Park Sept. 15, 1885 | Custer |
| Des Plaines | Channahon | |
| Drummond | Channahan | |
| Dupage | Was Barber’s Corners in 1856; Fountaindale??; Post Office opened in July 26, 1833; closed on July 20, 1842; reopened on March 2, 1846 then closed on Aug 1, 1854. | |
| Dyer | Crete | |
| Eagle Lake | Post Office opened 1865 & closed 1902; Now Beecher RFD | Washington |
| East Joliet | Joliet | |
| East Wheatland | Wheatland | |
| Elwood | Jackson | |
| Endor | Post Office opened in June 30, 1837 & closed Nov. 18, 1856; reopened Oct. 11, 1861 & closed Nov. 15, 1901 | Crete |
| Essex | ||
| Eureka | Settled about 1873 | Reed |
| Evergreen Heights | Now part of Joliet | |
| Fair Acres | Now part of Joliet | Joliet |
| Fairmont | Lockport | |
| Faithorn | Crete | |
| Five-Mile Grove1 | Settled in 1832-33; original settlement now Manhattan | Manhattan |
| Forest Park | Joliet | |
| Fort Higginbotham | Located east of Joliet | Joliet |
| Fort Nonsense | Now part of Joliet; Fort Nonsense was established during the Black Hawk war scare in 1832 | Joliet |
| Fountaindale | See DuPage | |
| Frankfort Station | Frankfort | |
| Gaugers | New Lenox | |
| Gilletts | New Lenox | |
| Godley | Near Will and Grundy Co. Line | Reed |
| Goodenow | Named for George Goodenow; was established in 1870 | Crete |
| Goodings Grove | Settled in 1832 & named for Deacon James Gooding; Post Office opened in 1846 & closed in 1901 | Homer |
| Gougars | New Lenox | |
| Grange | Post Office opened in 1841 & closed in 1842 | |
| Gravel Bank | Channahon | |
| Green Garden | Settled about 1847 by M.F. Sanders and George M. Green; Vermont Precinct | Green Garden |
| Green Garden Twp1 | Green Garden | |
| Grinton | Settled in 1845 and named for William Grinton; also called Grinton’s Mill & Grintonville | Troy |
| Hadley | Post Office opened in 1835; also known as Blackstone Grove; Hadley settled in 1833 and was named for Hadley, Mass. | Homer |
| Hampton | Located near Elwood | Wilmington |
| Hayden’s | Manhattan RFD | Florence |
| Hickory Creek Settlement | Settled 1829-30; Early settlers were, James Brown, Aaron Friend, Wm. Rice, Wm. Gougar & John Grover. | New Lenox |
| Hickory Grove | New Lenox | |
| Hoddam | ||
| Homer | Homer | |
| Homewood | ||
| Horse Creek | Also Called Custer Park | Custer |
| Idylside | Joliet | |
| Ingalls Park | Now part of Joliet; site of Camp Goodell | Joliet |
| Intent | ||
| Jackson Creek | First called Reed’s Grove | Jackson, Sec 31 |
| Joliet Township | Joliet | |
| Judy | Washington | |
| Juliet/Joliet1 | Founded by Charles Reed | Joliet |
| Keeversville | Located by Braidwood; coal mine shaft was sunk in Keeversville in 1865 | |
| Knappa | Located by Wilmington | |
| Lake Juliet | ||
| Lakewood Shores | Wesley | |
| Lewistown | Now part of Joliet | Joliet |
| Lidice | Now part of Crest Hill; first known as Stern Park; named Lidice for Lidic, Czechoslovakia | Lockport |
| Lilly Cache | Plainfield | |
| Lincoln | Frankfort | |
| Lincolnwood Hills | New Lenox | |
| Lockport | Lockport | |
| Lois | Wilton | |
| Long John | ||
| Lorenzo | Wilmington | |
| Lunenberg | ||
| Manhattan | Manhattan | |
| Manningdale | Joliet | |
| Marble Falls | Joliet | |
| Marley | New Lenox | |
| Martins Landing | Partly in DuPage & Lockport | |
| Mather | Wilmington | |
| McGlashens | Frankfort | |
| McKee’s Town | Now part of Joliet | Joliet |
| Michigan Beach | Part of Joliet | Joliet |
| Millboro | Now part of Joliet | Joliet |
| Millsdale | Channahon | |
| Mokena | Frankfort | |
| Momence | ||
| Monee | Monee | |
| Monee Twp1 | Monee | |
| Nabenekanong | Same as Twelve Mile Grove | |
| New Lenox | New Lenox | |
| Normantown | Plainfield RFD | Wheatland |
| Nortonville | ||
| Oak Hill | Now part of Joliet | Joliet |
| Palmyra | Deacon Brandon’s dream, in Section 20 – only a memory and vacated plat in the records [Source: Juliet and Joliet, 1904] | Joliet? |
| Parkside | Now part of Joliet | Joliet |
| Peotone | Peotone | |
| Peotone Twp1 | Peotone | |
| Pierce | Changed to Wilton Center on Dec. 3, 1875 | Wilton |
| Plainfield | Plainfield | |
| Plaines | Joliet | |
| Polk | Washington | |
| Prairie Creek | Wilmington | |
| Pritchie | Wesley | |
| Puckerville | Same as Gooding’s Grove | Homer |
| Quality Hill | Now part of Crete | Crete |
| Rairdon’s | Now part of Romeoville | Dupage |
| Raynor Park | Now part of Joliet | Joliet |
| Reed’s Grove | Named for Charles Reed Family; Changed to Jackson Creek on May 23, 1844 | Jackson, Sec 31 |
| Resthaven | Wesley | |
| Ridgewood | Now part of Joliet | Joliet |
| Ritchie/Ritchey | Named for early postmaster, John and Benjamin Ritchey | Wesley |
| Rockdale | Joliet | |
| Rock Run Park | Troy | |
| Romeo/Romeoville | Dupage | |
| Runyon’s Town | Settled by Armstead Runyon about 1830 near Lockport | |
| Selfridgeville | named for Lorenzo and Horatio Selfridge | |
| Sherbourne | ||
| Shermanville | was a quarry town where the sandstone was quarried just after the Chicago fire to build the Sherman House. The dump is overgrown with large trees, and only traces of the stone saw mill can be found. [Source: Juliet and Joliet, 1904] | Channahon |
| Shorewood | Name changed from Troy | Troy |
| Sigel | ||
| South Lockport | Lockport | |
| Spencer | Village established in 1856 | New Lenox |
| Starr’s Grove1 | ||
| Steele | New Lenox | |
| Steger | Crete | |
| Stern Park | See Lidice | Lockport |
| Stuenkels | Monee | |
| Summit | Frankfort | |
| Swifton1/Snifton | Changed to Channahon1 | Channahon |
| Symerton | Florence | |
| Tamarack | Wheatland | |
| Thorn Creek | Early settlement in Crete area | |
| Thornton | Now Green Garden | |
| Tokio | Wheatland | |
| Torino | Was a coal mining town | Reed |
| Tracy | Changed to New Lenox in 1863 | New Lenox |
| Treat’s Island | Settled by Seymour Treat | Channahon |
| Trenton | Early name for Green Garden | |
| Trim Creek | ||
| Troutman’s Grove | Settled in 1831-32 by Joseph McCune & John Troutman | Channahon |
| Troy | Troy | |
| Troye | Troy | |
| Twelve Mile Grove1 | Now Wilton Center; also Na-be-ne-ka-nong | |
| Union | On border of New Lenox | Joliet |
| University Park | Monee | |
| Van Horne’s Point | Named for C. C. Van Horne | New Lenox |
| Vermont Settlement | Named by settlers arriving from their home state of Vermont in 1843 | Wheatland |
| Vienna | Platted and recorded in September 1835 by Dr Isaiah M Treat in Section Two. [Source: Juliet and Joliet, 1904] | Channahon |
| Walker | Now known as Plainfield and was settled in 1829; named for the Rev. Jesse Walker | Plainfield |
| Wallingford | Wilton | |
| Warner’s Landing | Wesley | |
| Washington Center | Washington | |
| Washington Twp1 | Washington | |
| Welco Corners | Dupage | |
| Will Twp1 | Will | |
| Wilmington | Was Winchester1 | Wilmington |
| Wilton | Wilton | |
| Wilton Center | Was Pierce | Wilton |
| Winchester | Now Wilmington | Wilmington |
| Wolf’s Crossing | Named for postmaster Leonard Wolf | |
| Wood’s Corners | Now Crete | Crete |
| Yankee Settlement | Included Homer, northern part of New Lenox, and eastern part of Lockport | |
| Yellow Head Grove | Was in Will Co before Kankakee County was established in June 11, 1856 | |
| Young Hickory | New Lenox | |
| Zarley’s | Named for pioneer Zarley | Joliet |
Information obtained from the following:
- 1 – “History of Will County” by Wm. LeBaron, Jr & Co., 1878
- “Forty Years Ago” by Geo. Woodruff, 1874
- “The Braidwood Story” by Modesto (M.J.) Donna
- “Will County Places Old and New” Will County Historical Society by Rose Bucciferro
Enjoyed reading. Children should know about local history as well as world events.