Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Aroma Park
The town is named after James L. Romer, a close friend of Slocum and Alvin Wilbur, who laid out the village of Waldron in 1852.
Mayor: Duane "Dewey" Dykstra, 815-937-1212.
Meetings: The village board meets the second Tuesday of each month at 6:30 p.m., at the village hall, 2200 S. Lowe Road.
Estimated population: 850.
Bonfield
The land where Bonfield presently lies was separated from Limestone in 1854 and was named Salina, which means a salty, marsh like area. Twenty-eight years later, John and Samuel Verkler formed the village of Verkler. Attorney and local resident Thomas Bonfield played a big role in the construction of a railroad in Salina Township, and eventually the village of Verkler was renamed the village of Bonfield.
Mayor: Danny Green, 815-939-7514
Meetings: Second Thursday of each month at the village hall, 173 W. Smith Ave.
Estimate population: 421.
Bourbonnais
The village is believed to have gotten its name from Bourbonnais Grove, named after Francois Bourbonnais and his family, whose ancestry in the area may go back as far as the early 1700s. Bourbonnais lived in the grove between Beckman Park and Davis Creek in about 1829. He might have been part Indian, but he was known for his closeness to the area Indian culture and is said to have left with the tribe for Council Bluffs, Iowa, in 1836.
Mayor: Paul Schore, 815-937-3570.
Meetings: The first and third Mondays of every month at 6 p.m., at the village office, at 700 Main St.
Estimate population: 18,000.
Web site: www.villageofbourbonnais.com
Bradley
The town was named after David Bradley, who brought his Chicago farm implement company to “North Kankakee” in 1895. There was a serious depression at the time, and the city decided to rename the town Bradley City. It was renamed Bradley soon after. Mayor: Bruce Adams, 815-932-2125
Meetings: The second and fourth Mondays of each month at 6:30 p.m., at the council chambers of village hall, 147 S. Michigan Ave.
Estimate population: 14,524.
Buckingham
Mayor: Ray Cummins, 815-426-2484
Meetings: The first Monday of each month at 7 p.m., at the village hall, 100 W. Maple St.
Estimate population: 350.
Cabery
Mayor: Ronald Shank, 815-949-1688
Meetings: The first Tuesday of the month at village hall on South Ames.
Estimate population: 321.
Chebanse
Local historians agree the word Chebanse is Potawatomi for “Little Duck,” as the town’s sign also argues. But the Illinois Central Railroad actually named the town Chebanse, after Congress decided Illinois needed a railroad running the full length of the state. Up until the railroad construction began, the forerunner of Chebanse was actually located near Sugar Island, on the Iroquois River about four miles east of town. In or about 1846, one Messr. Ostrander built his sawmill and dam at Sugar Island and a blacksmith, a log house school that served about 15 pupils and German cabinetmaker Albert Burmeister soon followed. The town is recognized as being officially founded after it got its post office in 1854.
Mayor: Elden Dubuque, 815-697-2214
Meetings: The first and third Mondays of the month at village hall, 275 S. Oak St.
Estimate population: 1,180.
Essex
Mayor: Gerald Hakey, 815-365-2813
Meetings: The village board meets the first Thursday of the month, at 7:30 p.m., at the village hall on main street.
Estimate population: 600.
Grant Park
Mayor: Fred Meyer Jr., 815-465-6531
Meetings: The first and third Mondays of the month at 7:30 p.m., at the village hall, located at 106 W. Taylor St.
Estimate population: 1,540.
Herscher
Herscher was named after John Herscher and was laid out as a town by a railroad company.
Mayor: Ray Schneider, 815-426-2131
Meetings: The village board meets the fourth Monday of the month at 7:00 p.m., at the village hall, 272 E. Second St.
Estimate population: 1,600.
Hopkins Park
Mayor: Samuel Payton, 815-944-8625
Meetings: The first and third Tuesdays of the month at 6:00 p.m., at the village hall, 13080 E. Central Street, Pembroke Township.
Estimate population: 1,500.
Irwin
Mayor: Bryan Pinto, 815-933-7435.
Meetings: The first Monday of the month, at 7 p.m., at Triangle Diesel Office - 4529 Triangle Ct. in Kankakee.
Estimate population: 92
Kankakee
The city began as Kankakee Depot and was then named Bourbonnais before eventually being named Kankakee City in 1865 and soon after being referred to as just “Kankakee.” It was almost named Winnemac after and old Indian chief by fur trader Noel LaVasseur and George S. Hubbard in 1865, but Kankakee prevailed. The name “Kankakee” is Potawatomi for “swampy country” after the marshy areas of the shores of the river.
Mayor: Nina Epstein, 815-933-0500
Meetings: The first and third Mondays at 7 p.m., at the City Hall, 304 S. Indiana, Kankakee.
Web site: http://www.citykankakee-il.gov/
Estimate population: 27,491.
Limestone
Limestone voted to become a village in November of 2006.
Mayor: Sandy Girard, 815-773-4000
Meetings: The fourth Thursday of every month, at 7 p.m., at the Limestone Township building, 5030 W. Rt. 17, they will be relocating to a new facility soon.
Manteno
Manteno is named after the granddaughter of Francois Bourbonnais Sr., whose name is Maw-Te-No. The land was granted to local members of the Pottawatomi tribe by the Treaty of Tippecanoe in 1838.
Mayor: Tim Nugent, 815-929-4800
Meetings: The first and third Mondays of the month at 7 p.m., at the Leo Hassett Community Center, 211 N. Main St. Manteno.
Estimate population: 8,146.
Momence
The Lower Crossing of Hubbard Trail was Momence’s original name. The area was land granted to Indian Je-neir, her husband Moness Momence and his two brothers and was eventually named after Momence.
Mayor: Mickey Porter, 815-472-2001.
Meetings: The first and third Mondays of the month at 7:30 p.m., at the old city hall located at 123 W. River St.
Estimate population: 3,200.
Reddick
Mayor: Bill O’Brien, 815-365-4035
Meetings: The third Tuesday of the month at the village hall on Wabash.
Estimate population: 219.
Sammons Point
Mike Watson, 815-932-6750
St. Anne
Established in 1853 by French Canadians, the town was named for the mother of the Virgin Mary.
Mayor: David O'Connell, 815-427-6783
Meetings: The second Monday of the month at 7:30 p.m., at the village hall, 190 W. Station Street.
Web site: www.villageofstanne.com
Estimate population: 1,265.
Sun River Terrace
Mayor: Ralph Bailey, 815-937-1200
Meetings: The fourth Monday of the month at 6 p.m., at the village hall, 7267 E. Chicago Street.
Estimate population: 1,265.
Union Hill
Mayor: Hugh VanVoorst, 815-426-2544
Estimate population: 75.