ILLINOIS STATE ARCHIVES

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Kankakee County

Established
February 11, 1853 (Laws, 1853, p. 159)

Origin of the name of the county
An Indian name given to a river rising in northern Indiana and flowing 225 miles southwest to join the Des Plaines River and form the Illinois River in northeast Illinois. The name of the river was transferred to the county.

Present area, or parts of it, formerly included in
1836–1853 — Will
1833–1853 — Iroquois
1826–1835 — Vermilion
1823–1825 — Edgar
1823–1825 — Fulton
1819–1823 — Clark
1816–1819 — Crawford
1815–1816 — Edwards
1812–1815 — Madison
1801–1812 — St. Clair
1790–1801 — Knox, Northwest Territory

County Seats
1853–   — Kankakee – Name changed from Kankakee Depot in 1855.

History of county governing board
1853–   — County Board of Supervisors

Township Government
Adopted — May 9, 1853

Township Names
Aroma
Bourbonnais — Formerly a township of Will County until Kankakee County was created.
Essex — Attached from Vermilion county (Private Laws, 1855) and organized as town of Essex by County Board on August 1, 1855.
Ganeer — Formed from Momence on February 15, 1859.
Kankakee — Formed from Bourbonnais on March 12, 1855.
Limestone
Manteno — Formed from Rockville on March 12, 1855.
Momence — Formerly a township of Will County until Kankakee County was created.
Norton — Formed from Essex on March 11, 1857.
Otto — Formed as Carthage from Limestone on December 11, 1855; name changed to Otto on March 11, 1857.
Pembroke — Formed from Momence on February 17, 1877.
Pilot — Formed from Salina on March 11, 1857.
Rockville — Formerly a township of Will County until Kankakee County was created.
St. Anne — Formed from Aroma on March 11, 1857.
Salina — Formed from Limestone on April 7, 1854.
Sumner — Formed as Union from Yellow Head on October 8, 1855; name changed to Sumner on June 27, 1856.
Yellow Head

Township Map

Pertinent Databases
Federal Township Plats of Illinois
Illinois Public Domain Land Tract Sales Database
Illinois Statewide Death Index, 1916–1950
Illinois Statewide Marriage Index
Local Governmental Records Database
Name Index to Illinois Local Governments