Kankakee, Illinois

City: Kankakee

County: Kankakee

State: Illinois

Lat/Long: 41.1167, -87.8500

Kankakee, Illinois is a city and the county seat of Kankakee County, Illinois. Located in northeastern Illinois on the Kankakee River, fifty miles southwest of Chicago and thirty-two miles south-southeast of Joliet, Kankakee was originally home to the Potawatomi Nation. In June 1853, settlers platted a village on the route of the Illinois Central Railroad. Platted as Bourbonnais, the village became known as Kankakee Depot, matching the name assigned by the U.S. Post Office Department when establishing a post office in October 1853. In February 1855, the Illinois General Assembly incorporated the village as a town, changing the name to Kankakee City. The General Assembly incorporated Kankakee as a city in February 1865.

Newton Bateman and Paul Selby, eds., Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois and History of Kankakee County, ed. by William F. Kenaga and George R. Letourneau (Chicago: Middle West, 1906), 2:763-64; Webster’s New Geographical Dictionary (Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster, 1988), 586; James N. Adams, comp., Illinois Place Names (Springfield: Illinois State Historical Society, 1989), 406; Frank R. Abate, ed., American Places Dictionary (Detroit: Omnigraphics, 1994), 3:74; “An Act to Change the Name of Kankakee Depot and Bourbonnais, as Applied to the County Seat of Kankakee County, to Kankakee City, and to Incorporate Said Town,” 15 February 1855, Private Laws of Illinois (1855), 211-20; “An Act to Establish the City of Kankakee,” 16 February 1865, Private Laws of Illinois (1865), 1:393-427.