Wheatland Township, Will County, Illinois
| Wheatland Township | |
|---|---|
| Township | |
 Location in Will County |
|
| Country | United States |
| State | Illinois |
| County | Will |
| Established | November 6, 1849 |
| Area | |
| • Total | 35.82 sq mi (92.8 km2) |
| • Land | 35.49 sq mi (91.9 km2) |
| • Water | 0.33 sq mi (0.9 km2) 0.92% |
| Population (2010) | |
| • Total | 81,472 |
| • Density | 2,295.9/sq mi (886.5/km2) |
| Time zone | CST (UTC-6) |
| • Summer (DST) | CDT (UTC-5) |
Wheatland Township is located in Will County, Illinois. As of the 2010 census, its population was 81,472 and it contained 25,075 housing units.
As of 2008, Wheatland Township had over 27,000 parcels located within its boundaries. It ranked third in Will County for land parcels and the highest in EAV (Equalized Assessed Value).
It covers parts of Aurora, Bolingbrook, Plainfield, and Naperville (where the Wheatland Township Administrative Offices are located).
Most of Wheatland Township was still owned by a Native American tribe, the Potawatomi, until 1833. The Treaty of Chicago obtained this land and officially made it available for settlement. Growth was slow during the 1830s due to a lack of significant wooded lands. Farmers depended on wood for building and a source of fuel. They also believed if the land could not grow trees than it would not be beneficial for farming.
Wheatland Township was surveyed between 1837-1839 and opened up for sale in 1841. The earliest settlers in this area were predominantly Scottish and English immigrants. Early farming families included: Stewart (1832), Colegrove (1839), Brockway (pre 1842), Boardman (1830–32), Boughton (pre 1842), Foster (1837), Wightman (1838), Mather (Pre 19842), Davis (1843), Findlay (1844) Stewart (1850), McLaren (1848) McMicken (1842), Gilmour (1852), King (1852) Royce (1832), Brown (1862), Kinley (1843), Clow (1844), Catchpole (1844), Cotton (1843), Patterson(1844). Other pre-1850 arrivals include Birkett, Varley, Lantz, Fry, Rathbun, Dundore, Mussey among many others. Many of these families are buried in either the Wheatland Presbyterian Church Cemetery or the Wheatland Township Cemetery where their origin of birth can be seen on the historic tombstones *[1]. Nearby and bordering Townships were populated by German and Swedish families bonded by their respective cultural heritages.
As adjacent townships grew, small settlements developed around rural crossroads, schools, churches and post offices. These centers offered goods and services and were determined by the distance the area farmers could complete a round trip in one-half day’s time. Vermont Settlement, in the northwest corner of the township in sections 5-8, was the first settlement; established circa 1843 with the arrival of the Davis, Blanchard and Rice families of Vermont. Later arrivals to the settlement included the Kinley, Leppert, Piedlau and Schoger families. Tamarack crossroads was named in 1852 upon the arrival of Thomas Burnet who brought with him 4 tamarack trees from Detroit Michigan that were planted roughly a quarter mile apart along 127th Street (originally Chaplins' Road). The crossroads included a post office that was in operation from 1858-1902, a general store offering hardware supplies and watch repair, a blacksmiths shop run by William Nairn, and a school (Tamarack School District 34) which opened in the fall of 1866 and disbanded during the Wheatland School District consolidations. Later crossroads were created along the Joliet, Elgin and Eastern Railroad. Normantown (1886-1903) and Wolfs Crossing (in Oswego Township, Kendall County 1890-1900) provided markets for farmers to weigh, sell and ship their produce. Other centers included East Wheatland Post Office originally on the Frank Boardman farm, Hoddam Post Office on the William Patterson farm, and the Tokio Post Office on the John Clow farm.
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