Will Township, Will County, Illinois
| Will Township | |
|---|---|
| Township | |
 Location in Will County |
|
| Country | United States |
| State | Illinois |
| County | Will |
| Established | 1859 |
| Government | |
| • Supervisor | Brian Cann |
| Area | |
| • Total | 36.22 sq mi (93.8 km2) |
| • Land | 36.2 sq mi (94 km2) |
| • Water | 0.01 sq mi (0.03 km2) 0.03% |
| Population (2010) | |
| • Estimate (2016) | 1,809 |
| • Density | 50.3/sq mi (19.4/km2) |
| Time zone | CST (UTC-6) |
| • Summer (DST) | CDT (UTC-5) |
| FIPS code | 17-197-81711 |
Will Township is located in Will County, Illinois. As of the 2010 census, its population was 1,821 and it contained 700 housing units. Will Township was formed from the former township of Carey, which included modern day Monee Township and Will Township, in January 1859.
Will Township offices and road district headquarters are located on the southeast corner of Beecher-Peotone Road and Will Center Road. A former one room schoolhouse makes up part of the Will Township Hall. The road district garage sits on the same property just south of the Township Hall. A yard for storage of gravel, equipment and unused material is a few hundred feet south of the road district garage but its separated by another parcel of land owned by a private party. The polling place for Will Township residents is the Peotone Library, located within the village of Peotone.
Very gently rolling farmland makes up the majority of Will Township. Since the area was settled agriculture has been the main industry in Will Township. The fertile soil has allowed many generations of families to make a living from the land. Corn, soybean, hay, and wheat fields make up the farm landscape. A few dairy farms and beef farms still operate in Will Township. According to the 2010 census, the township has a total area of 36.22 square miles (93.8 km2), of which 36.2 square miles (94 km2) (or 99.94%) is land and 0.01 square miles (0.026 km2) (or 0.03%) is water.
Black Walnut Creek, Rock Creek, and the Exline Slough are the main bodies of water that run through Will Township. These creeks provide drainage for the farmland.
The Township of Will did not have a single tree in its entire 36 square miles (93 km2) when settlers began arriving in Will County. For this reason Will Township was settled later than some of the surrounding townships that provided timber.
The first settler was John McKenzie, a Scotchman, in 1852. He moved to Missouri a few years later. Crete native John M. Gridley descended upon the township in 1853 and erected the second cabin there. He had tried living several places in Will County, but after 13 years of searching he found a place which he was fond of. He would go down as one of the most prominent men the township ever had. At the organization of Will Township in 1859, Gridley was elected one of the highway commissioners. He remained in Will Township until his death in 1904.
By the time the township was formed in 1859 many good men had become residents. Soon after the townships formation it was divided into three school districts. By the mid 1860s, the township would be dotted with school houses that would provide for the upbringing and education of the townships children.
After 1860 the township filled up rapidly and little unoccupied land was to be found anywhere in its boundaries. The Will County Plat Atlas, 1862 shows some of the land in Will Township was still owned by the Illinois Central Railroad. It has been reported that the railroad sold land east of Peotone, to early settlers, for $2.50 to $5.00 per acre. Not all sections of the township were owned by the railroad. Early settlers acquired some of the land from the federal government via the Homestead Act. The fertile soil of Will Township would serve its farming inhabitants for generations to come.
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