Kendall County, Illinois

Infobox U.S. County
county = Kendall County
state = Illinois


seallink =


map size = 150
founded = 1841
seat = Yorkville
largest city =
area_total_sq_mi = 323
area_total_km2 = 246
area_land_sq_mi = 321
area_land_km2 = 830
area_water_sq_mi = 2
area_water_km2 = 5
area percentage = 0.65%
census yr = 2000
pop = 54544
density_sq_mi = 170
density_km2 = 66
time zone = 1 hor late
UTC offset = -6
DST offset= -5.39
footnotes = none
web = www.co.kendall.il.us|

Kendall County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. As of 2000, the population was 54,544. According to Census Bureau statistics released in March 2008, Kendall County's estimated population of 96,818 in 2007 made it the fastest growing county in the United States (among counties with a population of 10,000 or greater) between the years 2000 and 2007 [ [http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=157223 Daily Herald | Kendall County is fastest growing in the nation ] ] , as well as the county experiencing the second greatest job growth during the same period. [ [http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2008/moneymag/0807/gallery.bplive_jobgrowth.moneymag/2.html Best for job growth - Kendall County, IL (2) - Money Magazine ] ]

. Its county seat is Yorkville, IllinoisGR|6. This county is part of the Chicago metropolitan area.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 323 square miles (836 km²), of which, 321 square miles (830 km²) of it is land and 2 square miles (5 km²) of it (0.65%) is water.Kendall County is a small, but rapidly growing county that has the majority of its population in the north and east, and along the Fox River (the only river in the county) which runs through the northwestern section of the county. Many new subdivisions have been constructed in this county, which has produced considerable population growth. Southern Kendall still remains largely agricultural. Kendall County has two primary ranges of low-lying hills formed by what is known as an end moraine. Ransom, the more predominant of the two moraines, runs through the west and north-central part of the county. This moraine has created elevations of over convert|800|ft|m, in contrast to elevations in southern Kendall County that drop to the lower convert|500|ft|m range. Minooka, the other major end moraine ridge in Kendall County, runs along its entire eastern border with Will County. The two moraines intersect at almost a right angle in the township of Oswego. The only designated state park in the county is Silver Springs State Park.

Townships

Big Grove, Bristol, Fox, Kendall, Lisbon, Little Rock, Na-Au-Say, Oswego, Seward

Adjacent counties

*Kane County - north
*DuPage County - northeast
*Will County - east
*Grundy County - south
*LaSalle County - west
*DeKalb County - northwest

History

Kendall County was formed in 1841 out of LaSalle and Kane Counties.

The county is named after Amos Kendall. Kendall was the editor of the Frankfort, Kentucky newspaper, and went on to be an important advisor to President Andrew Jackson. Kendall became the U.S. Postmaster General in 1835.

Government

Elected Officials

(As of February 2007) County Board members run in two districts. All other officers run county-wide:
* County Board Members: Robert E. Davidson, Kay Hatcher, John P. Purcell, Nancy Martin, Bill Wykes, John A. Church, Jessie Hafenrichter, Pam Parr, Anne Vickery, Jeff Wehrli
* Becky Morganegg - Clerk of the Circuit Court
* Ken Toftoy - Coroner
* Paul Anderson - County Clerk/Recorder
* Richard Randall - Sheriff
* Eric Weis - State's Attorney
* Jill Ferko - Treasurer

chool Districts

*Lisbon Community Consolidated School District 90
*Newark Community Consolidated School District 66
*Newark Community High School District 18
*Oswego Community Unit School District 308
*Plano Community Unit School District 88
*Yorkville Community Unit School District 115
*School District #101
*School District #201
*School District #202
*School District #429
*School District #430

The northern half of the county is in Community College District 516 and is served by Waubonsee Community College in Sugar Grove and Aurora. The southern half is in Community College District 525 and is served by Joliet Junior College in Joliet. [http://www.illinoisatlas.com/illinois/education/pdf/il_cc_2002.pdf retrieved 2007-02-13]

Demographics

As of the censusGR|2 of 2000, there were 54,544 people, 18,798 households, and 14,963 families residing in the county. The population density was 170 people per square mile (66/km²). There were 19,519 housing units at an average density of 61 per square mile (24/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 92.88% White, 1.32% Black or African American, 0.19% Native American, 0.88% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 3.38% from other races, and 1.34% from two or more races. 7.49% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 27.2% were of German, 12.5% Irish, 7.4% English, 5.9% Polish, 5.8% Norwegian, 5.1% American and 5.0% Italian ancestry according to Census 2000. 91.6% spoke English and 6.5% Spanish as their first language.

There were 18,798 households out of which 41.70% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 68.80% were married couples living together, 7.50% had a female householder with no husband present, and 20.40% were non-families. 16.40% of all households were made up of individuals and 6.10% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.89 and the average family size was 3.27.

In the county the population was spread out with 29.50% under the age of 18, 7.50% from 18 to 24, 32.40% from 25 to 44, 22.10% from 45 to 64, and 8.50% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 98.70 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.90 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $64,625, and the median income for a family was $69,383. Males had a median income of $50,268 versus $30,415 for females. The per capita income for the county was $25,188. About 2.00% of families and 3.00% of the population were below the poverty line, including 3.50% of those under age 18 and 4.50% of those age 65 or over.

Townships

The county is an convert|18|mi|km|sing=on square which is divided up into 9 townships. Each township is divided into 36 1 mile square sections, except that the Fox River is used as a Township border, resulting in Bristol being the smallest township with the extra area being assigned to Oswego and Kendall Townships. There are also two exceptions to the section grid to reflect Indian land grants under the Treaty of Prairie du Chien in 1829: the Mo-Ah-Way Reservation in Oswego Township and the Waish-Kee-shaw Reservation in Na-Au-Say Township. These areas were eventually sold to European settlers. [ [http://www.rootsweb.com/~ilkendal/PlaceNames/KCPlaceNames.htm Place Names & Geological Features of Kendall County ] ]
*Big Grove Township
*Bristol Township
*Fox Township
*Kendall Township
*Lisbon Township
*Little Rock Township
*Na-au-say Township
*Oswego Township
*Seward Township

Cities and towns

*Aurora - partly in DuPage, Kane and Will County
*Boulder Hill - census designated place
*Joliet - primarily in Will County
*Lisbon
*Millbrook
*Millington
*Minooka - partly in Grundy and Will Counties
*Montgomery - partly in Kane County
*Newark
*Oswego
*Plainfield - primarily in Will County
*Plano
*Plattville
*Yorkville

External links

* [http://www.co.kendall.il.us/ Official website]
* [http://www.ProtectKendallNow.org/ ProtectKendallNow.org] a response to the population boom, to protect the nature
* [http://www.ourkendallcounty.com Our Kendall County] a community-driven site encompassing life in Kendall County

References

Specific references:

General references:
*cite book
first = Richard L. (editor)
last = Forstall
year = 1996
title = Population of states and counties of the United States: 1790 to 1990 : from the twenty-one decennial censuses
publisher = United States Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Population Division
id = ISBN 0-934213-48-8