History of Woodford County, Illinois

Relocation into Woodford County

Public Resources

Municipalities

The first settlers of Woodford County settled at first along the Illinois River at Spring Bay, then among the groves of Walnut Creek and in Metamora. Early settlers of Spring Bay were: Wm. Baylock in 1819, William Blanchard in 1822, William Phillips and George Kingston in 1823, and John Stephenson and Auston Crocker in 1824. The first cabin built in Woodford County was built in the fall of 1822 by a man named Darby on a part of what was known as the old Crocker farm in Spring Bay Township.

Other early settlers were Joseph Dillion, who settled three miles south of the present Eureka Court House near Walnut Creek in 1824 and Charles Moore, Jonathon Baker and Daniel Meek who settled at Walnut Grove at Walnut Creek in 1827.

Next came the settlers to Panther and Crow Creek. Some of the earliest settlers of Woodford County were Amasa Stout and wife who were the first settlers at Panther Grove at Panther Creek in 1828. The McCords, Patricks and Bilbreys settled there before 1831.

In 1832, William Maxwell settled in the eastern part of what now is the village of Washburn near Crow creek and built an inn and entertainment house for travelers on the State Road. He also kept fresh horses for the stage coach.

In 1836, a school district was formed which included an area from Morsetown to Lowpoint and west to Bricktown. It may have been the first free school in the state of Illinois and was paid for out of the public fund in northern Illinois. The school house was built in 1838 near the home of James Owen. Miss Love K. Morse was the first teacher.

James Boys established the first post office three miles north of Hanover (Metamora) in 1836 in a settlement called Black Partridge.

By 1840, the groves along Panther and Crow creeks were fairly settled. Woodford County, Illinois was organized in 1841. It was named after birthplace of an early pioneer, Thomas Bullock - Woodford County, Kentucky. The first county seat was Versailles, Illinois. The county seat was moved to Hanover (now Metamora) in 1843. Eureka, Illinois became the county seat in 1894. Abraham Lincoln was one of the early lawyers who practiced in Versailes and later at Hanover (Metamora), Illinois.

County affairs were conducted by a board of three commissioners until 1850. In 1850, the present township organization plan was adopted and the townships were organized in 1852. The county was divided into 16 townships. Each township was represented by a supervisor who was elected annually. This continued until 1890. In 1890, thesupervisors were divided into two classes and a two-year election term was adopted. This continued until 1930 when the present four-year term was established by a state law that was approved on June 10, 1929.

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Relocation into Woodford County

6.80% of this county's 2006 resident taxpayers lived in other counties in 2005 ($53,113 average adjusted gross uncome)

10 or fewer of this county's residents moved from foreign countries.

5.59% relocated from other counties in Illinois ($41,452 average AGI)

1.21% relocated from other states ($11,661 average AGI)

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Air Transportation in Central Illinois

Central Illinois Regional Airport - Bloomington
Peoria Regional Airport

Commuter Rail

Amtrak - Bloomington

Hospitals

BroMenn Regional Medical Center - Normal
Eureka Hospital - Eureka
Institute of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation - Peoria
Methodist Medical Center of Illinois - Peoria
OSF Saint Francis - Peoria
OSF Saint Joseph - Bloomington
Pekin Hospital - Pekin
Proctor Hospital - Peoria

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Municipalities of Woodford County