Boone County History
When Mr. Whitney first arrived on the banks of the Kishwaukee River in 1835, he was so enraptured with the beauty of the landscape that in his enthusiasm he named the place “Elysian Fields.” Later, when a Mr. Peck arrived and took over the claims of Dunham and Metcalf, the name was changed to Belvidere, which means “beautiful to view.” The census of 1835 shows 37 men, women and children as residents.
The original town was laid out on the north side of the river, with the usual town square upon which the county courthouse was built. Situated on the banks of the Kishwaukee River, the small village of Belvidere had several lumber mills, a hotel, blacksmith, many homes, retail stores and a church. With the advent of rail travel in 1852, the town and surrounding areas quickly began to prosper. By 1858, there were 2,500 inhabitants in Belvidere. The community was served by more than a dozen sawmills, three flour mills, four banks, 40 stores, five hotels, two public schools and a few private academies. However, when the railroad located on the south side of the river in 1851, the business section gradually moved south to what is the current location of the “downtown” district today. Jump forward to 2005 and we see the City of Belvidere with approximately 26,000 men, women and children per special census.
In 1836, Boone County, Illinois, having been named for Daniel Boone, was organized from Winnebago County. In 1836, township lines were established for Belvidere, Bonus, Boone, Caledonia, Flora, Leroy, Manchester and Spring. The “Four Corners” at Poplar Grove Road and Hwy 173 were settled in the late 1830s and early ‘40s when the settlement stretched southward, resulting in the village being half in Caledonia Township and half in Boone Township. This division continued many years until the eastern 1/3 of Caledonia and the western 1/3 of Boone were combined to form the political Township of Poplar Grove.
The Village of Poplar Grove was platted on October 20, 1859 by Evi Sherman, Sr. He laid out the town a half-mile south of the corners and named it Shermantown. In 1861, when the railroad built a depot, the name changed to Poplar Grove because of a grove of poplar trees nearby. The only original business building still standing today is the old hotel just north of the Long Prairie Trail (old RR tracks). W.S. Woodward built the hotel about 1856. A large dormitory in the hotel was used by the railroad company to house their employees when the railroad traveled through about 1858.
William Taylor entered some of the land in Caledonia Township in 1839. William was entering about 5,000 acres of land for a number of residents from Scotland. When Mr. William passed, the court authorized a commission to convey all the title to Alexander Ferguson, from whom it has come down to a great number of actual settlers. Caledonia Center was platted July 8, 1853. Acreage given by Mr. Cornwell was west of the tracks and included most of the present Village. The name Caledonia was given by Gavin Ralston who gave land later to the west, a name being one of the political names of Scotland.
In the northwestern part of Boone County is the Township of Manchester. At one time covered by two or three glaciers, with hundreds of years of good growing weather in between, evidence of three distinct civilizations had been found in the Kinnikinnik River Valley. With so many changes, farmland was not always as we see it today. Remembered hills have flattened in our own lifetime and neighbors two to three miles away have come into view.
Leroy Township, originally having been named Lambertson by brothers James B. and Jeremiah Lambert, and located in the “Beaver Precinct,” was renamed Leroy shortly after the family left the township. The first permanent settlers were the John Langdon family who built a cabin in the southeast corner of Long Prairie in 1835. Leroy’s first post office was called Amazon and was established in 1839.
The Village of Capron was known as Long Prairie in the 1840s with much of its residents being of Norwegian descent. Postal service was established on September 27, 1860 for Helgisaw (possibly a mile west), but renamed Capron the following year. Capron incorporated in 1873 with 337 residents and N.H. Wooster hailing as the first elected Village Board President. Angling Road was the trail of the Kenosha-Galena stagecoach.
Garden Prairie remains the only village in Bonus Township. The early settlement known as Amesville was located one and one-fourth miles to the west. It was named for William Ames who came to the area in 1836 and began keeping a tavern as soon as his double log cabin was completed. Mr. Ames opened a new tavern in 1838 and a post office was established with William Ames appointed Postmaster.
Having continued to grow and prosper through the years, Boone County currently ranks as one of the fastest growing counties in the state of Illinois. The area’s growth rate has exceeded 15 percent annually since 1990. Today, more than 46,000 people reside in Boone County, a place that has retained its rural atmosphere and hometown charm throughout the years.
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