Template:Wp-Kankakee County, Illinois-History

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Starting in the 1770s, if not earlier, the area that is now Kankakee County was largely populated by the Pottawatami.

French Canadian Settlers came to Kankakee County in 1834, after the federal government signed the Treaty of Camp Tippecanoe in 1832. They were soon joined by migrants from New York and Vermont, mostly locating in Momence, Illinois. In the 1840s, most of the migrants were French Canadians or Metis and they settled in such places as Bourbonnais.

An act of the Illinois Legislature created Kankakee County out of the north part of Iroquois County and the south part of Will County in February 1853. The six original townships were Yellowhead, Rockville, Bourbonnais, Momence, Aroma Park, and Limestone. The population of the new county was about 8,000. In 1855 the two western townships (Norton and Essex) were taken from Vermilion County and added to Kankakee County. The county was named for the Kankakee River.