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Kankakee County Official Visitor’s Guide DiscoverKankakee County iscover Kankakee County... Dand Experience A Peaceful Destination Kankakee Country Club Golf Course Kankakee River Memorial Park, Bourbonnais 2 able of contents Welcome....................................................4 T History......................................................5 Kankakee County Facts .......................7 Visitor Information .............................9 Things to See Agri-Tourism..........................................11 Historical Places ..................................12 Architecture..........................................15 Things to Do Adventure Activities/Nature .................17 Arts & Entertainment............................21 Cinemas ..................................................21 Golf Courses .........................................22 Parks......................................................23 Spectator Sports and Other Activities.....................................28 Major Events & Festivals......................30 Kankakee County Map ........................32 Kankakee’s Gallery of Photos .......34 Places to Stay Bed & Breakfast ....................................37 Kankakee River Hotels ....................................................37 State Park Campgrounds .........................................38 Meeting & Banquet Facilities Hotels ....................................................40 Banquet & Catering Facilities...............44 Places to Dine Restaurants...........................................46 Places to Shop Shopping Districts ................................55 Antique Shops........................................55 Book Stores...........................................56 Children Stores ....................................56 Outdoor Outfitter.................................57 Products and Outlets............................57 Transportation Needs.......................58 Convention Services..........................59 3 WELCOME he Kankakee River Valley describes itself as easy Tto find, but hard to leave. Kankakee county offers ample opportunities for those interested in history and art, for antique buffs, and families with youngsters, for anglers and winter-sports enthusiasts— all at affordable prices. Kankakee County is located just 45 miles south of Chicago off of Interstate 57, Routes 45/52, 50, and 17 also run through the beautiful Kankakee county area. O’Hare International Airport is only 75 miles and Midway Airport 50 miles north of the Kankakee area. The Greater Kankakee airport is also available for personal aircraft landing space. Please refer to our website for updates and additional information. www.visitkankakeecounty.com Kankakee County Convention & Visitors Bureau 4 HISTORY Kankakee County History Looking Back Into Time The Kankakee River Valley is known for both the splendor and tranquil beauty of the Historic Kankakee River. Winding its way through Kankakee County, it passes through many of our small and large communities. This section provides both historical and current informa- tion about the Kankakee River and also provides historical and current information about many of the towns, cities and key people who have played a part in the historical past of Kankakee County. History and Heritage...The Kankakee River The Kankakee River runs 57 miles through Kankakee County and is one of our most precious resources. Water Sports, excellent fishing and a beautiful State Park are available for all to enjoy. But, there is a special history about why the Kankakee River played such an important part of our heritage and what Kankakee County is today. The Potawatomi Indians lived in the area once thought to be the upper Illinois River. They referred to the area as “Theatiki”. Through variations in the pronunciation of Theatiki, Kankakee evolved. Some of the meanings of Theatiki are Wolf, Swampy Place, and Wonderful Land. The Kankakee River Valley’s beautiful land and rich natural resources are a result of debris and minerals left by three massive glaciers that came down from Canada thousands of years ago. Thus, accounting for the beautiful area that tourists, re-locators, and community members now enjoy. Theatiki 2003 5 HISTORY African American Heritage “An African American Rodeo,” a neglected area of African American history and culture, remains a mystery to many American Children and adults—African Americans in the American West. In the building of the American West, many roles were played by African American men and women. Thyrl Latting Rodeo Spectacular performs each Memorial Day weekend in Pembroke, IL, a historical African American Community located in Kankakee County. The Marcus Garvey Festival takes place the second weekend of August, and the township celebrates Pembroke Days during the final weekend in August with parades, entertainment and Gospel, Jazz and Blues Concerts. The settlement named Pembroke is not shown in the 1883 Kankakee Atlas, although people were living in the area before the Civil War. African Americans, the Tetter and Morgan families, from Maryland and Virginia settled near Pembroke in the 1850s Today, the area once incorporated as the village of “Pembroke” is within the new village of Hopkins Park. Sun River Terrace Sun River Terrace, located on the Kankakee River, is a relatively new community. It is north of Route 17, six miles north of St. Anne, and six miles West of Momence. Sun River Terrace was incorporated in 1980 through the efforts of Casey Wade, Jr. and Henry Nicholes, Sr. Each year Sun River Terrace hosts the Village Festival and a commu- nity Fall Banquet. In 1948, after a boxing match with Jersey Joe Walcott, Joe Lewis and the National Boxing Association established his training camps at the Sunset Hills Golf Club in Sun River Terrace. The place where Joe Lewis resided during his camp days still stands as a valuable landmark. Photo courtesy of Kathleen L. Sims African American Rodeo 6 Facts A Few Facts About Kankakee County ❖ Kankakee County was considered the perfect place to live by the Pottawatomi Indians long before the ever-increasing westward migration of the white settlers. For here was a rolling landscape with a beautiful river thickly bordered with groves of oak, hickory, maple, cedar and black walnut. With the land in places sloping gently to the water’s edge and in others rising in sheer limestone bluffs many feet above the river, and the abun- dant wildlife that inhabited the area, no more beautiful or varied scenery could be found in the Middle West than in Kankakee County. ❖ Settlers came to Kankakee County in 1834, after the federal govern- ment signed the Treaty of Camp Tippecanoe in 1832. As word spread about the government acquiring the land, many immigrants from New York and Vermont moved their way west, mostly locating in Momence, IL. An act of the Illinois Legislature created Kankakee County out of the north part of Iroquois County and the south part of Will County on February 11, 1853. The six original townships were Yellowhead, Rockville, Bourbonnais, Momence, Aroma and Limestone. The population of the new county was about 8,000. It wasn’t until 1855 that the two western townships of Norton and Essex were taken from Vermilion County and added to Kankakee County. ❖ In the mid 1800s, David Bradley started the Bradley Plow Works, later called the Bradley Factory. He manufactured farm implements and is known for the Bradley Plan. During the early 1900s, Bradley built a home designed by the famous architect Frank Lloyd Wright. In 1891, North Kankakee was incorporated and named Bradley. ❖ The City of Kankakee grew in the shadow of Bourbonnais, a French settlement nearby. Kankakee became the eventual seat of government for Kankakee County and in 1855 became the site of a depot on the Illinois Central Railroad. By 1900 its population had grown to about 13,500. Kankakee County’s population is currently 105,290 and growing. 7 Facts ❖ Three Illinois governors (Len Small, Samuel Shapiro and George Ryan) are from Kankakee. ❖ The Kankakee River runs 57 miles through Kankakee County and is a clean river, great for landing small mouth bass, channel catfish, walleye and northern pike. Twelve boat launches, eight campgrounds, and 18 riverfront parks are only a small part of the fun on the Kankakee River. The Creation of Dairy Queen “Sherb’s” was the name of a small ice cream store that opened on South West Avenue in Kankakee, Illinois, August 4, 1938. A sign appeared in the window that read “All you can eat for 10¢!” This was an extraordinary offer during this country’s Great Depression. The proprietor of the store, thirty-year-old Sherwood Dick “Sherb” Noble, a native of Clemens, Iowa, had been associated with dairy products from his teenage years. What his customers were offered that day in Kankakee for 10¢ was a new semi-frozen, “soft- serve” dairy product formulated by a recent acquaintance and new business partner, J. F. McCullough. At the end of the day, little did any of Sherb’s customers know they had made history. Their enthusiastic acceptance of McCullough’s soft-serve dairy “dessert” (1,600 were purchased) would launch a multi-million dollar business. Sherb soon opened the first store named Dairy Queen (a name suggested by McCullough) in Joliet, Illinois. In time Dairy Queen became internationally known and more than 5,000 restaurants would open in the United States, Canada and 14 other countries. The Dairy Queen companies and franchises recognized Sherb Noble as the “original Dairy Queen operator.” Sherb remained