Helmar is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

Kendall County, Illinois Kendall County is a county in the U.S. state of Illinois, within the Chicago metropolitan area. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 131,869. Its county seat is Yorkville, and its most populous municipality is Oswego. Kendal ...

. The community is located near

Newark Newark most commonly refers to: * Newark, New Jersey, city in the United States * Newark Liberty International Airport, New Jersey; a major air hub in the New York metropolitan area Newark may also refer to: Places Canada * Niagara-on-the ...

and Plattville and is between Illinois State Routes 71 and 47.

History

The community grew around the

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...

church, then known as the North Prairie Lutheran Church, due to it being northward of

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

's church. Due to the church's name, the community as a whole was referred to as North Prairie. In 1894, the residents of North Prairie sought to establish a post office to serve the community. They needed to create a new name for the community, as North Prairie was already in use. They decided to name it Helmar, the

anglicized Anglicisation is the process by which a place or person becomes influenced by English culture or British culture, or a process of cultural and/or linguistic change in which something non-English becomes English. It can also refer to the influen ...

form of Hjalmar, the

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion#Europe, subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, ...

n name of early settler Andrew Anderson. The post office remained in use until 1912. Like many of the communities in the surrounding area, Norwegians made up a majority of the population of the community. Even today, these influences are represented within Helmar.

References

{{authority control Unincorporated communities in Kendall County, Illinois Unincorporated communities in Illinois