Palos Township is one of 29 townships in

Cook County Cook County is the most populous county in the U.S. state of Illinois and the second-most-populous county in the United States, after Los Angeles County, California. More than 40 percent of all residents of Illinois live within Cook County. ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

. As of the 2020 census, its population was 56,836, with its most populous municipality being Palos Hills (pop. 17,484). The vast majority of the township's population resides in its eastern half; the half west of La Grange Road consists of the Palos Forest Preserves, a section of the

Cook County Forest Preserves The Forest Preserve District of Cook County is a governmental commission in Cook County, Illinois, that owns and manages land containing forest, prairie, wetland, streams, and lakes. These land holdings are primarily managed as undeveloped nat ...

. In 1850 the small town of Trenton, Illinois changed its name to Palos; this recommendation was made by M.S. Powell, the local postmaster, whose ancestor supposedly sailed with

Christopher Columbus Christopher Columbus (; between 25 August and 31 October 1451 – 20 May 1506) was an Italians, Italian explorer and navigator from the Republic of Genoa who completed Voyages of Christopher Columbus, four Spanish-based voyages across the At ...

from

Palos de la Frontera Palos de la Frontera () is a town and Municipalities of Spain, municipality located in the southwestern Spain, Spanish province of Huelva (province), Huelva, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is situated some from the provincial capi ...

. When it incorporated as a village in 1914, Palos officially became Palos Park. Nearby communities incorporated later: Hickory Hills, in 1951, and Palos Hills, in 1958. All three municipalities lie completely or substantially within Palos Township. Palos Heights, partially in Worth Township, incorporated in 1959. Township offices are located at 10802 S. Roberts Road in Palos Hills. The municipalities of Worth and Bridgeview also lie partially in the township. Palos Township's approximate borders are

Harlem Avenue Harlem Avenue is a major north–south street located in Chicago and its west, southwest, and northwest suburbs. It stretches from Glenview Road in Glenview to the intersection of East South Street and South Drecksler Road in Peotone, where ...

( Illinois Route 43) on the east, 135th Street on the south, Will-Cook Road extended to the DuPage County line on the west, and 87th Street on the north; in the northwest, the township border follows the

Des Plaines River The Des Plaines River ( ) is a river that flows southward for U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed May 13, 2011 through southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois''American H ...

from 87th Street to DuPage County's southeast corner. The

Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal The Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal, historically known as the Chicago Drainage Canal, is a canal system that connects the Chicago River to the Des Plaines River. It reverses the direction of the Main Stem and the South Branch of the Chicago ...

, designated a National Historic District in 2011, passes through the township just south of the river, and the Cal-Sag Channel roughly bisects the township from east to west.

Township services

According to Illinois law, townships are responsible for the maintenance of township roadways, the governance of the General Assistance program and the

assessment Assessment may refer to: Healthcare * Health assessment, identifies needs of the patient and how those needs will be addressed *Nursing assessment, gathering information about a patient's physiological, psychological, sociological, and spiritual ...

of real property. In Cook County, townships are not responsible for assessing real property as the Cook County Assessor performs that function. Some townships have adopted other duties, including the provision of health services. Palos Township runs a health service providing low- or no-cost physical examinations, sick visits, cholesterol tests and screenings, pregnancy tests, blood pressure screening, immunizations, podiatry services for senior citizens and other services. Other services provided by Palos Township include free tax preparation for senior citizens, temporary handicapped placards, voter services, speaker's bureau, and much more.

Geography

According to the 2021 census gazetteer files, Palos Township has a total area of , of which (or 95.34%) is land and (or 4.66%) is water.

Borders

Palos Township is bordered on the north by Lyons Township, on the east by Worth Township, on the south by Orland Township, and on the west by Lemont Township. The northwest border with Lyons Township follows the

, directly adjacent to the

(managed by the

Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago The Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago (MWRD), originally known as the Sanitary District of Chicago, is a special-purpose district chartered to operate in Cook County, Illinois, since 1889. Although its name may imply oth ...

) which connects

Lake Michigan Lake Michigan ( ) is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is the second-largest of the Great Lakes by volume () and depth () after Lake Superior and the third-largest by surface area (), after Lake Superior and Lake Huron. To the ...

with the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...

. Other bordering township include Homer Township (Will County) on the southwest corner; Bremen Township (Cook County) on the southeast corner; Stickney Township (Cook County) on the northeast corner and Downers Grove Township (DuPage County) on the northwest corner.

Cities, towns, villages

* Bridgeview (the quarter southwest of 87th Street and Harlem Avenue) * Hickory Hills (all but the small portion north of 87th Street) * Orland Park (the small area north of 135th Street) * Palos Heights (the half west of Harlem) * Palos Hills * Palos Park (all but a small area west of Will-Cook Road) * Willow Springs (the largely non-residential portion south of 87th Street and east of the Des Plaines River, and east of the DuPage County line) * Worth (the third west of Harlem)

Unincorporated Towns

* Southmoor at

Adjacent townships

* Lyons Township (north) * Stickney Township (northeast) * Worth Township (east) * Bremen Township (southeast) * Orland Township (south) * Homer Township, Will County (southwest) * Lemont Township (west) * Downers Grove Township, DuPage County (northwest)

Cemeteries

The township contains three cemeteries: Fairmount-Willow Hills, Oak Hill and Sacred Heart Catholic.

Major highways

Interstate 294 Interstate 294 (I-294) is a tolled auxiliary Interstate Highway in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Illinois. Forming the southern portion of the Tri-State Tollway in Illinois, I-294 runs from South Holland at I-80/ I-94 and Illino ...

* U.S. Route 12 * U.S. Route 20 * U.S. Route 45 * Illinois Route 7 * Illinois Route 43 *

Illinois Route 83 Illinois Route 83 (IL 83) is a major north–south state highway in northeast Illinois. It stretches from U.S. Route 30 (US 30, Lincoln Highway) by Lynwood and Dyer, Indiana, north to the Wisconsin border by Antioch at Wisconsin ...

Illinois Route 171 Illinois Route 171 (IL 171) is a north–south state highway in northeastern Illinois. It runs from U.S. Route 6 in Illinois, U.S. Route 6 (US 6) in Joliet, Illinois, Joliet north to Illinois Route 72 at the Chicago–Park Ridge, Illi ...

Airports and landing strips

* Palos Community Hospital Heliport

Lakes

* Bullfrog Lake * Hambone Lake * Horsetail Lake * Lake Katherine * Maple Lake * Papoose Lake * Tampier Lake * Tuma Lake

Landmarks

* Orland Grove Forest Preserve * Palos Sag-Valley Forest Preserve These

woods: * Burr Oak Woods (west quarter) * Cherry Hill Woods * Crooked Creek Woods * Forty Acres Woods * Groundhog Slough Woods * Henry De Tonty * Hickory Hills Woods * Hidden Pond Woods * Mcclaughry Springs Woods * Mcmahon Woods * Paddock Woods * Palos Park Woods * Paw Paw Woods * Pioneer Woods * Pulaski Woods * Saganashkee Slough Woods * Spears Woods * Swallow Cliff Woods * Tampier Slough Woods (east half) * White Oak Woods * Willow Springs Woods * Wolf Road Woods

Demographics

As of the 2020 census there were 56,836 people, 21,168 households, and 13,852 families residing in the township. The population density was . There were 23,107 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the township was 81.74%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 3.49%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.26% Native American, 2.97% Asian, 0.02%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 4.18% from other races, and 7.34% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 11.27% of the population. There were 21,168 households, out of which 26.00% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.04% were married couples living together, 8.71% had a female householder with no spouse present, and 34.56% were non-families. 29.50% of all households were made up of individuals, and 15.60% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.51 and the average family size was 3.17. The township's age distribution consisted of 20.9% under the age of 18, 7.0% from 18 to 24, 23.6% from 25 to 44, 26.8% from 45 to 64, and 21.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 44.1 years. For every 100 females, there were 95.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.2 males. The median income for a household in the township was $72,067, and the median income for a family was $90,042. Males had a median income of $56,924 versus $38,459 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the township was $38,372. About 7.0% of families and 9.6% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 12.8% of those under age 18 and 8.5% of those age 65 or over.

Governance

Palos Township is governed by a township board of trustees sometimes called the township board or town board. The town board consists of five voting members and includes the elected township supervisor and four elected township trustees. The town board is responsible for providing a budget and taxes sufficient to run the operations of the township government each year. The supervisor is a voting member of the town board but is also the chief executive officer and the chief financial officer of the township. The township clerk, assessor and highway commissioner are elected officials; however, they do not have a vote on the town board. Duties and powers of the supervisor The township supervisor is the chief executive officer of the township and is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the township along with the following other duties: *Chairing all meetings of the township board; *Serving as township treasurer; *Serving as supervisor of General Assistance; *Serving as supervisor of buildings and grounds.

Education

Moraine Valley Community College Moraine Valley Community College is a public community college in Palos Hills, Illinois. The college operates satellite centers in Blue Island and Tinley Park, Illinois. Established in 1967, it is adjacent to the Palos Forest Preserves. ...

Amos Alonzo Stagg High School Amos Alonzo Stagg High School, Stagg, or AAS, is a public four-year high school located at the intersection of S. Roberts Rd. and W. 111th Street in Palos Hills, Illinois, a southwest suburb of Chicago, Illinois, in the United States. It is part ...

– Consolidated High School District 230 * Carl Sandburg High School – Consolidated High School District 230 * Conrady Junior High School – North Palos School District 117 * Glen Oaks Elementary School – North Palos School District 117 * Oak Ridge Elementary School – North Palos School District 117 * Dorn Elementary School – North Palos School District 117 * Sorrick Elementary School – North Palos School District 117 * Palos East Elementary School – Palos School District 118 * Palos West Elementary School – Palos School District 118 * Palos South Elementary School – Palos School District 118 * Worthwoods Elementary School – Worth School District 127

Political districts

Illinois's 6th congressional district Illinois's 6th congressional district covers parts of Cook and DuPage counties. It has been represented by Democrat Sean Casten since 2019. Composition By county Cities and CDPs with 10,000 or more people * Chicago – 2,665,039 * Or ...

– Congressman Sean Casten (D-Downers Grove) * State Senate District 16 – Senator Willie Preston (D-Chicago) * State Senate District 18 – Senator William Cunnigham (D-Chicago) * State Senate District 41 – Senator John F. Curran (R-Lemont) * State House District 31 – Representative Mary E. Flowers (D-Chicago) * State House District 32 – Representative Cyril Nichols (D-Chicago) * State House District 35 – Representative Fran Hurley (D-Chicago) * State House District 36 – Representative Kelly Burke (D-Evergreen Park) * State House District 82 – Representative John Egofske (R-Lemont) * Cook County Board District 6 – Commissioner Donna Miller (D-Lynwood) * Cook County Board District 17 – Commissioner Sean M. Morrison (R-Palos Park) * Cook County Board of (Tax) Review District 1 – Commissioner George Cardenas (D-Chicago) * Cook County Board of (Tax) Review District 3 – Commissioner Larry Rodgers (D-Chicago) * 4th Judicial Sub-Circuit * 15th Judicial Sub-Circuit

Voting History

Palos Township has been a generally Republican jurisdiction in presidential elections, having voted for nine of the last ten Republican presidential candidates.

References

*
United States Census Bureau 2007 TIGER/Line Shapefiles

United States National Atlas

External links

Palos Township official website

Township Officials of Illinois

Cook County official site
{{authority control Townships in Cook County, Illinois Townships in Illinois