Plainfield is a

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

Will Will may refer to: Common meanings * Will and testament, instructions for the disposition of one's property after death * Will (philosophy), or willpower * Will (sociology) * Will, volition (psychology) * Will, a modal verb - see Shall and will ...

and Kendall counties in the U.S. state of

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 ...

. The population was 44,762 at the 2020 census. It is part of the

Chicago metropolitan area The Chicago metropolitan area, also referred to as Chicagoland, is the largest metropolitan statistical area in the U.S. state of Illinois, and the Midwest, containing the City of Chicago along with its surrounding suburbs and satellite cities. ...

. The village includes land in Will County's Plainfield and Wheatland townships, as well as Na-Au-Say and Oswego townships in Kendall County. With the growth in the

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

suburbs in the 1990s and 2000s, the village has seen a population increase from 4,500 in 1990 to nearly 45,000 in 2020. It is midway between the cities of

Naperville Naperville ( ) is a city in DuPage and Will counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. It is a southwestern suburb of Chicago located west of the city on the DuPage River. As of the 2020 census, its population was 149,540, making it the state's ...

and Joliet in Chicago's

collar counties Collar counties is a colloquialism for DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry, and Will counties, the five counties of Illinois that border Cook County, which is home to Chicago. The collar counties are part of the Chicago metropolitan area and com ...

. The village has established a community Preservation Commission and historic preservation ordinance. It is the home of the Lake Renwick Preserve, a county forest preserve used for

birdwatching Birdwatching, or birding, is the observing of birds, either as a recreational activity or as a form of citizen science. A birdwatcher may observe by using their naked eye, by using a visual enhancement device such as binoculars or a telescop ...

and other activities. Located south of Village Hall is Settlers' Park, which includes a lake, war monument, open space, and more. The park presents outdoor concerts to the public in the summer.

History

The area was called "Walkers' Grove" until it was

plat In the United States, a plat ( or ) (plan) is a cadastral map, drawn to scale, showing the divisions of a piece of land. United States General Land Office surveyors drafted township plats of Public Lands Survey System, Public Lands Surveys to ...

ted as "Plainfield" in 1841. It was originally settled by a large community of

Potawatomi The Potawatomi (), also spelled Pottawatomi and Pottawatomie (among many variations), are a Native American tribe of the Great Plains, upper Mississippi River, and western Great Lakes region. They traditionally speak the Potawatomi language, ...

people, and the land was later bequeathed to the United States as part of the Treaty of St. Louis (1816) with the Council of the Three Fires. Indian Boundary Road aligns with the western border of the tract of land originally ceded. The earliest Europeans in the area were French fur traders. The first European-American settler in the area was James Walker, who with his father-in-law,

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

minister Jessie Walker, traveled here in 1826 where he established a small mission for the Potawatomi people. James Walker, Jesse Walker's son-in-law, traveled with him and became the first European-American to claim land in the area in 1828. In 1828, James Walker, in the company of several men, erected a sawmill around which the settlement of Walkers' Grove developed. Plainfield is identified as the oldest community in Will County because the earliest settlement of Walkers' Grove was established on the banks of the

DuPage River The DuPage River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed May 13, 2011 tributary of the Des Plaines River in the U.S. state of Illinois. Course The river begins as two in ...

by 1828. However, the actual village of Plainfield was platted immediately north of Walkers' Grove in 1834 by Chester Ingersoll. The separate community of East Plainfield was platted in June 1836 by James Mathers, who began selling lots in July 1836. He also constructed a

gristmill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and Wheat middlings, middlings. The term can refer to either the grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist is grain that h ...

and a mill race west of Water Street, which would later become Plainfield-Naperville Road. Ingersoll's "Planefield" which comprised lots in Section 16, along with Mather's East Plainfield lots in Section 10 and Levi Arnold's plat of Section 9, all became joined to create the present-day village after the death of Levi Arnolds in 1845. Walkers' Grove flourished because of the DuPage River and established routes to

Fort Dearborn Fort Dearborn was a United States fort, first built in 1803 beside the Chicago River, in what is now Chicago, Illinois. It was constructed by U.S. troops under Captain John Whistler and named in honor of Henry Dearborn, then United States Secre ...

, as well as to

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

to the west. Reuben Flagg hauled lumber from Walker's mill to Chicago in order to erect the first two frame structures in the city (the P.F.W. Peck House and the George Dole Forwarding House). Chicago also depended upon the settlement for mail and supplies. The community's early prosperity was stunted when the

Illinois and Michigan Canal The Illinois and Michigan Canal connected the Great Lakes to the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico. In Illinois, it ran from the Chicago River in Bridgeport, Chicago to the Illinois River at LaSalle-Peru. The canal crossed the Chicago ...

opened in 1848, because the village was not located along the canal. Located within the village are numerous

Greek Revival Greek Revival architecture is a architectural style, style that began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe, the United States, and Canada, ...

Upright and Wing Upright and Wing, also referred to as Temple and Wing or Gable and Wing, is a residential architectural style found in American vernacular architecture of New England and the Upper Midwest, specifically associated with the American Greek Revival. ...

cottages, a school built in 1847, and a number of early-19th-century homes. Plainfield currently has three buildings listed on the National Register of Historic Places: Plainfield Halfway House, Flanders House, and a 1928 Standard Oil gas station. As Illinois was dominated by

abolitionists Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the political movement to end slavery and liberate enslaved individuals around the world. The first country to fully outlaw slavery was France in 1315, but it was later used in its colonies. T ...

and was a free state, Plainfield abolitionists offered food and shelter to runaway slaves following the

Underground Railroad The Underground Railroad was an organized network of secret routes and safe houses used by freedom seekers to escape to the abolitionist Northern United States and Eastern Canada. Enslaved Africans and African Americans escaped from slavery ...

and was vital for slaves to escape .

North Central College North Central College is a private college in Naperville, Illinois. It is affiliated with the United Methodist Church and has 73 undergraduate majors of study, 17 minors, 25 graduate programs, and 4 certificate programs offered by four undergradu ...

was founded in the village in 1861 as Plainfield College. The

Plainfield Public Library District The Plainfield Public Library District serves residents and businesses of the village of Plainfield, Illinois, United States, and surrounding area. The library district's current population is in excess of 60,000 residents. The library is located ...

was founded in the village in 1925 as the Nimmons Village of Plainfield Free Public Library. Plainfield is the birthplace of Eddie Gardner, one of the pilots credited with establishing the transcontinental air mail routes for the

United States Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or simply the Postal Service, is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the executive branch of the federal governmen ...

. The earliest architects associated with buildings in Plainfield are J.E. Minott of Aurora; G. Julian Barnes & John H. Barnes of Joliet; and Herbert Cowell of Joliet and Plainfield. Certain older parts of Plainfield once suffered from extreme traffic congestion. Before

Interstate 55 Interstate 55 (I-55) is a major Interstate Highway in the central United States. As with most primary Interstates that end in a five, it is a major cross-country, north–south route, connecting the Gulf of Mexico to the Great Lakes. The ...

was built just east of the village in the late 1950s,

U.S. Route 30 U.S. Route 30 or U.S. Highway 30 (US 30) is an east–west main route of the United States Numbered Highway System, with the highway traveling across the Northern U.S. With a length of , it is the third-longest U.S. Highway, afte ...

(the

Lincoln Highway The Lincoln Highway is one of the first transcontinental highways in the United States and one of the first highways designed expressly for automobiles. Conceived in 1912 by Indiana entrepreneur Carl G. Fisher, and formally dedicated Octob ...

) and

U.S. Route 66 U.S. Route 66 or U.S. Highway 66 (US 66 or Route 66) is one of the original highways in the United States Numbered Highway System. It was established on November 11, 1926, with road signs erected the following year. The high ...

(sometimes referred to as "The Mother Road") merged into one street for three blocks in the center of town on what is now

Illinois Route 59 Illinois Route 59 is a north–south state highway in northeastern Illinois. It runs south from Illinois Route 173 in Antioch to I-55 in Shorewood, spanning the north–south width of Chicago's western suburbs. This is a distance of . ...

. The merge was between Plainfield/Joliet Road on the south to Lockport Street on the north but continues to be an area of heavy traffic congestion even outside heavy commuting periods. At one time, the two longest paved highways in the world (

and

) crossed within Plainfield. The highways only crossed each other twice and both locations are in Will County. The other location is in neighboring Joliet.

1990 Tornado

On August 28, 1990, an F5 tornado ran its course through Plainfield. The " Plainfield Tornado" killed 29 people, 24 of whom were killed instantly and 5 that died later from injuries; 350 were injured. More than 1,100 homes were damaged and destroyed. The tornado made it across more than in only 8 minutes. It destroyed the only Plainfield high school at the time, now called Plainfield Central High School. A warning sounded only after the tornado had passed through the town. A population boom started to take place at the end of the 20th century after the tornado, with a large number of new home subdivisions. Before this, Plainfield was primarily an agricultural town.

Geography

Plainfield is located in northwestern Will County. The village limits extend west into the eastern part of Kendall County. Plainfield is bordered to the north by the city of

, to the northeast by the village of

Bolingbrook Bolingbrook is a village in Will and DuPage counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. It is a southwest suburb of Chicago on I-55 and Historic Route 66 (Frontage Road). The village was a new town built on the Gateway Wetlands west of the Des Plai ...

, to the east by the village of

Romeoville Romeoville is a village in Will County, Illinois, United States. The village is located southwest of Chicago on the Gateway Wetlands, directly west of the Des Plaines River. Per the 2020 census, the population was 39,863. It is located in the s ...

, and to the south by the city of Joliet. Farmland in Kendall County is to the west.

runs along the eastern edge of the village, with access from two exits. I-55 leads northeast to the center of

and southwest to Bloomington.

passes through the center of Plainfield, leading northwest to Montgomery and southeast to Joliet.

Illinois Route 126 Illinois Route 126 (IL 126) is a east–west state highway in the northern part of the U.S. state of Illinois. It travels from IL 47 in Yorkville to Interstate 55 (I-55) between Plainfield and Bolingbrook. Route descr ...

crosses US-30 in the center of Plainfield, leading northeast to I-55 and west to Yorkville.

runs through the center of Plainfield with US-30 but leads north to the west side of

and south to Shorewood. According to the 2010 census, Plainfield has a total area of , of which (or 95.95%) is land and (or 4.05%) is water. The

flows through the village center, running south towards 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 ...

in the

Illinois River The Illinois River () is a principal tributary of the Mississippi River at approximately in length. Located in the U.S. state of Illinois, the river has a drainage basin of . The Illinois River begins with the confluence of the Des Plaines ...

watershed. Like its namesake, Plainfield's topography is generally flat. Thousands of years ago, land in greater Plainfield used to be part of the bed of proglacial Lake Wauponsee. However, the lake did not hold up long, and eventually drained into the Illinois River valley. The lake left behind a very flat landscape. Much of downtown Plainfield has an elevation of around above sea level, with some areas in the western and northwestern portions of the village's outskirts exceeding . This rise in elevation was created by

terminal moraine A terminal moraine, also called an end moraine, is a type of moraine that forms at the terminal (edge) of a glacier, marking its maximum advance. At this point, debris that has accumulated by plucking and abrasion, has been pushed by the front e ...

s that were formed during the Wisconsin Episode of the last ice age's last glacial period that has been recorded.

Demographics

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2010, there were 39,581 people, 11,920 households, and 10,155 families residing in the village. The population density was . There were 12,532 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the village was 81.72%

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 ...

, 5.56%

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 ...

, 0.22% Native American, 7.62% Asian, 0.04%

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 ...

, 2.6% from other races, and 2.22% 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 10.73% of the population. There were 11,920 households, out of which 55.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 74.2% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 7.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 14.8% were non-families. 11.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 2.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.31 and the average family size was 3.62. In the village, the population was spread out, with 35.2% under the age of 18, 6% from 18 to 24, 31.8% from 25 to 44, 21.7% from 45 to 64, and 5.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33.8 years. For every 100 females, there were 98.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95 males. According to a 2023 estimate, the median income for a household in the village was $142,265, and the median income for a family was $156,883. About 1.0% of families and 1.8% 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 2.2% of those under age 18 and 2.3% of those age 65 or over.

Arts and culture

In the mid-1800s, the business district of Plainfield consisted of wood-framed buildings of all shapes and sizes, yet between 1-2 stories high, and commonly had projecting awnings of wood and metal, along with either false fronted, horizontal wood cornices or large display windows. There were wood plank sidewalks that were elevated 2 ft above the dirt roads on a limestone foundation. The last wood-framed building constructed on Lockport St. was in 1869, and the first masonry buildings constructed along Lockport St. were in 1865, and the post 1870 masonry buildings introduced a new commercial look where common design themes began to integrate the buildings together; including: identical floor and roof lines, cast iron storefronts with larger windows, operable canvas awnings, stamped metal cornices, etc.

Churches

The early church buildings of Plainfield were wood-framed and imposed Greek Revival and Gothic Revival edifices along the dirt roads. In the 1850s, four different congregations built churches along Lockport street, including the Methodists, Congregationalists, the Baptists, and the Evangelicals. In 1836 the Methodists built a wood-framed church (located on present-day Lockport street), and in 1868 they built another church much larger and of limestone (located on present-day Illinois street in downtown Plainfield). The original church built in 1836 was later converted into a business on the first floor and a social hall on the second floor. In 1850 the Congregational Church (located at present-day Lockport and Illinois streets) was built and cost $2,200. The east wing of the church was added in 1907. In 1836 the Baptist church erected their first church, sized at 26 ft by 36 ft, and cost of $2,500. This church was later turned into a blacksmith shop in 1857 following the construction of a new church that costed $4,500-$5,000, and burned down in 1914, then rebuilt on the same site again (located at present-day Division and Lockport streets).

Education

Plainfield Community Consolidated School District 202 Plainfield Community Consolidated School District 202 is a public school district located in Illinois. There are four high schools, seven middle schools, seventeen elementary schools, one early learning center, and one alternative school in th ...

serves portions of Plainfield, Joliet, Crest Hill,

, and Plainfield Township in unincorporated parts of Will County. Peak enrollment in the district took place in 2010–2011 at 29,254 students. The enrollment has been steadily declining since that time, and is currently declining at several hundred students per year. Current enrollment is 24,737 for the 2022–2023 school year.

Transportation

Highways

Major highways in Plainfield include: Interstate Highways
I-55

US Highways
US 30

US 30 U.S. Route 30 or U.S. Highway 30 (US 30) is an east–west main route of the United States Numbered Highway System, with the highway traveling across the Northern U.S. With a length of , it is the third-longest U.S. Highway, afte ...

US 66 U.S. Route 66 or U.S. Highway 66 (US 66 or Route 66) is one of the original highways in the United States Numbered Highway System. It was established on November 11, 1926, with road signs erected the following year. The high ...

Illinois Highways
Illinois 59

Route 59

Route 126

Buses

The

Pace Pace or paces may refer to: Business *Pace (transit), a bus operator in the suburbs of Chicago, US *Pace Airlines, an American charter airline * Pace Foods, a maker of a popular brand of salsa sold in North America, owned by Campbell Soup Compan ...

bus system expanded two routes (755 and 855) to Plainfield beginning May 6, 2013. Both routes are "bi-directional, weekday rush hour service" from the Plainfield Village Center to

Downtown Chicago ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in American and Canadian English to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business district (CB ...

. One route terminates in the

Illinois Medical District The Illinois Medical District (IMD) is a special-use zoning district two miles west of the Loop in Chicago, Illinois. The Illinois Medical District consists of 560 acres of medical research facilities, labs, a biotechnology business incuba ...

and the other in Chicago's East Loop.

Notable people

* Kapri Bibbs, NFL running back; raised in Plainfield and played for Plainfield North High School's varsity football team; won

Super Bowl 50 Super Bowl 50 was an American football game to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2015 season. The American Football Conference (AFC) champion Denver Broncos defeated the National Football Conference (NFC) ...

with

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West, West division. The team is headquartered in E ...

Joel Kim Booster Joel Alexander Kim Booster (born February 29, 1988), born Kim Joonmin (), is an American actor, comedian, producer, and writer. He co-produced and wrote for '' Big Mouth'' and '' The Other Two'' and as an actor has appeared on '' Shrill'', '' Se ...

, comedian, actor, and writer. Born in Seoul, South Korea and raised in Plainfield * Lisa Chesson, Olympic defenseman with U.S. women's ice hockey team; born in Plainfield and played on Plainfield Central High School's varsity hockey team *

Shea Couleé Jaren Kyei Merrell (born February 8, 1989), known professionally as Shea Couleé, is an American drag queen, singer, rapper, actor, podcaster, and fixture of the Chicago nightlife scene. Born in Warsaw, Indiana, they began their drag career in 2 ...

, a drag queen known for competing on ''

RuPaul's Drag Race (season 9) The ninth season of ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' began airing on March 24, 2017, on VH1. The returning judges included RuPaul, Michelle Visage, Ross Mathews and Carson Kressley. Fourteen drag queens (including one returnee) competed for the title of ...

''; RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars Season 5 winner; raised in Plainfield *

Nate Fox Nate Fox (April 14, 1977 – December 22, 2014) was an American professional basketball player. Fox played college basketball for the University of Maine Black Bears, averaging 17.5 points and 7.5 rebounds in his senior year. After graduating, ...

, power forward and center with several European teams *

John Henebry John Philip Henebry CBE (February 14, 1918 – September 30, 2007) was a United States Air Force major general. Early life He was born in Plainfield, Illinois. In 1936, he graduated from Campion High School in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, and t ...

, US Air Force general; born in Plainfield *

Maurizio Iacono Kataklysm is a Canadian death metal band. As of 2024, they have released fifteen studio albums, two EPs, and two DVDs. Kataklysm received their first Juno Award (the Canadian equivalent of the Grammy Awards, Grammy) for Best Album of the Yea ...

, Canadian-born recording artist and singer for heavy metal band Kataklysm * Eric Johnson, NFL defensive tackle; raised in Plainfield and attended

Plainfield South High School Plainfield South High School, or PSHS, is a four-year public high school located in Plainfield, Illinois, a southwest suburb of Chicago, Illinois, in the United States. It is part of the Plainfield Community Consolidated School District 202, wh ...

; drafted by the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. Since the 2008 India ...

Melissa McCarthy Melissa Ann McCarthy (born August 26, 1970) is an American actress, comedian, screenwriter, and producer. She is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Melissa McCarthy, numerous accolades, including two Primetime Emmy Award ...

, actress; born in Plainfield * Kahmari Montgomery, Professional track athlete for Nike. *

Kristopher Prather Kristopher "Kris" Prather (born January 1, 1992) of Plainfield, Illinois is an American professional ten-pin bowler who competes on the PBA Tour. He is known for winning the inaugural PBA Tour Playoffs on June 2, 2019 and the PBA Tournament ...

, professional

ten-pin bowler Tenpin bowling is a type of bowling in which a bowler rolls a bowling ball down a wood or synthetic lane toward ten pins positioned evenly in four rows in an equilateral triangle. The goal is to knock down all ten pins on the first roll of the ...

and winner of the 2019

PBA Tour Playoffs The PBA Tour Playoffs is an annual invitational event on the PBA Tour in North America that debuted in the 2019 season. After two years as a 24-player tournament, the event was set up in a 16-player bracket-style format four four seasons, then as a ...

; resides in Plainfield * Alexander Ratiu, Romanian political prisoner; priest at St. Mary Immaculate Church (1975–1982) * Warren L. Wood, Illinois politician; lived in Plainfield * Dylan Gardner, singer-songwriter, producer, and musician; lead singer of the band Communicant; raised in Plainfield

References

External links

*
Landmarks Preservation Council of Illinois
{{authority control 1841 establishments in Illinois Populated places established in 1841 Villages in Kendall County, Illinois Villages in Will County, Illinois Villages in Illinois