Editing Channahon, Illinois (section)

==History==
Archaeological evidence suggests that the land on which the village now stands was inhabited as long as three to four thousand years ago by [[Mound Builders]]. When white settlers  arrived in the early 1830s, the region was populated by [[Potawatomi]], with whom the early settlers had friendly relations. The settlers came to call the area "Channahon," a Potawatomi phrase translated as "meeting of the waters."<ref name="WCRHSS">{{cite web |title=Rural Historic Structural Survey of Channahon Township|url=https://www.willcountyillinois.com/County-Offices/Economic-Development/Will-County-Land-Use-Department/Development-Services-Division/Historic-Preservation/Will-County-Rural-Historic-Structures-Survey-Project/FileId/2505}}</ref>

When construction of the Illinois and Michigan Canal began in 1836, Channahon's location was chosen as the site for two of the waterway's locks. In 1845, Myrvin Benjamin plotted a new settlement to take advantage of the two rivers and the almost-completed canal surrounding the location. At first called "Du Page," the settlement was officially named Channahon when the township government was organized in 1850. By the 1870s Channahon was home to a growing population and contained a post office, a schoolhouse, a Methodist church, two blacksmithies, and several stores. The community prospered until the rise of railroad transportation in the late 19th century caused commerce and population in the canal town to diminish. The Village of Channahon was first incorporated in 1896, but dissolved in 1908 to avoid liability after an automobile fell into the DuPage River due to a bridge failure. Becoming a mainly agricultural community after the decline of canal commerce, Channahon saw slow growth in the first half of the 20th century.<ref name="WCRHSS" />

On December 11, 1961<ref>{{cite web |title=Name of Local Government: Channahon |url=https://apps.ilsos.gov/isa/localGovNameIndexSearch.do |website=Name Index to Illinois Local Governments |publisher=Illinois State Archives |access-date=January 21, 2022 |archive-date=April 9, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220409092759/https://apps.ilsos.gov/isa/localGovNameIndexSearch.do |url-status=dead }}</ref> the area was reincorporated as the Village of Channahon. In the following decades, Channahon's proximity to two major interstates, [[I-80]] and [[I-55]], resulted in the village's rapid industrialization—notably including such facilities as a [[Mobil]] [[oil refinery]], two [[petrochemical]] plants, a [[soybean]] oil production facility, [[CenterPoint Intermodal Center]] in neighboring [[Elwood, Illinois|Elwood]], and numerous warehouses in both Elwood and Joliet, among which are [[Amazon (company)|Amazon]] and [[Walmart]] distribution centers. Experiencing significant residential and commercial development in response to its industrial economy, Channahon has since grown into an affluent semirural suburb of Chicago.