Editing Will County, Illinois (section)

==History==
Will County was formed on January 12, 1836, out of [[Cook County, Illinois|Cook]] and [[Iroquois County, Illinois|Iroquois Counties]]. It was named after [[Conrad Will (politician)|Conrad Will]], a politician and businessman involved in salt production in southern Illinois.<ref>[http://www.ledgersentinel.com/article.asp?a=5216 "Was Dr. Conrad Will really worth his salt?"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111001164731/http://www.ledgersentinel.com/article.asp?a=5216 |date=October 1, 2011 }}, Ledger-Sentinel, Roger Matile, June 22, 2006</ref> Will was a member of the first Illinois Constitutional Convention and a member of the Illinois legislature until his death in 1835. Besides its present area, the county originally included the part of [[Kankakee County, Illinois]], north of the [[Kankakee River]]. It lost that area when Kankakee County was organized in 1852. Since then its boundaries have not changed.

[[National Register of Historic Places listings in Will County, Illinois|36 locations]] in Will County are on the [[National Register of Historic Places]].

{{Quote box
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|quote   = "WILL, a county in the E. N. E. part of Illinois, bordering on Indiana, has an area of {{convert|1236|sqmi|km2}}. It is intersected by the Kankakee and [[Des Plaines River]]s, branches of the [[Illinois River|Illinois]]. The surface is generally level, and destitute of timber, excepting small groves. The soil is very fertile, and much of it is under cultivation. The soil of the prairies is a deep, sandy loam, adapted to Indian corn and grass. In 1850 the county produced 527,903 bushels of Indian corn; 230,885 of wheat; 334,360 of oats; 32,043 tons of hay, and 319,054 pounds of butter. It contained 14 churches, 3 newspaper offices; 3472 pupils attending public schools, and 200 attending other schools. Quarries of building stone are worked near the county seat. The Des Plaines river furnishes water-power. The county is intersected by the [[Illinois and Michigan canal]], by the Chicago branch of the [[Illinois Central|Central railroad]], the [[Chicago and Mississippi Railroad|Chicago and Mississippi]], and by the [[Chicago and Rock Island railroad]]. Named in honor of Conrad Will, for many years a member of the Illinois legislature. Capital, Joliet. Population 16,703."
|source  =  {{mdash}} ''1854 U.S. Gazetteer''
}}

<gallery>
File:Will County Illinois 1836.png|Will County from its 1836 creation to 1852
File:Will County Illinois 1853.png|Will County in 1853, reduced to its current borders by the creation of Kankakee County
</gallery>