Editing Roanoke, Illinois (section)

===Early settlement===
Until about 1850, much of northern Illinois was still frontier land and sparsely populated, which the exception of [[Chicago]] and towns along the rivers. This changed in 1850, when President [[Millard Fillmore]] signed a [[land grant]] for the construction of the [[Illinois Central Railroad]], lobbied for by then-lawyers [[Stephen Douglas]] and [[Abraham Lincoln]]. With the railroad expanding into Central Illinois, new opportunities for settlement by German, Dutch, Irish, Italian, Swedish, and other European immigrants opened up in Woodford County.<ref name=landgrant>{{cite web|url=http://www.landgrant.org/history.html |publisher=landgrant.org|title=Chronology of the Northern Pacific & Related Land Grant Railroads}}</ref>

Roanoke was one of these settlements. On December 17, 1872, Roanoke was mapped out and lots were offered for sale. The plat of Roanoke was composed of 15 blocks and was bounded by Main, Front, Ann and Pleasant Streets. Two years later in 1874, Roanoke officially became a "Village" in the State of Illinois. Building began immediately in Roanoke and by the time the railroad was complete the population had increased to three hundred. On August 15, 1874, the first election was held for the purpose of electing six trustees for the Village of Roanoke. To this day, the Village has continually filled those six positions.<ref name=VillageHistory>''[http://www.roanokeil.org/history.htm Village of Roanoke web page]'', History of the Village of Roanoke</ref>