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On March 29, 1967, the Kankakee Daily Journal published this map, showing the area that would be annexed to the City of Kankakee one month later. Three large industrial plants and approximately 1,000 residences would be added to the city on April 27, 1967.

West Kankakee grew steadily from its first homes in 1902 to its annexation in the 1960s. This 1914 advertisement promoted the benefits new homeowners would enjoy. Many of West Kankakee’s residents were employed by its three industrial plants.

When West Kankakee became part of the City of Kankakee, its volunteer fire department ceased to exist, since the city’s larger, full-time fire department would be responding to calls. In this 1967 photo, Kankakee Fire Chief John Marquart and West Kankakee Fire Chief James Maass discuss the transition.

The 1915 Illustrated Historical Atlas of Kankakee County displayed this detailed map of West Kankakee. Visible at the top are the Foley & Williams sewing machine factory and the Kankakee Foundry. Although the large residential area had been laid out in more than 1,000 lots, many would not be built upon until the 1920s and 1930s.

The Foley & Williams Manufacturing Co. building was constructed in 1902 to produce sewing machines under the Foley & Williams and Domestic brands. When the company went bankrupt in 1914, the building was acquired by the EZ-Est Way Stove Company. Cooking appliances would be manufactured at that site (by the EZ-Est Way, Florence and Roper companies) until 1982.

Workers at the Foley & Williams plant are shown with partly assembled sewing machines in the company’s factory on Station Street in West Kankakee. The view was captured in about 1910.

This aerial view of the Roper stove plant and a part of the West Kankakee residential area was taken in 1965, two years before the area became part of the City of Kankakee. The street visible at the left edge of the residential area is Roosevelt Avenue. Running diagonally across the center of the photo is Station Street, including the portion that curves northward to connect with Court Street. The lighter-colored buildings to the right of the Roper plant are the Kankakee Foundry complex.

On March 29, 1967, the Kankakee Daily Journal published this map, showing the area that would be annexed to the City of Kankakee one month later. Three large industrial plants and approximately 1,000 residences would be added to the city on April 27, 1967.

West Kankakee grew steadily from its first homes in 1902 to its annexation in the 1960s. This 1914 advertisement promoted the benefits new homeowners would enjoy. Many of West Kankakee’s residents were employed by its three industrial plants.

When West Kankakee became part of the City of Kankakee, its volunteer fire department ceased to exist, since the city’s larger, full-time fire department would be responding to calls. In this 1967 photo, Kankakee Fire Chief John Marquart and West Kankakee Fire Chief James Maass discuss the transition.

The 1915 Illustrated Historical Atlas of Kankakee County displayed this detailed map of West Kankakee. Visible at the top are the Foley & Williams sewing machine factory and the Kankakee Foundry. Although the large residential area had been laid out in more than 1,000 lots, many would not be built upon until the 1920s and 1930s.

The Foley & Williams Manufacturing Co. building was constructed in 1902 to produce sewing machines under the Foley & Williams and Domestic brands. When the company went bankrupt in 1914, the building was acquired by the EZ-Est Way Stove Company. Cooking appliances would be manufactured at that site (by the EZ-Est Way, Florence and Roper companies) until 1982.

Workers at the Foley & Williams plant are shown with partly assembled sewing machines in the company’s factory on Station Street in West Kankakee. The view was captured in about 1910.

This aerial view of the Roper stove plant and a part of the West Kankakee residential area was taken in 1965, two years before the area became part of the City of Kankakee. The street visible at the left edge of the residential area is Roosevelt Avenue. Running diagonally across the center of the photo is Station Street, including the portion that curves northward to connect with Court Street. The lighter-colored buildings to the right of the Roper plant are the Kankakee Foundry complex.

At 12:01 a.m. on Thursday, April 27, 1967, the City of Kankakee’s population increased by approximately 4,000 persons, and its land area became 460 acres greater. The neighborhood known for more than one-half century as “West Kankakee” was now officially part of the city (though many people would continue to refer to the area by its historic name).

The area added to the city was bounded on the north by the New York Central Railroad, on the east by Wall Street and on the south by Calista Street (with a southward jog to take in Governor Small Memorial Park). The western border paralleled Roosevelt Avenue from Calista to Station Street (Route 17), then followed Station for about one-half mile to W1790N Road, where it turned north to intersect with the rail line.

Included in the annexation were approximately 1,000 homes, 49 business establishments and three industrial plants. The three industries — the Geo. D. Roper Corp. stove plant, Gould National Battery and the Kankakee Foundry — employed a total of hundreds of workers in the 1960s. Today, the Gould and Roper plant sites are empty, fenced-off fields; the foundry buildings have been repurposed.

West Kankakee traces its history to the early 1900s, when management of the Indiana, Illinois & Iowa (Three-I) railroad promoted the idea of attracting industrial plants to property along its tracks west of the Kankakee River. The Foley & Williams Manufacturing Company, which made sewing machines, was willing to move to Kankakee and build a factory that would employ “not less than 300 men.”

The company set two conditions for its move: the railroad must donate a site for the plant, and Kankakee had to raise $40,000 to help fund the factory’s construction.

“It was determined that the only way to raise these funds,” noted the Kankakee Daily Republican in a 1931 article on the development of West Kankakee, “and also funds for other factories, would be to purchase the Enos farm and a part of the Bird farm, subdivide them, and take subscriptions from the public-spirited citizens of Kankakee who desired to help for the purchase of lots at $200 each, and that if two hundred lots could be sold, the proposition would be undertaken.”

The fundraising campaign was successful. “Many then began the excavating of basements for residences, as did the Foley-Williams Company for their factory,” continued the Daily Republican article. “Over a thousand lots were platted [and] shade trees planted around every block.”

The Foley & Williams Company went bankrupt in 1914. Its factory building, erected in 1902, was quickly filled by the EZ-Est Way Stove Company, owned by retail giant Sears, Roebuck and Co. The plant would manufacture cooking appliances (under several different company names) until 1982.

From its first few residences in 1902, West Kankakee grew steadily. A 1914 advertisement placed by developer (and future Illinois Governor) Len Small promoted West Kankakee as “Just the place for a home….Only one mile from the center of Kankakee. Kankakee street cars, cement walks, fine shade trees, cool spring well water, etc.” Building lots, 50 by 150 feet in size, were priced at $200 to $500, with a down payment of “only $25 cash,” with the balance “on terms to suit purchaser.”

Through the years, various attempts were made to join West Kankakee with the city across the river. The most-notable attempt was in 1931. By that time, the “suburb” (as it was often called) had a population of about 1,200 to 1,500 and such modern amenities as fire hydrants and a sewer system. On Jan. 28, 1931, a petition was filed in county court, seeking annexation of West Kankakee to the city.

“The chief purpose for the filing of the annexation petition,” reported the Daily Republican, “is to afford fire and police protection and street lighting for West Kankakee.” Apparently, the annexation attempt was unsuccessful (a search of newspapers for the next several months failed to find a decision by the court).

Some 35 years later, annexation of West Kankakee was in the courts again. The West Kankakee Drainage and Sanitary District — a taxing body created in 1915 to build a sewer system for the unincorporated community — was being sued by the state of Illinois. At issue was pollution of the Kankakee River from untreated sewage from the West Kankakee sewer system.

The drainage district was faced with three possible solutions: connect its system to the City of Kankakee’s sewer plant and pay for the treatment of its sewage, build its own treatment plant at a cost of more than $1,300,000, or join West Kankakee to the city through annexation. The third alternative would resolve the sewage treatment situation and provide West Kankakee with improved fire and police protection, as well as street lighting.

In mid-July, 1966, a campaign was under way to gather the necessary 992 signatures (50% of the area’s 1,982 registered voters, plus 1) on the annexation petition. On Aug. 18, 1966, the completed annexation petition, bearing signatures from 55% of West Kankakee’s voters, was presented to Circuit Judge Victor N. Cardosi.

The judge approved the petition, declared “annexation…is now in the hands of the Kankakee City Council,” and praised the petitioners, “who have demonstrated their desire to take part in a community project to clean up the Kankakee River.”

Although Judge Cardosi had approved the annexation petition in August, the actual process of annexation would take another eight months. The Kankakee City Council first considered the matter on Sept. 5; they referred it to the city’s Planning Commission, which would hold public hearings. Six months later, the Planning Commission recommended approval.

Final approval by the City Council came on March 27, 1967. Alderman Wayne Cunnington, who made the motion to approve the ordinance, called the annexation “another milestone in the development of Kankakee.” Once approved, the annexation would not take effect for 30 days — 12:01 a. m. on April 27, 1967.

Jack Klasey is a former Journal reporter and a retired publishing executive. He can be contacted through the Daily Journal at editors@daily-journal.com or directly at jwklasey@comcast.net.

The Oct. 1 “Looking Back” column entitled “A Tale of Two Old Soldiers,” incorrectly identified Charles Livingston as the last Kankakee County Civil War soldier to die. A reader pointed out that William P. Lockwood was Kankakee County’s last surviving Civil War soldier. He died Jan. 24, 1947, at the age of 99. Lockwood served in the war as a member of Company D, 132nd Illinois Volunteer Infantry. He is buried in Mound Grove Cemetery.

From Winfield Avenue on the east to Roosevelt Avenue on the west, there are 13 north-south streets in West Kankakee. Several are named for political figures, others for member of the Small family. One bears the name of West Kankakee’s earliest industrial plant. What is that name?

Answer: Foley Avenue, for the Foley & Williams Manufacturing Co. The street runs from Station Street (directly across from the former plant site) to Calista Street.

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