Village of Monee Timeline

This is a very basic timeline of the village of Monee. Efforts to update, enhance and correct will be ongoing.

Click on the hyperlinks for further information.

For suspected errors, or if you have a fact you believe should be on the timeline, please email us at [email protected] or drop us a note on our Facebook Page: Monee Historical Society.

1783 – Marie Le Fevre Bailey, the woman whom Monee is named after, is born

1800 – Congress creates the Indiana Territory, which includes Illinois

1809 – IL Territory named

1818 – Illinois made the 21st State, Kaskaskia named state capital

1820 – Vandalia is named state capital

1835 – Early Samuel Ward Cooper settles near the southwest corner of Western and Exchange. Cousin Samuel and Elmira Gaines settled in Thorn Grove a year later.

1836 – First school established in the Thorn Grove area. Owner and teacher was Otis Phillips

1839 – Springfield named state capital

1851 – 10 April – Village of Monee platted

1848 – First settler, John Housinger, moves into Raccoon Grove

1848 – 15 January – First Child, Magdelena Klein, born in Monee, then known as Carey

1850 – First Carey township officials elected:
Supervisor – Samuel W. Cooper
Assessor – J.E. Phillips
Clerk – William H. Newton

1850 – First house built in Monee by Augustus Herbert at the southeast corner of Compass Lane and Main Street

1853 – Completion of the Illinois Central Railroad through Monee and Depot built

1853 – First store built by Orson B. Dutton

1853 – 3 October – First post office established, Orson B. Dutton postmaster

1854 – First school built, southwest corner of Eastgate and Main. First teacher was Margaret (Lytle) Wilson

1855 – 9 February – Kettering Hotel located at the southeast corner of Main & Compass opens

1856 – First Steam grist mill built by Joseph Koenig and Oscar Kohler

1860 – German Evangelical United St. Paul’s Church built

1860 – Newspaper “Monee Eagle” began

1861 – Summer – Schannen schoolhouse built

1864 – Backus Hotel, located on Oak road between Main and Court Streets

1866 – The Congregational Church was built at the northeast corner of Astor Place and North Linden

1866 – 15 September – Marie Le Fevre Bailey dies

1868 – The Methodist Church was built on the southwest corner of Walnut and Court Street

1868 – St. Boniface Catholic Church built on Main Street

1870 – Population of Monee is 598

1870 – Monee Windmill erected at the northwest corner of Margaret and Eastgate

1871 – Chicago Fire

1872 – September – Monee Baptist Academy, located at the southeast corner of Main and Walnut streets opens

1874 – 9 November – Population of Village votes for Village organization; “The Village of Monee” is born.

1874 – 5 December – First Village Board Voted into Office as follows:
President – Edward Wernigh
Trustees – Henry Hoffman, Charles Plagge, Phillip Vollmar, Christopher Schoenstedt, August Schiffer
Clerk – William T. Hutchinson
Treasurer-Baio Hayen
Police Magistrate – Laban Easterbrooks

1879 – Monee Court Hall built

1879 – 8 April – Monee Odd Fellows Lodge No. 660 Instituted

1884 – 20 September – Ordinance establishing a fire department is passed

1887 – 28 September – New Odd Fellows Hall opened at the southwest corner of Locust and Margaret

1890 – Population of Monee is 445

1890 – Engelke Hotel, at the southeast corner of Oak and Main built

1893 – World Columbian Exposition held in Chicago

1894 – April – First telephone installed in the home of John Freese and the store owned by his father, Edo Freese.

1900 – 6 December – The West Side Club, an 80 x 80-foot poolroom and gambling hall opened

1903 – First bank of Monee – the Eastern Will County State Bank opens

1907 – First home constructed of concrete blocks. It was built by David Kachel and Henry Nieland, using bricks manufactured by Henry Nieland in Monee for Mrs. Mary (Grundberger) Wachsmuth.

1904 – the Chicago & Southern Traction Co. began to construct a trolley service between Chicago and Kankakee

1904 – August – Crossing gates were installed over the railroad tracks

1904 – 23 October – Fire in Ziemer’s grove section of Raccoon Grove burned nearly five acres of trees

1905 – 30 January – The Monee District Fair was incorporated

1905 – Schoolhouse built at corner of Eastgate and Main

1905 – 12-14 September – First Monee District Fair

1905 – 22 November – Schwiesow’s Hall at the southeast corner of Main and Brier opens

1905 – 22 December – Monee Review begins publication

1907 – 29 September – the first car of the Chicago & Southern Traction Co. was run from Chicago to Kankakee

1908 – June – Monee Amusement Co. leased Ziemer’s Grove section of Raccoon Grove and laid out a picnic grounds and baseball diamond. Also constructed was a large pavilion for dancing. It was named Oakdell Park

1908 – 4 July – First Picnic held at Oakdell Park

1908 – 14 July – Oakdell Park pavilion destroyed by fire

1908 – 9 August – New pavilion at Oakdell Park completed

1909 – Spring – Monee Driving Park Association purchased a 26-acre tract of land east of town. It became the Monee Fair Grounds

1909 – 1-3 September – First fair held at new Fairgrounds

1909 – 19 May – Monee Post Office Robbed

1912 – Kettering Hotel, located at the southeast corner of Main & Compass closes

1913 – The basketball team of the Monee Athletic Club were area champions. Members – Edward Backus, Allen Wehrli, Edward Kachel, Henry Diercks, Fred Homan, George Pauling, Romeo Illgen, Harry Conrad, Paul Sander, Simon Gorman, Harvey Kolstedt and Emery Woeltje

1914 – 23 April – Construction begins for the new German Evangelical United St. Paul’s Church

1915 – September – Electric Power comes to Monee

1917 – 26 May – Tornado sweeps through Raccoon Grove

1919 – 16 November – Fire in Albers’ section of Raccoon Grove

1920 – Population of Monee is 395

1920 – 22 September – New Auditorium at the Monee Fairgrounds opened

1922 – 4 April – Work begins on “the Cut”

1922 – 28 August – First train travels through Village through newly finished cut

1923 – Two-year high school course begins

1927 – Monee Fire Department purchases first motorized vehicle

1927 – 23 April – Trolley service ends

1930 – 5 December – Interior of the German Evangelical United St. Paul’s Church destroyed by fire

1931 – June – Interurban depot south of Monee was torn down

1931 – 24 September – Monee Review newspaper announced it was the last issue

1934 – 28 April – Auditorium at the Monee Fairgrounds burned down

1936 – 7 July – Large fire in Raccoon Grove burned for four hours before it was brought under control

1937 – 23 November – Land bought by the Forest Preserve District of Will County to form public park, which is still in use today

1942 – March – Mothers’ Club of the Monee School formed (later became the PTA)

1948 – Consolidation of Monee and Crete schools to form District 201-U

1949 – American Legion, Doss-Malone Post 1200 organized

1950 – September – Fire Department purchases land along Court Street that becomes Fireman’s Park

1951 – 27 November – American Legion Auxiliary, Doss-Malone Post 1200 organized

1953 – Monee Elementary School on Main Street constructed

1953 – 1 October – Ground broken to build Crete-Monee High School

1954 – 7 September – Classes at Crete-Monee High School begin

1954 – 27 November – Skyline Memorial Gardens opens

1955 – Summer – Gas Mains installed in village

1956 – 29 September – Raccoon Grove Improvement Association was formed after a meeting at the home of P. Jay Davis

1957 – 30 January – Fire destroys double grain elevator

1958 – 5 September – Newspaper Monee Monitor releases first issue

1958 – August – Monee Court Hall demolished

1959 – August – Illinois Division of Highways announced the building of Interstate 57, which would cross Monee Village limits

1959 – 24 August – Modern post office opens

1960 – Monee Water Tower erected

1960 – Population of Monee is 647

1961 – April – Blizzard

1963 – New Firehouse at corner of Main and Chestnut built

1963 – Hubbard Trail Junior High opens

1963 – 1 July – Monee receives zip code 60449

1965 – Warrior Dome of Crete-Monee High School opens

1965 – October – Old school building voted unsafe

1967 – 26-28 January – Blizzard Collapses Warrior Dome

1968 – Parts of the old school building remodeled into courtroom facilities for the Will County Fourth Judicial Circuit Court

1968 – 5 June – Reconstructed Warrior Dome reopens for graduation ceremony

1968 – 31 October – Interstate 57 from Kankakee to I-80 opens

1969 – 18 July – Ralph and Donald Crain’s plane disappears

1970 – Population of Monee is 940

1974 – “Our Roots are Deep”, the most comprehensive history of Monee is published by Muriel Mueller Milne. To read/download the book, click Here.

1988 – The old brick Schoolhouse , at the corner of Eastgate and Main, built in 1905, is demolished.

2011 – “Save the Creamery Foundation” established to save the Monee Creamery building in Fireman’s Park from Demolition.

2016 – The Monee Creamery Building is granted landmark status by Will County.

2017 – The “Save the Creamery Foundation” organization morphs into the Monee Historical Society.