Bourbonnais, Illinois

Coordinates: 41°10′15″N 87°52′24″W / 41.17083°N 87.87333°W / 41.17083; -87.87333
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For the township, see
Bourbonnais Township, Illinois. For the former settlement in Bureau County, see Bourbonais, Illinois
.

Bourbonnais
CDT)
Zip code
60914
Area code(s)815 and 779
FIPS code17-07471
GNIS feature ID2398154[1]
Websitevillageofbourbonnais.com

Bourbonnais is a village in Kankakee County, Illinois, United States. The population was 18,164 at the 2020 census.

Pronunciation

The original

Anglicized over time to /bərˈboʊnɪs/ bər-BOH-nis. In 1974, a state representative from Bourbonnais introduced a resolution "correcting" the pronunciation of the town's name to /bɜːrbəˈneɪ/ bur-bə-NAY, closer to the French.[4] In 1976, for the U.S. Bicentennial, the Village Board passed a resolution making "ber-buh-NAY" the official pronunciation.[5]

History

The village is named for François Jace Bourbonnais père, a fur trapper, hunter and agent of the American Fur Company, who had married a Native American woman and arrived in the area near the fork of two major Indian trails and the Kankakee River circa 1830.[6] John Jacob Astor had founded the company in 1808, and when the United States banned foreign (i.e. British and Canadian) companies (such as the Hudson's Bay Company) from competing in the country after the War of 1812, it flourished. By 1830 it had a near monopoly of fur trading in the midwest, but the number of local trappable wild animals had declined.

In 1832,

diocese of Chicago, missionary Fr. Stephen Badin
briefly settled in Bourbonnais Grove in 1846, before retiring further south.

Notre-Dame Convent and Virgin Mary Elementary School 1883

In 1853, the Illinois legislature split

clerics of St. Viator founded St. Viator College for boys.[9]

After a referendum in 1875, the settlement incorporated as the Village of Bourbonnais, with George R. LeTourneau as its first mayor, and trustees Francois Sequin, Joseph Legris, Alexis Gosselin, P.L. Monast, Alex LaMontagne, Joseph Goulet, Jacob Thyfault and Len Bessette. LeVasseur died, aged 80, four years later.

Vermillion County
had burned down the previous year.

In 1999, the town was the site of a major train wreck, the

Bourbonnais train accident
.

Bourbonnais was home of the summertime training camp of the Chicago Bears professional football team from 2002 to 2019. In 2020, the team relocated their training camp to their headquarters at Halas Hall in Lake Forest, Illinois after major renovations of the building complex.[12]

Geography

According to the 2010 census, Bourbonnais has a total area of 9.31 square miles (24.11 km2), all land.[13]

Demographics

Historical population
CensusPop.Note%±
1900595—
19106112.7%
19206201.5%
193068510.5%
194077112.6%
19501,598107.3%
19603,336108.8%
19705,90977.1%
198013,280124.7%
199013,9344.9%
200015,2569.5%
201018,63122.1%
202018,164−2.5%
US Decennial Census[14]

As of the 2010 United States Census,

Latino
residents of any race were 8.0% of the population.

The village population contained 19% under the age of 18 and 14.4% who were 65 years of age or older. There is a slightly higher percent of female persons at 52.9%.

The median income for a household in the village was $76,920. The

poverty line
.

Education

Bourbonnais shares a high school, Bradley-Bourbonnais Community High School (BBCHS), with Bradley, Illinois The Kankakee Area Career Center (KACC) serves local area high school students as a vocational and technical education institution. Bourbonnais is served by three private high schools: Bishop McNamara Catholic School (Catholic), Grace Christian Academy[16] (non-denominational[17]), and Kankakee Trinity Academy (inter-denominational[18]).The village is home to Olivet Nazarene University (ONU), on the site of the old St. Viator College campus.

Transportation

River Valley Metro provides bus service on multiple routes connecting Bourbonnais to destinations in the Kankakee area.[19]

People

Chicago Bears training camp

The Chicago Bears of the National Football League held their annual summer training camp at Olivet Nazarene University in Bourbonnais from 2002 through 2019.[20]

References

  1. ^ a b c U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Bourbonnais, Illinois
  2. ^ "Government webpage". Village of Bourbonnais. Retrieved July 7, 2017.
  3. ^ "2020 U.S. Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved March 15, 2022.
  4. ^ Mike Ramsey (January 10, 2006). "Legislator's name mentioned in Ryan trial, but in good way". SJ-R.COM. Archived from the original on March 17, 2006.
  5. ^ Callary, Edward (2009). Place names of Illinois. University of Illinois Press. pp. 41–42.
  6. ^ a b "History". Village of Bourbonnais. Archived from the original on October 30, 2012. Retrieved September 29, 2013.
  7. ^ "Local History". Bourbonnais Grove Historical Society. Archived from the original on January 14, 2012. Retrieved September 29, 2013.
  8. ^ a b Noel LeVasseur in Bourbonnais Illinois.wmv - via YouTube
  9. ^ "A Brief History". Viatorians.
  10. ^ "Letourneau Museum". Archived from the original on January 14, 2012.
  11. ^ "Bourbonnais". Antiquing Illinois. Archived from the original on August 17, 2014.
  12. ^ "Bears moving training camp to Halas Hall". Pro Football Talk. January 14, 2020. Retrieved October 2, 2020.
  13. ^ "Geographic Identifiers - 2010 Census Summary File 1". US Census Bureau. Archived from the original on February 13, 2020. Retrieved August 2, 2015.
  14. ^ "Census of Population and Housing". US Census Bureau. Retrieved June 4, 2015.
  15. ^ "U.S. Census website". US Census Bureau. Retrieved January 31, 2008.
  16. ^ Leonhardt, Nicole (December 10, 2012). "Kankakee: Name change introduces Grace Christian Academy". The Daily Journal. Archived from the original on October 25, 2019. Retrieved July 16, 2021.
  17. ^ "Grace Baptist Academy". gracecrusaders.org. Grace Baptist Academy. Archived from the original on March 9, 2012. Retrieved June 8, 2012.
  18. ^ "Our Purpose". Kankakee Trinity Academy. Archived from the original on May 16, 2012. Retrieved June 8, 2012.
  19. ^ "System Map" (PDF). Retrieved January 28, 2024.
  20. ^ "Bears moving training camp back to Halas Hall".

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bourbonnais,_Illinois&oldid=1200101306"