Will County, Illinois
Historic newspapers, landmarks, and county history layers for genealogists and local historians.
At a glance
SummaryThe Library of Congress U.S. Newspaper Directory lists 94 newspaper titles published in Will County, Illinois, with the earliest starting in 1800. 2 of these titles have digitized pages on Chronicling America. The National Register of Historic Places includes 38 listed properties in the county, first listed in 1966; 1 is also National Historic Landmark. Most listings are in or near Joliet, Lockport, Plainfield.
Summary generated automatically from the source data on this page.
Newspapers published in Will
Library of Congress94 newspaper titles
Source: Library of Congress U.S. Newspaper Directory. “Digitized” links lead to page images on Chronicling America.
Coverage timeline
NewspapersEach bar is one title’s publication span. brown = digitized on Chronicling America Open-ended runs extend to today.
Sample front pages
Chronicling AmericaNo digitized front pages for Will are currently available in Chronicling America. Title listings above still come from the U.S. Newspaper Directory. Browse Chronicling America.
Courtesy Library of Congress, Chronicling America.
National Register of Historic Places
NPS NRHP21 of 38 listings mapped; some locations are restricted by NPS to protect sensitive sites.
38 listed properties
Source: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Property links open NRHP nomination files at the National Archives.
County formation
Newberry AHCBWill was formed in 1836 (1836-01-12) from Cook, Iroquois.
WILL created from COOK, IROQUOIS, Non-County Area 9, and Non-County Area 4 attached to VERMILION.
Source: Newberry Library, Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
Population by decade
CensusWill County population from 1840 to 2020 (Census historical series).
| 1840 | 1860 | 1880 | 1900 | 1920 | 1940 | 1950 | 1960 | 1980 | 2000 | 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10,167 | 29,321 | 53,422 | 74,764 | 92,911 | 114,210 | 134,336 | 191,617 | 324,460 | 502,266 | 696,355 |
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau historical county population (Forstall 1790–1990) and public-domain / CC0 county population series through 2020.
Cemeteries & historical places
USGS GNIS102 cemeteries and 1 historical populated places (ghost towns / former settlements) recorded in USGS GNIS for this county.
Cemeteries — 80 of 102 listed
| Name |
|---|
| Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery |
| Adams Cemetery |
| Alexander Cemetery |
| Barnet Cemetery |
| Beebe's Grove Cemetery |
| Black Walnut Cemetery |
| Boardman Cemetery |
| Bohemian National Cemetery |
| Bronson Cemetery |
| Brooks Cemetery |
| Brown Cemetery |
| Brown Church Cemetery |
| Calvary Cemetery |
| Chicago Road Cemetery |
| County Farm Cemetery |
| Custer Township Cemetery |
| DesPlains Cemetery |
| Diven Cemetery |
| Dwyers Cemetery |
| Eagle Lake Cemetery |
| Elmhurst Cemetery |
| Evergreen Hill Memory Gardens |
| Forbes Cemetery |
| Frankfort Cemetery |
| Green Garden Methodist Church Cemetery |
| Hadley Cemetery |
| Hewesburg Cemetery |
| Hickory Cemetery |
| Hillcrest Cemetery |
| Holy Cross Cemetery |
| Klingler Cemetery |
| Lockport Cemetery |
| Manhattan Center Cemetery |
| Maple Hill Cemetery |
| Maplewood Cemetery |
| Marshall Cemetery |
| McCune Cemetery |
| Mound Cemetery |
| Mount Calvary Cemetery |
| Mount Moriah Cemetery |
| Mount Olivet Cemetery |
| Mount Olivet Cemetery |
| Mount Olivet Cemetery |
| Mount Saint Patrick Cemetery |
| Norman Cemetery |
| North Providence Ridge Cemetery |
| Oakwood Cemetery |
| Oakwood Cemetery |
| Oakwood Protestant Cemetery |
| Peotone Cemetery |
| Pioneer Cemetery |
| Plainfield Township Cemetery |
| Pleasant Hill Cemetery |
| Reed's Grove Cemetery |
| Resurrection Cemetery |
| Rose Hill Cemetery |
| Runyon Cemetery |
| Russian Cemetery |
| S S Cyril and Methodius Cemetery |
| Saint Dennis Cemetery |
| Saint John the Baptist Cemetery |
| Saint John's Cemetery |
| Saint John's Lutheran Church Cemetery |
| Saint John's United Church of Christ Cemetery |
| Saint Johns United Church of Christ Cemetery |
| Saint Joseph Cemetery |
| Saint Joseph Cemetery |
| Saint Joseph Guardian Angels Cemetery |
| Saint Lukes Cemetery |
| Saint Mary Nativity Cemetery |
| Saint Mary's Cemetery |
| Saint Mary's Immaculate Cemetery |
| Saint Marys Cemetery |
| Saint Michael Catholic Cemetery |
| Saint Patrick Cemetery |
| Saint Patricks Catholic Cemetery |
| Saint Paul's Cemetery |
| Saint Pauls Cemetery |
| Saint Pauls Lutheran Cemetery |
| Saint Peter Lutheran Cemetery |
Historical populated places — 1 of 1
| Name |
|---|
| Torino |
Source: USGS Geographic Names Information System (public domain). Cemeteries from the 2021 NationalFile archive; historical places from GNIS HistoricalFeatures topical extract.
Historical markers
HMdb linkMarker text and photos from the Historical Marker Database (HMdb) are not embedded here. HMdb allows non-commercial reuse with attribution, but commercial/compensated use needs written permission; this is a commercial site, so we only link out.
Search HMdb for Will County, Illinois
Terms: hmdb.org/copyright.asp. Linking is encouraged by HMdb.