Wilton Center, Illinois

Indigenous Roots

Ce-nag-e-wine (or Senachwine) and Joseph Laughton, the son of a David Laughton and Potawatomi woman, were Potawatomi tribal leaders who, in 1832, were given reservations next to one another along the Forked Creek.^[3] This area was referred to as the "Twelve Mile Grove" and would later be known as Wilton Center.

However, these reserves did not last, and in 1836, under the Indian Removal Act, the Potawatomi were forcibly removed to reservations in Kansas. Both leaders sold their land to local settlers in 1840.^[4]

Origins of Wilton Center

While the Grove continued to grow in population, small communities such as Wallingford and Peotone grew popular and formed Wilton Township in 1850.^[5]

Wilton Center was officially organized in 1860 at the south end of the Grove and documented two general stores, two wagon shops, two churches, a number of homes, and a school.^[6] This school sat on the location of the later built and closed Wilton Center Elementary School. The Center was re-organized in 1876, with many families and structures still present today.^[7]

Overview

U.S. Route 52 goes through Wilton Center. Other main roads are Cedar Rd., Peotone-Wilmington Rd., and Elevator Rd. Other roads in Wilton Center are Arsenal Rd. and Quigley Rd. Wilton Center is half surrounded by a forest preserve controlled by Will County. There is a church on Rt. 52.

Laughton Preserve

The Laughton Preserve is a 430-acre nature and wildlife preserve that sits within and around Wilton Center. The preserve holds cultural importance as well as natural, maintaining portions of the 1832 Ce-nag-e-wine and Joseph Laughton Reservations, and the historic Wallingford Settlement. The Civilian Conservation Corps was tasked with building a picnic shelter in the 1930s that still stands today.^[8]

The preserve is the natural habitat for Big Brown Bats and is part of the Forked Creek preservation system, which conserves more than 2,400 acres.^[9]

2020 census