Frankfort is
a village in Will County, Illinois, United States with
a small section of it in Cook County, Illinois. The
population was 10,391 at the 2000 census. The population
according to Forbes.com was 16,928 in 2006. Also, according
to Forbes.com, the village ranks as the 36th fastest
growing suburb in the United States. [1]In addition
to the current population growth, the Northeastern Illinois
Planning Commission has forecast the population to reach
55,797 in 2030.
First inhabited by Native Americans,
including the Pottawatomie, Sac and Fox tribes, Frankfort
was used as a conduit between the Des Plaines and St.
Joseph Rivers. Originally, the area was part of the
Virginia Territory before the French signed a treaty
with Manitoqua, the Pottawatomie Chief, for land in
the Prestwick area. The first pioneers came to Frankfort
in the early 1830s by means of the Des Plaines River
from the southwest and by wagon from the east along
the Sauk Trail, a roadway that still exists today.
William Rice, the first non-native
settler, made a permanent settlement in Frankfort in
1831. While the first pioneers, coming mainly from the
New England Colonies, were mostly of English and Scottish
descent, German settlers made the Village of Frankfort
a reality. Later in the 1840’s German Settlers
migrated from the Pennsylvania area to Frankfort.
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