| That and the 1983 closure of Hilman Hospital a
general medical hospital, brought economic stagnation to the town.
Although the town once has direct access to Chicago via a commuter
line, that railroad hasn't operated since the 1920s. The Metra Electric
station in University Park Illinois serves Manteno.
Manteno was named after a half-Indian maiden, daughter of Francois
Bourbonnais, Jr., one of the region's earliest settlers. A Potawatomi
Indian name, it is a possible anglicization of manito or manitou,
a Potawatomi word for spirit. Oliver W. Barnard, an early settler
in this area, spells her name Mantenau in one of his books. Other
19th century books spell it Mawteno and Manteno. Because of her
Indian blood, Manteno (spelled Monteno in the treaty, but considered
incorrect, as the clerk also misspelled Bourbonnais) was given a
section of land, now part of northeastern Kankakee County, by the
treaty of Camp Tippecanoe of December 20th, 1832. |
