The History of Huntley

Submitted by lh_admin on Tue, 08/04/2009 - 19:44
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The Village of Huntley, founded in 1851, is a rapidly growing community located in southern McHenry County and northern Kane County, bisected by Illinois Route 47 north and south, the Union Pacific Railroad northwest and southeast, and bordered on the south by Interstate 90.

Huntley Time Line from 1838 - 2001

Submitted by p_kampwerth on Wed, 03/21/2012 - 10:08
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Huntley History Timeline
The first permanent white settlers arrived in the Huntley area about 1838.
But many other countries had laid claim to Huntley soil before that date.
The homeland of the Native Americans was claimed by various nations through years of wars and exploration.

1492 Spain claimed the Western Hemisphere by virtue of Columbus' discovery

1497 John Cabot claimed the North American continent for the British

1541 The land was under the Spanish flag after DeSoto discovered the Mississippi River and claimed the land that it drained for Florida

Early Development of Huntley to 1870

Submitted by lh_admin on Fri, 11/18/2011 - 15:54
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People, places and important dates in the early development of the Village of Huntley, IL.

Founding Families - Whittemore

Submitted by lh_admin on Mon, 07/25/2011 - 12:06
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Prescott Whittemore and his wife, Lucy Geer Whittemore, came to this area in 1838 from New Hampshire. They loaded all their personal belongings and their 10 children onto two wagons and spent nearly seven weeks making the journey over land to Illinois.

For three years the family lived in a makeshift shelter while they built their new home, which was completed in 1841. That home still stands today on Marengo Road, about a mile and a quarter west of town. It was plaqued by the McHenry County Historical Society in 1983 as an historic county landmark.

Founding Families – Guy and Eleanor Cummings

Submitted by lh_admin on Wed, 07/20/2011 - 11:08
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Also arriving in this area the same year as the Whittemores was the Guy and Eleanor Cummings family.

Guy Cummings (1789-1862) was born in New York. At the age of 23 he enlisted as a private in the War of 1812. He and his wife came to the southern McHenry County area in 1838 and bought 200 acres of land along what is now west Main Street.

The Cummings’ historic large, white barn still stands at the Huntley Park District’s Sun Valley Farm along West Main Street. It is the oldest barn still standing in McHenry County.

Founding Fathers – Thomas S. Huntley

Submitted by lh_admin on Tue, 07/19/2011 - 19:30
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The best known name in the village is, of course, that of the Huntleys. Village namesake Thomas S. Huntley, as well as his oldest son, Charles, led notable and interesting lives. Thomas Huntley (1807-1894) was not the first settler to arrive in this area, but he was the first to envision a thriving community here.

Thomas Stillwell Huntley was born March 27, 1807, in Cortland County, New York and lived most of his young adult life there.

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