The Origins of Danforth, Illinois

We see in another Washington Rewind article that land speculation along the burgeoning railroad system would prove lucrative when Washingtonians James Wathen and George Gibson founded El Paso, Illinois in the 1850s.  This would not be the only example of this.

Around the same time, George Danforth of Washington started buying large swaths of land in Iroquois County along the platted Illinois Central railroad.  Some of the purchases were from the railroad itself, others from the US Government.

The land was in substandard shape for settlement.  It was swampy prairie, and much work needed to be done to recoup his investment.

To that end, Danforth moved to Iroquois County soon after his purchases to lead a large drainage project to make the land more useful, probably not unlike projects completed around the Washington area decades earlier.  The Danforth's recruited immigrants from Netherlands to help with the drainage project, which accounted for a heavy Dutch influence in the early community.  They built the Danforth Reformed Church in 1872 which still stands in the town today.

In 1865, the railroad finally arrived and the Danforths, sensing that producing crops to haul on the railroad was a necessity, began to start that process.  George's nephew Henry Danforth moved to the area to help facilitate this on the 50,000 acres that the family had purchased.

The savvy business acumen of the Danforths, seen for decades in Washington, worked well in this new community.  In 1872 the town of Danforth was platted and the small community was born.

The Danforths remained in the area for a few years until George died in 1882.  Soon after, Henry moved back to Washington.  In the ensuing decades the family property shrunk in that area, but the town with their name remains.

Danforth and El Paso, Illinois exist today because of the foresight and wisdom of Washingtonians.