County: Kankakee
Location: The marker is located in
Bourbonnais, on the grounds of the Bourbonnais Grove
Historical Society, which is part of the Adrien M. Richard
Heritage Preservation Site. It is in the 700 block of
Stratford Drive, about one-half bock south of IL Route 102.
N 41o 09.490
W 087o 53.223
Erected: 08/18/1990 Erected by: Bourbonnais Grove Historical Society and The Illinois State Historical Society
Bourbonnais Grove's first families came from Quebec's upper St. Lawrence Vally in the 1830's and 40's to settle what would become the largest 19th century French Canadian agrarian village in Illinois. Some immigrants moved on to found St. Anne, St. Mary, L'Erable, and Papineau. In 1865 Viateurian fathers established St. Viateur College. The Letourneau Home Museum, Maternity BVM Church and surviving Viateurian buildings are memorials to these French Canadians who were an influential part of Illinois' pioneer population.
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