Jefferson Township is a former

civil township A civil township is a widely used unit of local government in the United States that is subordinate to a county, most often in the northern and midwestern parts of the country. The term town is used in New England, New York, and Wisconsin to ref ...

Cook County Cook County is the most populous county in the U.S. state of Illinois and the second-most-populous county in the United States, after Los Angeles County, California. More than 40% of all residents of Illinois live within Cook County. As of 20 ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rock ...

, United States that existed as a separate municipality from 1850 until 1889 when it was annexed into the city of

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

. Its borders were Devon Avenue on the north, Harlem Avenue on the west, Western Avenue to the east, and North Avenue to the south. This region comprised most of what is now known as the Chicago's Northwest Side including the entirety of the following community areas: Jefferson Park, North Park, Albany Park, Irving Park, Avondale, Hermosa,

Belmont-Cragin Belmont Cragin is one of 77 officially designated Chicago community areas located on the Northwest Side of the City of Chicago, Illinois. It is designated Community Area 19, and is located NW of the Loop. History Beginnings The first busines ...

, Montclare,

Portage Park Portage Park is a park in the Portage Park community area of Chicago, Illinois on the National Register of Historic Places. The park stretches from Irving Park Road on the south to Berteau Avenue between Central and Long Avenues. The largest p ...

, as well as parts of Forest Glen, West Ridge, Lincoln Square, North Center, Logan Square, West Town, Humboldt Park,

Austin Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

, Dunning, the suburb of

Norridge Norridge is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 15,251 at the 2020 census. The village and its neighbor to the east, Harwood Heights, together form an enclave within the city of Chicago (i.e. they are surrounde ...

, the suburb of Harwood Heights, and Norwood Park. During its brief history it developed from unpopulated wildlife to a largely rural community with a number of suburban villages. However, due to infrastructure limitations, legislative incentives and the lure of better municipal services it, along with numerous adjoining townships, agreed to be annexed into the city of Chicago, creating the largest city in the United States at that time.

History

The township was founded in 1850. In the 1850s, Chicago was still a walkable urban area well contained within a radius of the center. After the City of Chicago incorporated in 1837, the surrounding townships followed suit through 1870. After 1850,

was divided into basic governmental entities, which were designated as townships as a result of the new

Illinois Constitution The Constitution of the State of Illinois is the governing document of the state of Illinois. There have been four Illinois Constitutions; the fourth and current version was adopted in 1970. The current constitution is referred to as the "Constit ...

. Illinois's permissive incorporation law empowered any community of 300 resident citizens to petition the Illinois legislature for incorporation as a municipality under a municipal charter with more extensive powers to provide services and tax local residents. Jefferson Township was created by the

Illinois General Assembly The Illinois General Assembly is the legislature of the U.S. state of Illinois. It has two chambers, the Illinois House of Representatives and the Illinois Senate. The General Assembly was created by the first state constitution adopted in 181 ...

in 1861 within Cook County. This empowered the township to better govern the provision of services to its increasingly suburban residents. Following the June 29, 1889 elections, several suburban townships voted to be annexed to the city, which offered better services, such as improved water supply, sewerage, and fire and police protection. After the 1889 annexation Chicago was able to leverage efficiencies as the largest United States city in area and second largest in population. The township has no current governmental structure or functions, other than being used by th
Cook County Assessor's office
for taxation valuation and record keeping purposes.

Notes

References

*Keating, Ann Durkin. Building Chicago: Suburban Developers and the Creation of a Divided Metropolis. 1988. *Miller, Donald L. ''City of the Century: The Epic of Chicago and the Making of America'' pp. 282–284; 292. {{Cook County, Illinois Townships in Cook County, Illinois History of Chicago Populated places established in 1861 Former municipalities in Illinois Former townships in Illinois Former populated places in Illinois 1861 establishments in Illinois