Goodenow, Illinois

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Goodenow is a very small, rural unincorporated community in Will County, Illinois. It’s a census-designated place that covers about 0.03 square miles and had 60 people living there in 2020. The area sits around 745 feet above sea level in the Central Time Zone and uses the 708 area code.

History and setting: Goodenow was first surveyed in 1839. In 1853, George Goodenow bought 160 acres here, and the town was laid out with blocks, lots, streets, and alleys in 1872. The area is wooded with oak trees and prairie grass, and many homes sit on large wooded lots. Crete lies to the north and Beecher to the south. The town sits on the Valparaiso Moraine, and Plum Creek runs through it. To the east is the Goodenow Grove Nature Preserve, a 700-acre park, while farmland stretches south toward Beecher.

Economy and notable features: The Beecher Landfill once operated nearby, taking garbage from the Chicago area, but it is now closed. Goodenow first appeared as a census-designated place in the 2020 census.