Beecher

History

Early Days of Beecher T.L. Miller arrived in Washington Township in 1862 and began purchasing land. His plan was to begin breeding and raising Hereford cattle. He knew the area offered good grazing lands; and he was convinced that the Hereford breed of beef cattle showed great promise for the future. At the time, T.L. Miller lived in Chicago and was in the fire and insurance business. Mr. Miller was a great admirer of Henry Ward Beecher, the most famous orator of that time, and named the new village after him. Mr. Miller purchased his first 320 acres of land from the government. Later he added another 400 acres. He began making improvements immediately on his property, which he called Highland Stock Farm. His son. T.E. (Timothy Elliott) Miller recalled: “On his beautiful farm, he established the finest and largest herd of Hereford cattle in America. To him is due the credit of the wide dissemination of this great breed of beef cattle in the United States. A man of great energy, his name was widely known in England and America in connection with the Hereford breed of cattle.” To further promote Hereford cattle, he established the “Breeder’s Journal” in 1880 and published it for eight years. In addition, he gathered and assembled the pedigree of Hereford cattle in the first two volumes of the “Hereford Herd Book”. Both were published in Beecher. The Railroad Sometime after his initial purchase of land, T. L. Miller learned that the Chicago, Danville and Vincennes Railroad was coming through the area. He was able to acquire an additional 340 acres west of his original property and adjoining the proposed railroad on both sides. He secured the promise of a railroad station within his property. Early in 1869, work began on the new railroad. It would run from Chicago,…

Geography

According to the 2010 census, Beecher has a total area of , all land. The majority of the village is in Section 16 of Washington Township. A branch of Trim Creek flows through Beecher, but this carries very little water most of the year. Beecher is located in the center of a primarily agricultural township. Beecher Consolidated School District provides educational services for Washington Township and of the neighboring, entirely rural, Will Township. The nearest towns are Crete, Illinois, north; Grant Park, south; Peotone, west and Cedar Lake, Indiana, east.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  8,261
• Red-winged Blackbird

  Agelaius phoeniceus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  7,747
• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  7,183
• European Starling

  Sturnus vulgaris Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  6,879
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  6,777
• Canada Goose (canadensis Group)

  Branta canadensis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  6,623
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  6,061
• American Goldfinch

  Spinus tristis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  5,537

Most recent

• M 2.9 — 2026-07-08
  21 km ENE of Kenilworth, Illinois
• M 2.6 — 2025-03-15
  6 km W of Dwight, Illinois
• M 3.1 — 2024-07-15
  2 km WNW of Somonauk, Illinois
• M 3.2 — 2013-11-04
  1 km SSW of Lyons, Illinois