Chatsworth

History

Chatsworth was laid out by Zeno Secor (1809 – 1875) and Cornelia Gilman on June 8, 1859. Both founders were from New York. Secor was a member of the Board of Directors of the company that was building the Peoria and Oquawka Railroad. He was a noted civil engineer and marine engine designer, who was involved with a number of railroads. Secor was later president of the Toledo Peoria and Western Railroad. Secor is best known for building a number of ironclad warships for the Union Navy. Cornelia Gilman was perhaps the person of that name who was the wife of Samuel Gilman, another director of the firm, and the man who gave his name to the nearby town of Gilman. The town of Chatsworth is perhaps named for Chatsworth House, the home of the Duke of Devonshire. Trains were running along the Peoria and Oquawka Railroad before the town was platted. The railroad soon became the Toledo, Peoria and Western. Plattdeutsch-speaking East Friselanders settled in the Chatsworth area beginning in the late 1850s, establishing the Zion Lutheran church. Chatsworth was surveyed by Nelson Buck, the County Surveyor of Livingston County. However, the plan used was virtually identical to that used at Fairbury, including the street names, and very similar to that used at Gridley, El Paso and other places along the Peoria and Oquawka Railroad. This suggests that the railroad supplied the plan from which Buck worked. Like these other towns, Chatsworth was centered on a long narrow depot grounds rather than a public square. The plat of the original town was exceptionally large, covering and consisting of 42 blocks, most located north of the railroad. The early depot was on the south side of the tracks. Block 16 of the plat was not divided into lots, and 1878 was listed as the City Park. It was…

Geography

Chatsworth is located in southeastern Livingston County in northern Chatsworth Township, with a small panhandle extending north into Charlotte Township. The town limits also extend south from the town center and include a large undeveloped area in central Chatsworth Township. U.S. Route 24 runs through the town south of the town center, leading east to Interstate 57 at Gilman and west to Interstate 55 at Chenoa. According to the 2021 census gazetteer files, Chatsworth has a total area of , of which (or 99.78%) is land and (or 0.22%) is water.

Race & ethnicity