Dwight

History

Dwight was laid out on January 30, 1854, by Richard Price Morgan Jr. (1828–1910), James C. Spencer (1828 – after 1890), and John Lathrop (1809 – 1870). Each of these three men took a quarter of the land. All were working as engineers for the Chicago and Mississippi Railroad. The final quarter was jointly owned by two Bloomington brothers, Jesse W. Fell (1808 – 1878) and Kersey H. Fell (1815 – 1893). All five men had links to the railroad which was to open from Bloomington to Joliet in 1854. Spencer was born in the Hudson River valley south of Albany; his ancestors included a United States Supreme Court Chief Justice and two governors of New York State; he was later to have an important career in Wisconsin railroads. Lathrop was a civil engineer with a long history of working with canals and railroads in New York; he would soon return to Buffalo. Morgan was the son of a noted civil engineer, and he later became nationally known for his work on electric railroads in New York. The Fell brothers were Bloomington land developers who had been active in helping found many central Illinois towns including Clinton, Normal, Pontiac, and Towanda. They were employed by the railroad as land agents; the Fells had a role in persuading Abraham Lincoln to write his autobiography. The plan of the founders was to purchase a block of land along the route of the railroad, and to divide it into four equal parts. Morgan would then take charge of the operation. He would draw up a plan of the new town, sell the lots, and divide the proceeds among the others. The station was to be placed at the point where the four quarters met. Any unsold lots would be divided among the partners. The other men seemed to believe that Morgan was acting in the interest of the railroad. The town was named for…

Geography

Dwight is located in northeastern Livingston County. It extends north into southern Grundy County to include the commercial area near the northern exit with Interstate 55. I-55 leads northeast to Chicago and southwest to Bloomington. Illinois Route 17 passes through the center of Dwight as Mazon Avenue, leading east to Kankakee and west to Wenona. Illinois Route 47 (Union Street) passes through the east side of Dwight, leading north to Morris and south to Gibson City. According to the 2021 census gazetteer files, Dwight has a total area of , of which (or 99.70%) is land and (or 0.30%) is water. Dwight is home to the First National Bank of Dwight, one of only three banks designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. A historic U.S. Route 66 Texaco gas station, Ambler's Texaco Gas Station, and a 1891 railway station are both listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The 1857 Dwight Pioneer Gothic Church is a rare example of a wooden Carpenter Gothic church building. John R. Oughton House is also located in Dwight. Dwight is also home of the first Keeley Institute and the Frank L. Smith Bank. Dwight station, a train station designed in 1891 by Henry Ives Cobb, operated continuously from the spring of 1892 until October 2016 when a new station opened several blocks away. The original station is now the home of the Dwight Historical Society Museum and the Dwight Chamber of Commerce. In 1930 it became the Dwight V.A. Hospital, and an addition opened on May 11, 1947, with a modern surgical suite, wards, clinic, and physical therapy facilities. The buildings survive and are partially occupied by the Fox Developmental Center. Sadie planned a trip to Dwight in the "Sadie's Trip to Dwight" episode of the radio serial Vic and Sade, originally aired on June 4, 1937. The…

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Red-winged Blackbird

  Agelaius phoeniceus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  709
• European Starling

  Sturnus vulgaris Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  457
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  417
• Canada Goose (canadensis Group)

  Branta canadensis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  416
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  401
• Common Grackle

  Quiscalus quiscula (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  356
• Killdeer

  Charadrius vociferus Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  316
• Red-tailed Hawk

  Buteo jamaicensis (Gmelin, 1788) · Aves
  305

Largest nearby schools

• Dwight Common School
  Elementary · Dwight · 545 students · 14.7:1 ratio
• Dwight High School
  High · Dwight · 215 students · 11.3:1 ratio
• Odell Grade School
  Elementary · Odell · 172 students · 10.8:1 ratio

Most recent

• 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 3.6 — 2023-11-15
  1 km SSW of Standard, Illinois
• M 3.2 — 2013-11-04
  1 km SSW of Lyons, Illinois
• M 2.6 — 2013-06-10
  4 km NNE of Virgil, Illinois
• M 3.8 — 2010-02-10
  2 km NW of Lily Lake, Illinois