Township government is the oldest form of government continuing to function in North America. All townships in the State of Illinois are required by law to perform three functions:

• General assistance
• Property assessment
• Road and bridge maintenance

Here at DuPage Township, we have chosen to go beyond state mandated requirements to provide a variety of other services for our residents. These include:

Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP)
Senior services
Senior and disabled transportation
Youth and family services
Food pantry
Notary public
Marriage licenses
Emergency assistance

Will County Recorder Karen A. Stukel also has a full service satellite office here. Services provided include recording all documents, including subdivision and related plat documents, and military discharges. Copies can also be obtained from a wheelchair-accessible public search computer, or from our staff member. Of course, online public document access is always available at www.willcountyrecorder.com.

Our Joseph & Sarah Levy Senior Center not only is home to many of our activities and programs, but it is also a beautiful venue for wedding receptions, parties, showers, meetings, and other events, available for weekend rentals.

Adjoining the Levy Center is our stunning Enabling Garden. Featuring a charming gazebo, raised planters, and cobbled pathways, this stunning oasis is the perfect setting for an outdoor wedding or other special occasion, and is wheelchair-accessible.

History of DuPage Township

DuPage Township, in Will County, Illinois is 6×6 square miles encompassing  most of the Village of Bolingbrook, and small portions of the villages of Plainfield and Romeoville as well as a small corner of the City of Naperville.

Named after the DuPage River, the township was established on November 6, 1849. As of the 2020 census, the population is 8,348 and it contained 29,896 housing units making it the most populous township in the county.

In the United States
Townships are the oldest form of government that continues to operate today. American settlers dating back to 1636 instituted this form of government to escape European autocratic governance. This purely grassroots democratic process was utilized at town meetings, when residents of surrounding areas would come together to discuss important issues and establish laws.

In Illinois
Township government was launched in 1849, after the Illinois Constitution of 1848 allowed voters in each county to choose to establish township governments or a county commission form of government without township units. Today, 85 of the 102 counties in Illinois have townships. The 1,433 townships serve more than 8 million residents.

About Townships
Townships are individual geographic areas that are separate from cities and counties. For example, a large city may contain several townships while one township may encompass several small towns. Township government operates at local levels and was designed to serve the basic needs of the community. It is the form of government that operates near the residents it serves. In many rural areas, townships are the only unit of government available to provide social services and road maintenance.

Township Functions
Illinois townships are required by law to perform three functions:

• General Assistance – Offer food, shelter or emergency relief for residents in need until they become self-supporting or qualify for other forms of assistance.
• Property Assessment – The Township Assessor sets property values for all properties within the township.
• Road and Bridge Maintenance – Townships collectively maintain approximately 71,000 miles of Illinois roads. This represents more than half of the road miles in the state.

The Name
Before both Bolingbrook (1965) and Romeoville (1960) were incorporated, people who lived within either of those boundaries were considered residents of the Town of DuPage.
Following this logic, the Township adopted the name DuPage which best represented the geographic area.

Birth of DuPage Township
Established April 2, 1850, at the annual town meeting held at the schoolhouse near Seth Wescott in the Town of DuPage.

What proceeded was a drafting of by-laws, an organizational outline, and an election of officers. The names of these founding officers are still present today. Boughton Road  in Bolingbrook derived its name from Collector and Constable Mathew C. Boughton. Boardman Cemetery (off Royce Road in Bolingbrook) harkens back to Harry Boardman, whose title was recorded as “Overseer of the Poor.”  While Will County Forest Preserve District’s Whalon Lake bears the last name of the Moderator and Overseer of Highway District #5.

Archives
DuPage Township has the added responsibility of maintaining the detailed records of public meetings since its founding on April 2, 1850.