Bourbonnais, IL

Bourbonnais is a Kankakee County village named for Francois Jace Bourbonnais, a fur trader, hunter, and American Fur Company agent who married a Native American woman. Catholic institutions shaped the village's education history, including St. Viator College and later what became Olivet Nazarene University. The university remains one of the clearest local landmarks. Bourbonnais feels like a college village and Chicago exurban community at once, with French-Canadian roots, schools, churches, and Kankakee-area growth all layered together.