Congerville, IL

Congerville began as a surveyed village with three names in one year. Joseph Schrock's site was recorded as Schrock on January 2, 1888; it became Conger on February 27, honoring early settler Ben Conger, then Congerville on July 31. That quick sequence captures a settlement being defined in real time as lots, roads, and local leadership took shape in central Woodford County. The village is now part of the Peoria metropolitan area, though its municipal address remains its own small point on the county map.

Its weather supplied another piece of local lore. On January 5, 1999, Congerville recorded -36 degrees Fahrenheit, briefly the coldest temperature ever recorded in Illinois; Mount Carroll reclaimed the mark with -38 degrees on January 31, 2019. Village Hall is at 300 East Lincoln Street, giving the community a clear civic address in the village. Congerville's local shorthand is hard to miss: three names in 1888, a Woodford County village today, and a winter reading that once made statewide history.