Soil Survey of McHenry County, Illinois Part I - Soil Data Mart

Soil Survey of
McHenry County, Illinois
By Dale E. Calsyn, Natural Resources Conservation Service
Fieldwork by B.W. Ray and H.L. Wascher, Department of Agronomy; A.H. Reimer,
C.A. Skimina, and P.T. Veale, Illinois Agricultural Experiment Station; and D.C. Hallbick,
E.G. Holhubner, R.L. Newbury, and L.H. Pierard, Soil Conservation Service
Updated by Dale E. Calsyn, Jeffrey A. Deniger, and Eric J. Engel, Natural Resources
Conservation Service
Additional detailed fieldwork provided by William R. Kreznor and Robert Oja,
Certified Professional Soil Classifiers
Map compilation by Jeffrey A. Deniger, Karla D. Hanson, Ellen M. Starr, and
Michael B. Walker, Natural Resources Conservation Service
United States Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service,
in cooperation with
the Illinois Agricultural Experiment Station
MCHENRY COUNTY is in northeastern Illinois. It has an
area of 391,220 acres, or 611 square miles. In 1990,
the population of the county was 183,241 (U.S.
Department of Commerce, 1990). Woodstock is the
county seat. Crystal Lake and McHenry are the largest
cities. The county is bordered by Kenosha and
Walworth Counties, Wisconsin, on the north; by Lake
County on the east; by Cook, Kane, and DeKalb
Counties on the south; and by Boone County on the
west.
This soil survey updates the survey of McHenry
County published by the University of Illinois in 1965
(Ray and Wascher, 1965). It provides additional
information and has larger maps, which show the soils
in greater detail.
General Nature of the Survey Area
This section provides general information about
McHenry County. It describes history; physiography,
relief, and drainage; natural resources; urbanization;
agriculture; transportation facilities; industry; and
climate.
History
Nancy J. Fike, McHenry County Historical Society, helped
prepare this section.
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A small number of Indians, primarily Potawatomi,
lived in the survey area. They were protected by the
Treaty of Chicago until 1836. This treaty did not really
prevent the settlement of the area by immigrants.
Some of the earliest settlers were Samuel and
Margaret Gillilan of West Virginia. In 1834, they took
up land on the west side of the Fox River between
Algonquin and Cary.
Like several other northern Illinois counties,
McHenry County looked to southern Illinois for its
name. William McHenry of White County served as a
state representative, as a major during the Black
Hawk War of 1832, and then as a state senator. When
he died in 1835, the Illinois State Legislature decided
to honor him by naming a new county after him.
McHenry County was established in 1836. It was
initially comprised of present-day McHenry and Lake
Counties. By 1839, the large population of the eastern
portion of the area warranted separation into two