Welcome to Essex ...
The village of Essex is located in Kankakee County<1>.
The pronunciation of Essex: ES-eks<2>
While we don't have a date for the founding of Essex, you might consider that their post office opened in 1854.
From the Census Estimates for 2019, Essex has a population of 762 people<3> (see below for details).
Essex is 580 feet [177 m] above sea level.<4>.
Time Zone: Essex lies in the Central Time Zone (CST/CDT) and observes daylight saving time
Area Codes for Essex: 815 & 779<5>
The ZIP code for Essex: 60935<6>
Population Details ...
Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, Essex had an population of 762 people. This is a decrease of 4.99% since the 2010 Census (or an increase of 37.55% since the 2000 Census).
At the time of the 2010 Census, Essex had a population of 802 people. This makes Essex the county's 10th most populous community.
With a 2010 count of 802 people, the population of Essex increased 44.77% from the 2000 Census (which had a count of 554 people).
More information can be found on the Census Page for Essex.
Communities Also Named Essex ...
While we believe that this Essex is located in Kankakee County, we know of another 2 Illinois communities named Essex. Those communities are located in the following counties: Cook and Will County.
Beyond Illinois, there are 32 communities that are also named Essex - they are located in Arkansas, California (3), Connecticut, Georgia, Iowa, Kansas (2), Maryland, Massachusetts (2), Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina (2), North Dakota, Ohio (3), Ontario, Vermont, Washington and West Virginia.
For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Essex.
Websites for Essex ...
Junior League: www.jlkankakee.org/
Communities near Essex ...
We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Essex.
- Kankakee
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kankakee
- Kankakee is located in Kankakee County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 25,668 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Kankakee <7>
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Kankakee
- From Essex to Kankakee
- Bourbonnais
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bourbonnais have been provided by the GNIS.<8> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bourbonnais
- Bourbonnais is located in Kankakee County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 19,378 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bourbonnais <7>
- Morris
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Morris have been provided by the GNIS.<8> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morris
- Morris is located in Grundy County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 15,162 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Morris <7>
- Bradley
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bradley have been provided by the GNIS.<8> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bradley
- Bradley is located in Kankakee County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 15,132 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bradley <7>
- Channahon
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Channahon have been provided by the GNIS.<8> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Channahon
- Channahon is located in Grundy County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 13,409 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Channahon <7>
- Minooka
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Minooka have been provided by the GNIS.<8> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Minooka
- Minooka is located in Grundy County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 11,456 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Minooka <7>
- Manteno
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Manteno have been provided by the GNIS.<8> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manteno
- Manteno is located in Kankakee County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 8,892 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Manteno <7>
- Manhattan
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Manhattan have been provided by the GNIS.<8> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manhattan
- Manhattan is located in Will County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 8,798 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Manhattan <7>
- Braidwood
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Braidwood
- Braidwood is located in Will County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 6,148 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Braidwood <7>
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Braidwood
- From Essex to Braidwood
- Wilmington
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Wilmington. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<9>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilmington
- Wilmington is located in Will County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 5,597 people
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Wilmington
- From Essex to Wilmington
To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.
We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Essex. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Essex.
Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Essex. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Essex.
We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Essex. See our Newspapers Page for Essex.
TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Essex ...
Looking for more information about Essex? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.
In addition to the Tourism page for Essex, there are neighboring communities that also have Tourism pages. More information about those communities can be found on our TripAdvisor Page for Essex.
Adding Essex to Our Gazetteer ...
We originally found mention of Essex in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.
From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found for Essex was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<10>
X2X - From that list, the Essex post office opened in 1854.
We also found Essex in the book titled Business Atlas and Shippers' Guide (1895).
For more details, see References and Mentions for Essex.
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Essex. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Kankakee County: www.co.kankakee.il.us/
The official website for State of Illinois: https://illinois.gov
Footnotes ...
| <1> | If you're interested in how the shape of Illinois' counties, including Kankakee, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries. |
| <2> | The pronunciation we've provided is our attempt to give a phonetic pronunciation for Essex. While it might not be exactly right, hopefully it will be close. If we have it wrong or there's a better way to pronounce the name, please contact us through our Feedback Page. |
| <3> | Population counts have been provided by the U.S. Census Bureau. For more detail, please visit our Census Page for Essex. |
| <4> | The elevation is an estimate for the area around Essex - it will be higher in some places and lower in others. |
| <5> | When there's a risk of an area code running out of phone numbers, an 'Overlay Area Code' is created that has the same geographic boundaries as the existing area code. In this case, the 815 code has been Overlayed with the 779 area code. New phone numbers in the Essex area will be assigned with one of these codes: 815 or 779. As a result, placing a call in the Essex area will require 10-digit dialing (where you enter both the area code and then the phone number). |
| <6> | ZIP Codes have been created by the United States Postal Service (USPS) as a way of grouping addresses to make delivery more efficient. The boundaries of the ZIP Code can be changed, re-assigned, eliminated or overlapped with other ZIP Codes. So keep in mind that any given ZIP Code is only 'loosely' associated with a village (such as Essex). When looking for a ZIP Code, whether Essex or elsewhere, it's always best to check the website of the United States Postal Service (USPS). |
| <7> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <8> | The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required. |
| <9> | An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace. |
| <10> | A copy of their list with background information can be found at: https://cblevins.github.io/us-post-offices/data-biography/ |