By Rick Nagel and Dawn Barsanti *

OK, maybe it’s one of those things where you get a little older and you don’t want to make a big deal of your birthday.

Or maybe the Kane County Connects editor was asleep at the switch.

Whatever the reason, today (Jan. 16, 2015) is Kane County, IL’s 179th birthday! Huzzah and congratulations!

So where are the party hats and streamers, the fireworks display, the pomp and circumstance befitting the occasion? Sadly, this is it.

Alert reader Scott Berger, director of the Kane County Office of Community Reinvestment and a really nice guy, brought to our attention the Kane County seal, which clearly states, “Organized Jan. 16, 1836.”

For a few fun facts — and just to show that I’m not making this up — here’s an excerpt from the Kane County History PDF, which you can find on the County Of Kane website:

On Jan. 16, 1836, the Illinois legislature formed a new county and named it after Elias Kent Kane, the highly-respected attorney who helped draft the Illinois constitution and was the first Secretary of State. Kane was later elected to Congress and represented Illinois in the U.S. Senate until his death in 1835.

The new “Kane County” included what is now DeKalb County and part of the northern portions of Kendall. DeKalb subsequently separated from Kane County in 1837 and Kendall in 1841.

Bet you didn’t know that, did you!

And so, by the power vested in me (which is zilch, but what the heck), I say to thee, “happy birthday, Kane County, IL!”

May you have 179 more, and then some.

* To give full credit, Scott Berger brought the seal to the attention of Dawn Barsanti, and she brought it to me and made me promise to co-byline the article — probably one of those “be careful what you wish for” moments, considering how weird this article turned out to be. 🙂