Named after a small river that flows through the county.
The county seat hasn’t always been Wheaton—Naperville claimed the honor from 1839 to 1867—and like a number of other counties in the Midwest, relocating the county seat was fraught with controversy. First put to a vote in 1857, the initiative failed, but 10 years later those for Wheaton prevailed, and when Napervillains refused to relinquish County records men from Wheaton staged a midnight raid to forcibly retrieve them.
On November 2, 1990, the present
courthouse was dedicated. Occupying over
300,000 square feet, it serves the people of
DuPage County today.
