Kappa is a village in Woodford County, Illinois,
United States. The population was 170 at the 2000 census.
In
1833, Thomas Dixon became the first settler in the Kappa area. Over the
next few years, other settlers moved in around the area, and eventually
a railroad was built through the area. On May 23, 1853 rail service
began, and postal service began. The first postmaster, William Jones,
appointed the name Montrose, but the Illinois Central Railroad preferred
Kappa. Kappa is the tenth letter in the Greek alphabet, and was applied
to the town because it was the tenth town between Dunleith (modern-day
East Dubuque, Illinois) and Bloomington.
Kappa sits on the north
side of the Mackinaw River. Approximately five miles to the southeast is
Lake Bloomington, while five miles to the southwest is Evergreen
Lake.
Since its inception, the railroad line from East Dubuque to
Bloomington has been decommissioned. In the early 1900s, SBI Route 2 was
founded, and then changed to U.S. Highway 51. U.S. 51 now bypasses the
town to the west, leaving Illinois Route 251 as the main north-south
road through town.
