Bourbonnais (population 15,256) is located in northeastern Illinois in central Kankakee
County, just north of Kankakee. The town was home to the Pottawatomi Indians, who were befriended by French explorer
Robert Cavalier deLaSalle during an expedition in 1679, but it wasn't until 1830 when Canadian fur trader Francois Bourbonnais established Bourbonnais
Grove. Slowly but surely, more French Canadians made their way to the area and settled. The community was incorporated in
1875.
Bourbonnais is approximately 15 miles west of the Indiana state border. The following roadways
now lead to and from this busy metropolis: Interstate Highway 57, U.S. Route 45, Illinois Routes 17, 50, and 102. The
Kankakee River flows to the west and south of town. The Illinois Central Gulf Railroad also has tracks which pass
through town.
Notre Dame Academy's roots run deep, according to information furnished to this author from the Kankakee
County Museum. The school was the first founded in the county in 1837 as it was a public school taught by nuns from
the Congregation of Notre Dame from Montreal. Several attempts to keep a school opened failed before the nuns came on
September 21, 1860 and educated the female students in a stone house owned by Jean Baptiste Caron. Male students would
later get their own school five years later when St. Viator Academy opened.
That was an important step in the history of education as well for the history of Bourbonnais, since a number
of residents were of the Roman Catholic faith, and some had relatives that were from the Canadian province where the
Viatorian order had its headquarters in North America at the time. Notre Dame grew quickly and had 140 students enrolled during
its first year of operation.
Residents of Boubonnais were so impressed by the teaching of the Notre Dame nuns that in 1865, that the
school building (which was built in 1860 and paid for by the township) was given to them as the result of a favorable
vote. A new building was replaced a brick structure in 1910, while the existing building was transferred to the St. Viator
campus for use as an infirmary.
The closing date of the all-girls' high school occurred in June 1949 when the Superior General and
her council in Montreal decided to close the school due to low enrollment, Only 42 students were taking classes at Notre
Dame in 1948-49, and the remainder of the student body was sent to St. Joseph's Academy in Kankakee to finish out their education.
In 1955, the voters decided that it would build a public school in the community, which released
the Congregation of Notre Dame sisters from teaching in a public school setting. However, the parish that was affiliated with
the school (Maternity Blessed Virgin Mother, or Maternity BVM for short) decided to open a Catholic grade school in June 1956,
with 220 students enrolled the following September.
INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT BOURBONNAIS NOTRE DAME ACADEMY
Year opened:
1837
Year high school closed: 1949
Now operating as:
Maternity BVM Grade School
School colors:
unknown
School nickname:
unknown
School song: unknown
