WELCOME TO
PEMBROKE TOWNSHIP

Pembroke Township in Kankakee County, Illinois, was officially established on February 17, 1877, when it was created from portions of Momence Township. The community's origins, however, predate its formal organization by more than a decade. During the 1860s, the area emerged as a rural Black agricultural settlement and a significant terminal on the Underground Railroad. Among its earliest pioneers were Joseph "Pap" Tetter and Mary Eliza Tetter, formerly enslaved individuals who sought freedom and helped lay the foundation for a community rooted in self-sufficiency, land ownership, and mutual support. Their efforts, along with those of other freedom seekers, established Pembroke as a place of refuge and resilience during the Reconstruction era.