Cornell is a village in Livingston County, Illinois, United States. The population was 446 at the 2020 census. The modern town of Cornell is a blending of two towns founded at almost the same time. Both were attempting to attract a station on the new Fairbury Pontiac and Northwestern Railroad, which eventually became part of the Wabash …Cornell is a village in Livingston County, Illinois, United States. The population was 446 at the 2020 census. The modern town of Cornell is a blending of two towns founded at almost the same time. Both were attempting to attract a station on the new Fairbury Pontiac and Northwestern Railroad, which eventually became part of the Wabash Railroad. The town of Cornell was laid out by Walter P. Cornell on June 15, 1871. The adjoining town of Amity was laid out two days later by Willard D. Blake. Walter Cornell was born in Rhode Island, came to Illinois in 1837, served three years as County Treasurer, and was a director of the railroad. Blake was a farmer born in LaSalle County, Illinois, who died at the age of 35. Ironically, while the name Cornell was kept by the new town, most of the early businesses were in the Amity part of the plat. Indeed, several early houses built in Cornell were soon moved a few blocks down to the Amity part of the town. Cornell was officially organized as a town in 1873.
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