Yorkville's population has boomed in recent decades, but its most defining landmarks today would be familiar to its earliest settlers. Earl Adams built the area's first log cabin in 1833, near the prominent hill that is the site of Kendall County's historic courthouse, which early residents fought to rebuild after a devastating fire in 1887. Similarly, the Fox River and Blackberry Creek supported the community's early commerce, from the sawmill John Schneider built in the 1830s to the state's only man-made white-water course. Yorkville often fostered leaders who believed in making big contributions. Dennis Hastert, the longest-serving Republican speaker of the US House of Representatives, taught sociology, economics, and speech at Yorkville High School from 1965 to 1980. Glen D. Palmer oversaw the state's first game farm before serving as the state's conservation director from 1953 to 1961. Robert Mitchler, a Navy veteran who served as a state senator from 1964 to 1981, flew a large American flag day and night in his front yard off of Route 34.