As adjacent townships grew, small settlements developed around rural crossroads, schools, churches and post offices. These centers offered goods and services and were determined by the distance the area farmers could complete a round trip in one-half day's time. Vermont Settlement, in the northwest corner of the township in sections 5–8, was the first settlement; established circa 1843 with the arrival of the Davis, Blanchard and Rice families of Vermont. Later arrivals to the settlement included the Kinley, Leppert, Piedlau and Schoger families. Tamarack crossroads was named in 1852 upon the arrival of Thomas Burnet who brought with him 4 tamarack trees from Detroit Michigan that were planted roughly a quarter-mile apart along 127th Street (originally Chaplins' Road). The crossroads included a post office that was in operation from 1858 to 1902, a general store offering hardware supplies, jewelry and watch repair, operated by Thomas Muir of Glasgow Scotland, a blacksmiths shop run by William Nairn, and a school (Tamarack School District 34) which opened in the fall of 1866 and disbanded during the Wheatland School District consolidations. Later crossroads were created along the Joliet, Elgin and Eastern Railroad. Normantown (1886-1903) and Wolfs Crossing (in Oswego Township, Kendall County 1890–1900) provided markets for farmers to weigh, sell and ship their produce. Other centers included East Wheatland Post Office originally on the Frank Boardman farm, Hoddam Post Office on the William Patterson farm, and the Tokio Post Office on the John Clow farm.