Kidd, Illinois, was named for Robert Kidd, a former soldier under Colonel George Rogers Clark who came with the original group of settlers to what is now Monroe County in 1782 intending to settle permanently. While others chose sites near present-day Waterloo and in the American Bottoms near Moredock Lake, Kidd settled north of Fort de Chartres, where his house stood under the bluff at the head of Kidd Lake, and he died there in 1849. Much of the surrounding land was divided into long, narrow tracts running from the bluff to the river because of the Renault Grant to Revolutionary War-era militiamen, though many granted mercenaries sold their tracts to local buyers for profit. These long lots gave owners a homesite on high ground, fertile floodplain soil, access to the Mississippi River, and allowed French settlers to farm side by side while watching in one direction for possible Native American attacks. Kidd Lake State Natural Area preserves part of the once extensive American Bottoms wetlands, historically part of an 800-acre lake bed that supported wetland birds, including some now rare in Illinois, and it remains an important stop for migrating waterfowl and habitat for many birds, amphibians, and reptiles. The town later acquired the nickname Boxtown because it was boxed around the intersection of Kaskaskia Road and Stringtown Road. Several one-room schools served the area, including District 40, the Stringtown School, which opened in 1879 with Anna Pew as teacher and closed in 1951 with Lowell Harris and Carmelita Sensel as teachers, and Liddy School District 53, sometimes called Boxtown District 59, which opened in 1911 with Charles Nottmeier as first teacher and closed in 1951 with Rosa Huch as last teacher; other teachers there included Harry Lenhardt, Olga Hartmann, Adam Hoffmann, Jr., M. M. Siegfried, and Helen Kipping. Average annual attendance at that school was 50 students, and records show teachers were paid $115 per month in 1934. Kidd had a post office from January 12, 1887, until April 15, 1907, with Charles Doerr and Silas Winn serving as postmasters. Local businesses included J. W. Harbaugh Feed Service and Grocery, where the community telephone exchange switchboard was long located, and taverns such as Roy McClenahan's Tavern and Restaurant, noted for fried chicken dinners.