York Woods became DuPage County's first forest preserve with a 1917 purchase that began efforts to protect land for the pleasure and recreation of county residents. The county bought the 70 acres in order to build a road, a purpose that was not especially conservation-minded by today's standards, but one that drew strong interest from county commissioners, road supervisors, and public-spirited citizens. The road extended 12th Street, now Roosevelt Road, from Chicago so motorists would have a direct thirty mile drive without a turn through the southern edge of Wheaton. Since then, the county has added many roads, while York Woods and the Forest Preserve District's other 25,000 acres of open spaces have remained popular retreats from them.