70 articles
Alton, Illinois
Alton, Illinois: Mississippi River city in Madison County, 25 miles north of St. Louis; site of the final 1858 Lincoln-Douglas debate, home of Robert Wadlow and Miles Davis; population 25,676 (2020).
Appleton, Wisconsin
Appleton, Wisconsin: a Fox River city of about 75,000 in Outagamie, Calumet, and Winnebago counties, home of Lawrence University, the world's first hydroelectric plant (1882), and the Fox Valley's first paper manufacturing.
Arlington Heights, Illinois
Arlington Heights, Illinois: a Cook County village of about 77,000 northwest of Chicago, incorporated 1887, formerly Dunton; known for its Metra-linked downtown, large park district, and the 326-acre former Arlington Park site bought by the Chicago Bears.
Aurora, Illinois
Aurora, Illinois: Fox River city about 40 miles west of Chicago, Illinois' second-largest city (180,542 at the 2020 census), nicknamed City of Lights for its 1881 electric streetlights; CB&Q railroad shops, Hispanic-majority demographics, and a new $360 million land-based casino.
Belleville, Illinois
Belleville, Illinois: county seat of St. Clair County, founded 1814 by George Blair (French for 'beautiful city'), largest city in southern Illinois, 2020 population 42,404, MetroLink Red Line and Scott AFB nearby.
Bloomington, Illinois
Bloomington, Illinois: county seat of McLean County and twin city of Normal, population 78,680 (2020). Founded 1830s from Blooming Grove; railroad hub; State Farm, Rivian, Illinois Wesleyan, and ISU anchor its economy.
Bloomington, Indiana
Bloomington, Indiana, county seat of Monroe County and home of Indiana University Bloomington (founded as a state seminary in 1820). Population 79,168 in 2020; known for the Little 500, B-Line Trail, and a highly educated population.
Cairo, Illinois
Cairo, Illinois, is a city at the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. It was incorporated in 1818 and is protected by a 21.963-mile levee system.
Carbondale, Illinois
Carbondale, Illinois: Jackson County city founded 1852 on the Illinois Central Railroad, home of Southern Illinois University Carbondale (SIU), population about 21,800, site of the 2017 and 2024 total solar eclipses and the SIMMS transit station.
Carmel, Indiana
Carmel is the sixth-largest city in Indiana, in Hamilton County just north of Indianapolis; founded in 1837 as Bethlehem, it is known for its roundabouts and arts districts.
Champaign, Illinois
Champaign, Illinois: city founded 1855 as West Urbana beside the Illinois Central Railroad, renamed 1860; population 91,195 (2025 est.); home of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and its Research Park.
Chicago
Chicago, Illinois, the largest city in the US Midwest on Lake Michigan; county seat of Cook County. Population 2,731,585 (2025 est.); known for the 1871 Great Fire, Burnham's 1909 Plan, CTA transit, and stark neighborhood segregation and inequality.
Cicero, Illinois
Cicero, Illinois: a densely populated inner-ring town (2020 population 85,268) just west of Chicago, once the state's second largest manufacturing center and Al Capone's base, now about 87.5 percent Hispanic.
Columbus, Indiana
Columbus, Indiana, county seat of Bartholomew County on I-65, is a city of about 52,000 known as the "Athens of the Prairie" for its modernist architecture, Cummins headquarters, and the Cummins Foundation Architecture Program.
Decatur, Illinois
Decatur, Illinois: county seat of Macon County in central Illinois, founded 1823, population about 68,000. Home of ADM's North American headquarters, Lake Decatur, and Abraham Lincoln's first Illinois homestead (1830).
Des Plaines, Illinois
Des Plaines, Illinois: a Cook County city 17 miles northwest of Chicago on the Des Plaines River; 60,675 residents (2020 census), median household income $97,875, home to Rivers Casino and near O'Hare airport.
East St. Louis, Illinois
East St. Louis, Illinois: a St. Clair County city across the Mississippi from St. Louis, population 18,469 (2020), 93.7% Black, site of the deadly July 2, 1917 race massacre and long industrial decline.
Eau Claire, Wisconsin
Eau Claire, Wisconsin, is a city at the confluence of the Eau Claire and Chippewa Rivers; incorporated in 1872, it is the seventh-largest city in Wisconsin.
Elgin, Illinois
Elgin, Illinois: Fox River city about 38 miles northwest of Chicago, founded 1835, incorporated 1854; 2020 population 114,797, sixth largest in Illinois; historic dairy and Elgin National Watch Company center.
Elkhart, Indiana
Elkhart, Indiana: city of about 54,000 at the confluence of the St. Joseph and Elkhart rivers, a railroad hub since 1851 and center of the U.S. RV manufacturing industry.
Evanston, Illinois
Evanston, Illinois: home rule city in Cook County on Lake Michigan north of Chicago, home of Northwestern University; about 78,000 residents, first U.S. municipal reparations program, Envision Evanston 2045 plan.
Evansville, Indiana
Evansville, Indiana: third-largest Indiana city, county seat of Vanderburgh County on the Ohio River. Founded 1812 as McGary's Landing, named for Robert Morgan Evans; 2020 population 117,298; manufacturing-anchored economy.
Fairmount, Indiana
Fairmount, Indiana: small Grant County town (population about 2,670), settled 1830, once called Pucker; hometown and burial place of James Dean and home of Garfield creator Jim Davis, with an annual September James Dean festival.
Fond du Lac, Wisconsin
Fond du Lac, Wisconsin: county-seat city of about 44,700 at the foot of Lake Winnebago; French-named "far end of the lake," nearly Wisconsin's capital in 1836, council-manager government, Mercury Marine employer.
Fort Wayne, Indiana
Fort Wayne, Indiana: second-largest Indiana city at the confluence of the St. Marys, St. Joseph, and Maumee rivers; founded 1794, population about 273,000, manufacturing- and healthcare-driven economy with below-average living costs.
French Lick, Indiana
French Lick, Indiana: small Orange County town famed for its sulfur springs, French Lick Springs Hotel, Pluto Water, the 1931 FDR Governors' Conference, 1924 PGA, Larry Bird, and the Cook-restored resort and casino.
Galena, Illinois
Galena, Illinois: a Jo Daviess County city in the Driftless Area, founded on lead mining in 1826, once the busiest Mississippi River port between St. Paul and St. Louis, home of Ulysses S. Grant, now a preserved historic tourist town.
Gary, Indiana
Gary, Indiana: city founded 1906 by U.S. Steel as a company town for the Gary Works mill, named for Elbert H. Gary; peaked near 178,000 in 1960, now about 67,000, a Rust Belt steel city undergoing demolition and redevelopment.
Goshen, Indiana
Goshen, Indiana, the Maple City, is the county seat of Elkhart County, platted in 1831, population about 34,500, with a large Hispanic/Latino community and an RV-manufacturing-centered economy.
Green Bay, Wisconsin
Green Bay, Wisconsin: city at the mouth of the Fox River in Brown County; 2020 population 107,395. Fur-trade and lumber port, home of the Green Bay Packers and Lambeau Field, economic hub of northeastern Wisconsin.