70 articles
Hammond, Indiana
Hammond, Indiana: Lake County city 20 miles south of Chicago, founded 1869 around the George H. Hammond slaughterhouse, incorporated 1883; population 77,879 (2020), retail downtown, Wolf Lake parks, and a 2026 Chicago Bears stadium proposal.
Highland Park, Illinois
Highland Park, Illinois: Lake County city on Lake Michigan about 25 miles north of Chicago, population about 30,000; home of the Ravinia Festival and site of the July 4, 2022 parade shooting.
Indianapolis
Indianapolis, capital of Indiana since 1825, is a purpose-built capital founded in 1821 with a one-mile-square plat, central circle, and four diagonal avenues adapted from Washington, DC; metro population about 2.2 million.
Janesville, Wisconsin
Janesville, Wisconsin: Rock County seat on the Rock River, founded 1835, incorporated 1853, known as Wisconsin's Park Place; former GM assembly town, 2020 population 65,615.
Joliet, Illinois
Joliet, Illinois: third-largest Illinois city (150,362 in 2020), county seat of Will County, 30 miles southwest of Chicago; named for explorer Louis Joliet; canal, steel, and intermodal freight hub.
Kenosha, Wisconsin
Kenosha, Wisconsin, originally named Southport, is a city of about 100,000 on Lake Michigan between Milwaukee and Chicago, known for its automobile manufacturing heritage and its downtown museums.
Kokomo, Indiana
Kokomo, Indiana, county seat of Howard County and the self-styled City of Firsts, is a manufacturing city of about 60,000 tied to Stellantis auto plants, EV battery investment, and Superfund cleanup sites.
La Crosse, Wisconsin
La Crosse, Wisconsin: Mississippi River city of 52,680 at the Black River confluence in the Driftless Region, founded 1841, incorporated 1856, a college town and regional health care and manufacturing hub.
Lafayette, Indiana
Lafayette, Indiana: county seat of Tippecanoe County on the Wabash River, founded by William Digby on May 25, 1825 and named for the Marquis de Lafayette; population 70,783 in 2020, home of Subaru of Indiana Automotive and Purdue University next door.
Lake Forest, Illinois
Lake Forest is a city in Lake County, Illinois, on Lake Michigan about 30 miles north of Chicago, founded in 1857 as a planned commuter suburb.
Madison, Wisconsin
Madison, Wisconsin, the state capital and seat of Dane County, founded 1837 and named for President James Madison. Sits on an isthmus between Lakes Mendota and Monona, home to the University of Wisconsin–Madison, with about 286,000 residents.
Manitowoc, Wisconsin
Manitowoc, Wisconsin: county-seat city on Lake Michigan, founded 1836, population about 34,600, known as Wisconsin's Maritime Capital for its shipbuilding, WWII submarines, USS Cobia, and S.S. Badger carferry.
Milwaukee
Milwaukee, Wisconsin's largest city, incorporated 1846 from three settlements at the Milwaukee, Menomonee, and Kinnickinnic Rivers on Lake Michigan; 577,222 residents in 2020, council-mayor government, German-immigrant brewing and manufacturing heritage.
Moline, Illinois
Moline, Illinois is a Mississippi River city of about 42,400 in the Quad Cities and global headquarters of Deere & Company, founded as a town in 1848 when John Deere moved his plow factory there.
Muncie, Indiana
Muncie, Indiana: county seat of Delaware County in east central Indiana, home of Ball State University and the historic Ball Brothers glass company; population about 65,000, manufacturing heritage, recent READI-funded downtown redevelopment.
Naperville, Illinois
Naperville, Illinois: a DuPage County city about 28-30 miles west of Chicago, founded in 1831 by Joseph Naper as Naper's Settlement. Population over 150,000, median household income $150,360, council-manager government since 1969, and a 1.75-mile Riverwalk along the DuPage River.
Nauvoo, Illinois
Nauvoo, Illinois: Mississippi River city in Hancock County, LDS Church headquarters 1839-1846, once Illinois' largest city, site of Joseph Smith's 1844 murder, the 1846 Mormon exodus, and a National Historic Landmark district.
Normal, Illinois
Normal, Illinois: McLean County town in the Bloomington-Normal twin cities, named for Illinois State Normal University. Home of Illinois State University and Rivian's EV plant; population 52,736 (2020).
Oak Park, Illinois
Oak Park, Illinois: inner-ring Cook County village incorporated 1902, just west of Chicago; about 54,000 residents, Frank Lloyd Wright architecture, 1968 fair housing ordinance and managed integration, and the Shape Oak Park zoning reform effort.
Oshkosh, Wisconsin
Oshkosh, Wisconsin: city on Lake Winnebago's western shore in Winnebago County, named for Menominee chief Oshkosh. Lumber-era "Sawdust City," home of Oshkosh Corporation, OshKosh B'Gosh, UW-Oshkosh, and EAA AirVenture, the world's largest fly-in.
Peoria, Illinois
Peoria, Illinois: city on the Illinois River, county seat of Peoria County, oldest European settlement in Illinois (French outpost, 1691, Henri de Tonti). Whiskey capital until 1920; Caterpillar hub; 2020 population 113,150.
Quincy, Illinois
Quincy, Illinois, the "Gem City," is a Mississippi River city and seat of Adams County founded by John Wood in 1819, once Illinois' second-largest city, site of an 1858 Lincoln-Douglas debate, with about 39,000 residents.
Racine, Wisconsin
Racine is a city of 77,816 people on Lake Michigan in southeastern Wisconsin, 22 miles south of Milwaukee, known for J.I. Case tractors and kringle.
Rock Island, Illinois
Rock Island, Illinois: county seat on the Mississippi in the Quad Cities; home of Rock Island Arsenal (est. 1862), Fort Armstrong, the 1856 first Mississippi bridge, and a Civil War Confederate prison camp; population 37,108 (2020).
Rockford, Illinois
Rockford, Illinois: county seat of Winnebago County on the Rock River, about 90 miles northwest of Chicago. Third-largest Illinois city, 148,655 people (2020); former furniture and "Screw City" manufacturing center.
Rosemont, Illinois
Rosemont, Illinois: a Cook County village incorporated in 1956 near O'Hare Airport, led by the Stephens family, known for the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center, Allstate Arena, Parkway Bank Park, and Fashion Outlets of Chicago.
Schaumburg, Illinois
Schaumburg, Illinois: a village about 25 miles northwest of the Chicago Loop, incorporated March 7, 1956, transformed from a German farming township into a major suburban business hub anchored by Woodfield Mall (1971), with 78,723 residents at the 2020 census.
Sheboygan, Wisconsin
Sheboygan, Wisconsin: Lake Michigan county-seat city, incorporated as a village in 1846 and Wisconsin's sixth city in 1853; 49,929 residents in 2020, known as the 'Malibu of the Midwest.'
Skokie, Illinois
Skokie, Illinois, a Cook County village of about 67,000 near Chicago, incorporated as Niles Centre in 1888, known for the 1977 Nazi march controversy, the Illinois Holocaust Museum, and its diverse population.
South Bend, Indiana
South Bend, Indiana: city on the St. Joseph River, county seat of St. Joseph County, home of Notre Dame and the Studebaker Corporation (wagons from 1852, autos 1902–1963); population about 103,000.