131 articles
Jackson, Michigan
Jackson, Michigan: county seat of Jackson County in south-central Michigan, founded 1829, incorporated 1857. Council-manager city of about 31,000 on the Grand River headwaters, site of the first Republican Convention (1854).
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.
Kalamazoo, Michigan
Kalamazoo, Michigan: county-seat city in southwestern Michigan, founded 1831 as Bronson, population about 73,000; home of Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo College, the Kalamazoo Promise tuition program, and the Foundation for Excellence.
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.
Lansing, Michigan
Lansing, Michigan, the state capital since 1847 in Ingham County at the Grand and Red Cedar rivers; incorporated 1859, population 112,644 (2020), home of the 1879 Michigan State Capitol and Olds automotive heritage.
Lima, Ohio
Lima, Ohio: Allen County seat founded by 1831 legislation, population 35,579 (2020). Site of the 1885 Trenton Limestone oil boom, once the world's most productive oilfield, and home to an Army Abrams tank plant.
London, Ohio
London, Ohio: county seat of Madison County, founded 1810 as a designated seat of justice. Population 10,279 (2020), estimated 10,813 in 2025; distinct from London, Kentucky and London, Ontario.
Lorain, Ohio
Lorain, Ohio: lakeside city at the mouth of the Black River, 25 miles west of Cleveland; about 65,000 residents; historic steel, shipbuilding, and lake port center with a large Hispanic community.
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville, home of UPS Worldport and governed as Louisville Metro since 2003, is Kentucky's largest city, founded in 1778 on the Ohio River and best known for the Kentucky Derby.
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.
Mansfield, Ohio
Mansfield, Ohio, county seat of Richland County, founded 1808 and named for surveyor general Jared Mansfield. Former railroad manufacturing hub (Ohio Brass, Tappan, Westinghouse, GM); 2020 population 47,534; now focused on downtown redevelopment.
Marietta, Ohio
Marietta, Ohio: county seat of Washington County at the Ohio-Muskingum rivers confluence; founded April 7, 1788 by the Ohio Company as the first Northwest Territory settlement; distinct from Marietta, Georgia.
Marquette, Michigan
Marquette, Michigan: largest city in the Upper Peninsula, a Lake Superior port city of about 20,600 (2020 census), seat of Marquette County, known for iron ore shipping, Northern Michigan University, and the nickname Queen City of the North.
Middletown, Ohio
Middletown, Ohio, a city in Butler and Warren counties on the Great Miami River between Cincinnati and Dayton; settled 1791, steel city of Armco and Middletown Works, population about 52,000.
Midland, Michigan
Midland, Michigan: county-seat city of about 42,500 in central Michigan, home of Dow Chemical (founded 1897), over 400 Alden B. Dow mid-century modern buildings, and site of the 2020 Edenville and Sanford dam-failure flood.
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.
Muskegon, Michigan
Muskegon, Michigan: Lake Michigan port city and Muskegon County seat, once the 'Lumber Queen of the World' (665 million board feet shipped in 1887); 38,318 residents in 2020, ferry to Milwaukee, and Muskegon Lake delisted as an EPA Area of Concern in 2025.
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.