In Chicago’s southwest suburbs, Oak Forest was inhabited by Native Americans in the 17th century, and has a local cemetery with burials going back to the 1830s. The city went through sudden development in the 1960s, and since that time has had a strong Irish influence, visible at the Chicago Gaelic Park cultural center and …
This city in southwest Chicagoland is right on Chicago’s city limits, sharing a boundary with the Ashburn neighborhood and sitting just south of Chicago Midway International. Burbank and the surrounding suburbs have been associated with immigration from Eastern Europe, and that heritage is still obvious at Polish restaurants and a Lithuanian cultural museum. There are …
The city of O’Fallon is in Southern Illinois’ Metro East region, a few short miles east from the Mississippi and St. Louis, Missouri. So while there’s much to enjoy close, from a thriving downtown area, to charming landmarks, superb parks and a sprawling system of bicycle trails, you’re never far from the blockbuster sights and …
This riverside city is on the edge of Chicago’s northwestern suburbs, around ten miles south of the Wisconsin border. The Fox River flows down the east side of McHenry, and can be admired at riverside parks, the new Riverwalk promenade and the Moraine Hills State Park where you can watch water traffic passing through the …
In the first half of the 20th century, this city across the Mississippi from St. Louis was the fourth-largest in Illinois, with a population of more than 80,000. Established in 1861, East St. Louis adopted the nickname, City of Champions, for the many sports stars who were born or grew up here in the late …
The spot for this Southern Illinois college town was chosen in the 1850s, between two proposed railroad stations. Southern Illinois University (SIU) came a little later in 1870 and is key to Carbondale’s identity. The campus is on the southern edge of downtown and brings culture, museums, sports action and architectural splendor. The architect and …
A county seat and city of around 24,000, Freeport is couched in the rolling Northwest Illinois countryside. The population grew suddenly from the 1850s when Freeport became a base for manufacturing. Many of the settlers at this time were German, and Freeport soon became known as “Pretzel City, USA” thanks to a popular bakery founded …
In the Metro-East area, 12 miles from St. Louis, Collinsville sits atop the bluffs over the American Bottom, the floodplain of the Mississippi. The city’s historic core can be seen Uptown along Main Street, with its medley of architectural style, historic homes, long-standing traditions and plentiful local businesses with deep roots in the area. This …
A western suburb of Chicago, Melrose Park is around ten miles west of The Loop, and you can get to Chicago OTC via the Metra in about half an hour. Melrose Park has a couple of commercial arteries, along North Avenue, with its big shopping centers and chain restaurants, and the diagonal Lake Street, featuring …
This community of 26,000 people in Chicago’s northwest suburbs is a retail hub for the area, home to Westfield’s Hawthorn Mall and a clutch of nearby shopping centers. Vernon Hills was mostly developed in the 1970s and 80s, and before that was dominated by the lavish residence of entrepreneur Samuel Insull. Now a museum belonging …