This village in the Northwestern Suburbs is a 25-minute Metra ride from Chicago Union Station. Elmwood Park got its name from a park with old-growth elm trees visited by Chicagoans at the turn of the 20th century. The village has long been noted for its excellent food. Several restaurants, particularly along North Avenue, have been …
With a population that has declined sharply since its peak in the late 1970s, this city in the Chicago Southland is known for its financial difficulties and well-documented social issues. In the early 20th century Harvey was part of the early automobile highway network, the Dixie Highway, which retains its name on its way through …
The story of this city in Will County begins in the 1830s when it was chosen as the headquarters for the construction of the Illinois and Michigan Canal. The canal was the final link in a chain of waterways connecting the Great Lakes, the Gulf of Mexico via the Port of New Orleans and the …
When movie location scouts need a cozy, small-town setting, Woodstock in Northern Illinois is often top of the list. Although the Bill Murray and Andie MacDowell Classic, Groundhog Day (1993) is set in Pennsylvania, it was filmed right here in Woodstock, mostly around the quaint Woodstock Square Historic District. Woodstock is pleased with its place …
A city with a bizarre backstory, Zion was established at the turn of the 20th century as a religious community by the wealthy faith healer John Alexander Dowie. Practically all land and business in Zion was owned by his church, which ruled every aspect of the populace’s lives, even down to their choice of marriage …
The Madison County seat, Edwardsville is in the Metro East region and part of Greater St. Louis. The city is home to Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE), with a sprawling campus west of downtown, and swelling Edwardsville’s population during the semester. The center of Edwardsville is a delight, with a bustling summer market, lots of …
Officially created just after WWII, this village in Will County sits next to Joliet on the banks of Hickory Creek. As a fast-growing suburb, New Lenox has a new feel to it, having almost doubled in population since the year 2000. The village’s administrative heart is the New Lenox Commons, an endearing green space close …
Home to just over 24,000, the city of Rolling Meadows is on the Northwest Suburbs’ affluent Golden Corridor. Rolling Meadows is a relatively new community, founded by the property developer Kimball Hill in the 1950s who built a neighborhood of ranch-style homes on land once intended as a golf course for neighboring Arlington Heights. You …
Just upriver from Rockford, the city of Loves Park was incorporated in 1947 and almost doubled in population during a surge of development in the 1990s and 2000s. As well as shopping centers, great public facilities and sprawling residential neighborhoods, Loves Park encompasses a big slice of the great outdoors and the massive Rock Cut …
In the early 20th century this city in the Chicago Southland was the foremost commercial and residential center in the south of Cook County. Nowadays, Blue Island, little more than 15 minutes from downtown Chicago, is a diverse and attractive community endowed with lots of beautiful architecture dating back a century or more. You can …