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Illinois: All Communities

 

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The State of Illinois is a state of the United States of America and the 21st state admitted to the Union. Illinois is the most populous state in the Midwest and the fifth most populous in the nation, and has a large and cosmopolitan population. Its balance of vast suburbs and the great metropolis of Chicago in the northeast, rural areas, small industrial cities, and renowned agricultural productivity in central and western Illinois, and the coal mines of the south give it a highly diverse economic base. Its central location, connecting the Great Lakes to the Mississippi River via the Illinois River, made it a transportation hub for 150 years. It is this mixture of factory and farm, of urban and rural, that makes Illinois a microcosm of the United States.
About 2,000 Native American hunters and a small number of French villagers inhabited the area at the time of the American Revolution. American settlers began arriving from Kentucky in the 1810s; they achieved statehood in 1818. Yankees arrived a little later and dominated the north, founding the future metropolis of Chicago in the 1830s. The coming of the railroads in the 1850s made highly profitable the rich prairie farmlands in central Illinois, attracting large numbers of immigrant farmers from Germany and Sweden. Northern Illinois provided major support for Illinoisans Abraham Lincoln and Ulysses S. Grant during the American Civil War. By 1900, factories were being rapidly built in the northern cities, along with coal mines in central and southern areas. This industrialization attracted large numbers of immigrants from Eastern and Southern Europe, and also led to the state's material contribution as a major arsenal in both world wars. In addition to immigrants from Europe, large numbers of blacks left the cotton fields of the South to come to Chicago, where they developed a famous jazz culture.

 

Of Interest

News from the Chicago Sun-Times

Urban League challenges school funding

Aug 20, 2008 10:00 am

The Chicago Urban League is challenging Illinois' school funding system. The group filed a civil rights lawsuit Wednesday in Cook County against the state and the Illinois State Board of Educati...

 
 

News from Bloomington and Southern Illinois from The Bloomington Herald-Times

Read transcript of today's chat with Mike Trexler

Aug 20, 2008 3:12 pm

Mike Trexler is the controller for the City of Bloomington controller. ...

 
 

Illinois News from BigNewsNetwork.com

Text messaging could help Obama

Aug 20, 2008 3:36 pm

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Hawaii ballots add pick-a-party box

Aug 20, 2008 3:35 pm

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Food aid sent in to suffering Georgian area

Aug 20, 2008 3:35 pm

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25 wounded as Hindus protest in Indian Kashmir

Aug 20, 2008 3:35 pm

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Rice signs missile defense deal with Poland

Aug 20, 2008 3:35 pm

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Surprised cargo screening conduct at O

Aug 20, 2008 3:19 pm

Four German Olympians caused quite a stir in Beijing before they even started the competition —sailor Petra Niemann (left), hockey striker Katharina Scholz, ...

 

Jury in Belleville to hear case against priest

Aug 20, 2008 3:19 pm

Four German Olympians caused quite a stir in Beijing before they even started the competition —sailor Petra Niemann (left), hockey striker Katharina Scholz, ...

 

Amtrak, Illinois officials to discuss service

Aug 20, 2008 3:19 pm

Four German Olympians caused quite a stir in Beijing before they even started the competition —sailor Petra Niemann (left), hockey striker Katharina Scholz, ...

 

Lieberman to speak at GOP convention

Aug 20, 2008 3:18 pm

Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman, the 2000 Democratic vice presidential hopeful, has been a staunch supporter of Republican Sen. John McCain's presidential bid.

 

Blagojevich left off list of DNC speakers

Aug 20, 2008 3:18 pm

The Democratic National Committee has invited some high-ranking officials from Barack Obama's home state to speak at the party's convention in Denver next week -- but not Gov. Rod Bl...

 
 

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Willow Lake Estates - ELS   IL

Located in the Fox River Valley, Willow Lake Estates is a beautifully landscaped community featuring ...