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A history of the iconic department store and a city’s life over a century and a half.
Anyone who has waited in a Christmas line for the Walnut Room’s Great Tree can attest that Chicago’s loyalty to Marshall Field’s is fierce. Dayton-Hudson even had to take out advertising around town to apologize for changing the Field's hallowed green bags. And with good reason—the store and those who ran it shaped
...4) Macon County
Anyone wanting to understand how Giant City State Park in rural Makanda earned its name need only hike on the Giant City Nature Trail. Here they walk through the park's namesake rock formations, carved 20,000 years ago by the melting waters of a Pleistocene glacier that stopped a mere 1.5 miles from the park. Yet it wasn't until 1933 to 1941, when the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) operated its three work camps, that man blazed his most notable
...Situated on the Kaskaskia River is the community of Vandalia, Illinois, a town proud of its place in history and excited about its future. Vandalia has proved that as the place where Abraham Lincoln began his political career, and the location of the terminus of the Cumberland Road, it is a town of global historical importance.Vandalia, Illinois contains many previously unpublished photographs, and not only highlights Vandalia's place in Illinois
...The food that fuels hardworking Chicagoans includes such local classics as Spinning Salad, Flaming Saganaki, Jumpballs, Jim Shoes, Pizza Puffs, and Pullman Bread. The restaurants, bakeries, taverns, and pushcarts of the city, cherished from one generation to the next, offer satisfying warmth in winter and...
WHAT'S ONE ITSY, BITSY, LITTLE LIE?
Cassian Anders will be the youngest governor in Illinois history... If he wins.
That's all everyone seems to talk about these days. Jolie Coldwell isn't one of them. As a journalist, her priorities comprise digging up dirt on crooked politicians and local cover-ups. When her latest exposé on a congressman lands her in hot water, her days are
...Chicago is known throughout the world for its architecture. Although many people are familiar with the city's skyscrapers and public buildings, they often overlook or are unaware of Chicago's mansions that are located throughout the city. These mansions represent Chicago's past and its future, and it can even be said that they are the very embodiment of Chicago and its architecture. These fashionable residences were built to make a statement, and
...The Dixie Highway, once a main thoroughfare from Chicago to Miami, was part of an improved network of roads traversing the landscape of 10 states. A product of the Good Roads Movement of the early 20th century, construction on the highway in Illinois took place from 1916 to 1921. When completed in 1921, the Dixie Highway was the longest continuous paved road in the state. It ran through parts of Cook, Will, Kankakee, Iroquois, and Vermilion Counties,
...13) Wicked Decatur
From dancing at Hanley's House of Happiness to raising pints at Kelly's Pub on St. Patrick's Day, the history of the Irish community in Chicago is told through stories of its gathering places. Families are drawn to the pub after Sunday church, in the midst of sporting events, following funerals, and during weddings. In good times and bad, the pub has been a source of comfort, instruction, and joy—a constant in a changing world. Based on interviews
...18) Aurora
Covered wagons brought a wave of migration to northern Illinois in the mid-1830s. On April 1, 1834, the first permanent white settlers, Joseph McCarthy and two assistants, paddled up the Fox River. The vicinity was known as Waubonsie's Village at that time. They built a log cabin, a dam across the Fox, and eventually a sawmill. The village had about 400 Native Americans who bartered fish for bread and tobacco. For almost 175 years now, growth has
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