CANTON, a city of Fulton county, Illinois, U.S.A., near the Illinois river, about 15om. N. of St. Louis. It is served by the Burlington and the Toledo, Peoria and Western railways. The population was 10,928 in 1920, and was 11,718 in 1930 by the Fed eral census. It is the trade centre of a rich agricultural and coal mining district. The county mines over 2,000,000 tons of coal in a normal year. Ploughs have been made here since 1842, when William Parlin began using steel for their construction. The in dustry he founded is now a plant of the International Harvester Company, employing 1,500 men. Other manufactures include pit cars, spark-plugs, clothing, cigars, millwork, brick and tile. The aggregate factory output in 1925 was valued at Can ton was laid out in 1825, and was chartered as a city in 1854. Its name was suggested by that of Pekin, a city tom. east.