CITIES OF '1'HE ILLINOIS BASIN Divisions of the basin.—The Illinois River Basin occupies a broad belt extending entirely across the state in a northeast southwest direction. In the lake region the basin is divided into two narrower belts; one, occupied by the Des Plaines and Fox river basins, reaching northward into Wisconsin; the other, occupied by the Kankakee Basin, extending eastward into Indiana. These two extensions of the Illinois Basin embrace between them the narrow, populous Lake Michigan Basin of Illinois. The Illinois River Basin comprises 24,040 square miles, or 43 per cent of the area of the state within which are found 49 of the 144 cities of Illinois having a population of 2,500 or more. The cities of the Illinois River Basin may be considered geographically under five divisions: (1) cities of the Des Plaines and Fox river basins; (2) cities of the Kankakee Basin; (3) cities along the Illinois River; (4) cities north and west of the Illinois River; (5) cities south and east of the Illinois River.
Cities of the Des Plaines and Fox river basins.—The largest village in Lake County, not located on the lake front, is Libertyville (1,724). Villages near the numerous lakes of the county not only serve the rural communities, but they are sought as summer resorts by many people from Chicago and other cities. Antioch (682), Grays Lake (603), Fox Lake (400), Lake Zurich (304), are among the principal villages of the district.
In northern Cook County are found Barrington (1,444), Palatine (1,144), and Arlington Heights (1,943).
In Cook County, along the Des Plaines River, there are a number of residential suburbs with excellent rapid-transit lines to Chicago. Des Plaines (2,348) is within five miles of the city limits of Chicago. River Forest (2,466) adjoins Oak Park on the west and is situated on the east bank of the Des Plaines; Melrose Park (4,806) and Maywood (8,033) are immediately west of the river beyond River Forest. Oak Park and these three other suburbs form a compact area wholly tributary to the city of Chicago, and well favored with steam, electric, and elevated railroads. A few miles farther south is Riverside (1,073), just west of which lies La Grange (5,282). At the western border of Cook County is Lemont (2,284).
To the west of the Des Plaines River, but within the Des Plaines Basin, a number of attractive cities are to be found in Dupage County. All are located where good railroad service
is provided, and all are within the suburban influence of the metropolis on the lake shore. Among these the more impor tant are: Glen Ellyn (1,763), Elmhurst (2,360), Wheaton 3,423), the county seat of Dupage County and the seat of Wheaton College, West Chi cago (2,378), Hinsdale (2,451), Downers Grove (2,601), and Naperville (3,449). More than one half of the population of Dupage County resides in these seven cities.
On the Des Plaines River in Will County are Lockport (2,555) and Joliet (34,670). The first locks in the Illinois and Michigan Canal are at Lockport, 28 miles from the junction of the canal with the South Branch of the Chicago River. Here, also, are the controlling works and the hydroelectric power plant of the Chicago Drainage Canal.
Joliet, 40 miles southwest of Chicago, is the seventh city in the state in population. More than 40 per cent of the people of Will County live in this one city. Here are the extensive works of the Illinois Steel Company. The northern Illinois State Penitentiary is located here. A dam across the Des Plaines River provides water-power. The outer belt railroad of Chicago encircles that city from the lake at Waukegan through Joliet to the lake again at Gary, Indiana, thus crossing every railroad that enters Chicago.
The important cities of the Fox River Basin are in Kane County situated in the immediate vicinity of the river along 25 miles of its course, a distance somewhat less than the north south extent of Chicago. In order from north to south, these cities are: Elgin (25,976), St. Charles (4,046), Geneva (2,451), Batavia (4,436), and Aurora (29,807). Elgin is eleventh and Aurora is ninth in population among the cities of Illinois. The 60,716 inhabitants of these five cities comprise 72 per cent of the population of Kane County. They are about 40 miles distant from Chicago, and, with Joliet and Chicago Heights, they mark the outer limit of definite suburban influ ence of the great metropolis. Although local interests and local industries are stronger than Chicago influences on this outer circle of cities, yet hundreds of persons who reside in these cities go daily to their work in the busy mart forty miles away.