Joliet is a city in Will County and a smaller portion of Kendall
County in northeast Illinois, United States. The US The Census
Bureau recorded a population of 150,362 as of the 2020 census.
It is part of the Chicago metropolitan area and is the fifth
largest city in Illinois. It is also the county seat of Will
County.
Joliet is the seat of the Diocese of Joliet in
Illinois.
In 1833, after Black Hawk's War, Charles Reed built a booth along the
west side of the Des Plaines River. Across the river in 1834, James B.
Campbell, treasurer of the canal commission, charted the village of
"Juliet," a name that local settlers had used unofficially. Just before
the depression of 1837, Juliet was incorporated as a town, but in order
to cut tax expenses, Juliet residents soon petitioned the state to
rescind their incorporation. In 1845, local residents changed the name
of the community from "Juliet" to "Joliet". Joliet was incorporated as a
city in 1852. The origin of the name was most likely a deviation from
the original name in honor of the French-Canadian explorer Louis Jolliet
who in 1673, along with the priest Jacques Marquette, rowed up the Des
Plaines River and camped. a few kilometers from current Joliet.
Maps from Jolliet's exploration of the area placed a large hill or mound
in what is now the southwestern corner of the city. The hill was called
Mount Jolliet and it was made entirely of mud. Later the place was mined
by local residents and today it is a depression. The depression was
established soon after and was known by the name of Rockdale.
Joliet is home to an area history museum and Route 66 Visitor Center,
as well as Chicagoland and Route 66 Speedway. The famous Joliet Prison
(now out of operation) which was one of the most important prisons in
Illinois for over a century is near downtown on Collins Street and has
been mentioned and used in novels, songs, poetry, movies and television.
Located at the corner of Chicago and Clinton streets, is the
historic Auditorium building. Designed by G. Julian Barnes and built of
limestone in 1891, it was controversial at the time for combining
religious, civic, and commercial uses.
As of July 1, 2008, Joliet was ranked 159th in the list of the
largest populated cities in the United States. As of the 2000 census,
the city had a population of 106,221. And according to the census
organized individually for the city of Joliet in 2008, the population of
the city was already 152,812 people. The population density was 1,077
people per square kilometer.
The population of the city for 29.5%
consists of residents under 18 years old, 10.1% - from 18 to 24 years
old, 33.1% - from 25 to 44, 16.3% - from 45 to 64 and 11.0% were
residents aged 65 and over.
The average family size was 3.39
people.
From April 1, 2000 to July 1, 2008, Joliet was the
fastest growing city in the US Midwest and the eighteenth fastest
growing city with a population of over 100,000 nationwide.
Like many other cities in the region, Joliet is heavily dependent on
the manufacturing sector. In the past, during another recession, in the
early 80s of the XX century, the unemployment rate in the city reached
25%. However, the proximity of Chicago has always partially compensated
for the lack of jobs. As a result, Joliet has been steadily transforming
from a steel town to a suburb of Chicago in recent decades.
The
entertainment sector in Joliet is represented by the Harrah’s casino and
the hotel of the same name with an entertainment complex, the Silver
Cross Field baseball complex, the Rialto Square Theater cinema, which is
one of the ten most beautiful cinemas in the world, four golf complexes,
etc.
Only about 40 miles southwest of downtown Chicago, Joliet has long
been a major transportation hub. The city straddles the Des Plaines
River, one of the major waterways in the Chicago metropolitan area, and
has one of the major ports on the Illinois-Michigan Canal, or Chicago
Sanitary and Ship Canal.
The Chicago, Rock Island, and Pacific
Railroad, Michigan Central Railroad, and predecessors to the Alton
Railroad opened lines to Joliet in 1852, 1854, and 1855, the Atchison,
Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway followed in 1888, and the Elgin, Joliet,
and Eastern Railway in 1889. The Interurbans Chicago and Joliet Electric
Railway and Chicago, Ottawa and Peoria Railway began operating in 1900
and 1912, respectively, but closed in 1933 and 1934, respectively.
Following various mergers and operator changes, Joliet is now on BNSF
Railway, Canadian National Railway, CSX Transportation (with Iowa
Interstate Railroad trackage rights), METRA and Union Pacific Railroad
lines. The main train stations are the Joliet Transportation Center for
Amtrak and METRA passenger services, the East Joliet Yard freight depot
and two transhipment stations in the area of the former arsenal on the
southern outskirts of the city.
Several state highways (US 6, 30,
52) pass through the city, including two of the oldest and most historic
in the United States, the Lincoln Highway (US 30) and Route 66. The
interchange of later-built, parallel freeways, Interstate 55 and
Interstate 80, is located on the western outskirts, in Channahon. That's
why the slogan "Crossroads of Mid-America" is on the Joliet City Crest.
Joliet is home to the Rialto Square Theater, renovated in the 1980s,
which Al Capone liked to frequent. In the city there are two casinos on
boats in the river, since the legal situation on the water is different
than on land.
Joliet State Penitentiary is on Collins Street,
near downtown. It was built in 1858 and closed in 2002. It is best known
for being a filming location for the film Blues Brothers and the TV
series Prison Break. The Stateville Correctional Center that was built
to replace it is in the neighboring town of Crest Hill.
The
Joliet Arsenal is now closed as well, and the area (which is anyway in
the neighboring community of Elwood) is now used as a cemetery and
prairie nature reserve.
In addition to the University of St. Francis, Joliet is also home to
Joliet Junior College, the oldest community college in the USA.
There are also three high schools in the city, two state and one church.
The church was formed in 1991 as a merger between two separate schools.
After the Second World War, the original state high school was
supplemented by two more, one of which has now been closed again in the
course of demographic change.
One of the nicknames given to Joliet has been the "City of
Champions." Given the numerous state and national titles earned by
Joliet Township High School and the school band over the decades.
Additionally, Joliet is home to three high schools named after him:
Joliet Central High School, Joliet West High School, and Joliet Catholic
Academy (JCA), each of which has diverse athletic programs. JCA has had
great teams in football and won more state titles than any other in
Illinois with 15 as of 2020.
Joliet is also home to the "Joliet
Slammers" Minor League team since the 2011 season at Silver Cross Field
as well as Chicagoland Speedway and Route 66 raceway, which each year
host professional races broadcast on television to large national and
international audiences.
Lester Frank Ward (1841–1913), sociologist and important founding
father of American sociology
James Keane (1856–1929) Roman Catholic
minister, Archbishop of Dubuque
Nora Bayes (1880–1928), singer
Abraham Bailey (1895–1939), baseball player
Jack Gardner (1903–1957),
jazz pianist
Andrew Gregory Grutka (1908–1993), Bishop of Gary
Katherine Dunham (1909–2006), dancer, choreographer and civil rights
activist
Lois Delaner (1911–1985), was the seventh Miss America in
1927
Mercedes McCambridge (1916–2004), actress
Audrey Totter
(1918–2013), actress
George Mikan (1924–2005), basketball player
Roger Louis Kaffer (1927–2009), Roman Catholic auxiliary bishop
Ron
Nelson (born 1929), composer and conductor
Ann Bannon (born 1932),
author and college professor
Richard Hackman (1940–2013),
psychologist
Johan Reinhard (born 1943), anthropologist
Lynne
Thigpen (1948–2003), actress
Steve Rodby (born 1954), bassist and
record producer
Allen Barnett (1955–1991), author, LGBT and AIDS
activist
Meagen Fay (born 1957), actress
Alex Pacheco (born 1958),
animal rights activist
Lucy McBath (born 1960), Democratic politician
and gun control activist
Joseph Siegel (born 1963), Catholic
minister, Bishop of Evansville
Jimmy Chamberlin (born 1964), drummer
for the Smashing Pumpkins
Vince Vieluf (born 1970), actor
Tom Reed
(born 1971), Member of the House of Representatives
Tyler Christopher
(born 1972), actor
Da Brat (born 1974), rapper and actress
Sandra
Cacic (born 1974), tennis player
Janina Gavankar (born 1980), actress
Adrianne Curry (born 1982), winner of America's Next Top Model
Allie
Quigley (born 1986), American-Hungarian basketball player
Kelly
Murphy (born 1989), volleyball player