Canal Boat at LaSalle IL.
LaSalle IL. has a canal boat you can ride on down the historic Illinois & Michigan canal heritage corridor.
Illinois & Michigan Canal National Heritage Corridor, Joliet, Illinois
This canal was built in the 1830s and 1840s along the portage between Lake Michigan and the Illinois River, which had long been used as an American Indian trade route. The canal rapidly transformed Chicago from an isolated crossroads into a critical transportation hub between the East and the developing Midwest. A 61-mile recreational trail follows the canal towpath.
The Illinois-Michigan Canal Trail.mov
The I & M Canal Trail from Ottawa to LaSalle is very interesting and scenic. You will go through two state parks (Starved Rock and Buffalo Rock) on this stretch. Take a camera, you never know what you might see.
My Painting of Illinois & Michigan Canal - Lock 14 and 15 in LaSalle IL around 1900
I spent over two months working on this painting and i must say it was not easy for me. But i am glad i made the goal and stuck with it. I will have prints available for those who are interested. I was aided by many photos i collected of the area through the local libraries and other historians of the area. Each picture offered new details. My aim was to be as accurrate as i could be. The canal boat IRENE was named after a boat that traversed the canal. The train type is also indicitive of a late 1890s steam loco with wood-sided coaches. The steam boat also was duplicated from a boat in LaSalle at one time. The factories off to the right and so on. Of course i wish i had more photos to work from but i did my best with what i had. It gives people a glimpse of what the area was like around 1900.This painting is acryllic and is 16x20 in size.
I-80 to Peru, Illinois.
2010RoadTripUSA. Part 2. August 20, 2010. From a Michigan Rest stop to Peru, Illinois.
Music by Skalpel.
Interstate 80 (I-80) is the second-longest Interstate Highway in the United States (following Interstate 90). I-80 connects downtown San Francisco, California, toTeaneck, New Jersey. I-80 is the Interstate Highway that most closely approximates the route of the Lincoln Highway, the first auto trail to cross the country. This Interstate Highway roughly traces other historically significant travel routes in the Western United States: the Oregon Trail across Wyoming and Nebraska, theCalifornia Trail across most of Nevada and California, and except in the Great Salt Lake area, the entire route of the First Transcontinental Railroad.
From near Chicago, Illinois, east to near Youngstown, Ohio, Interstate 80 is a toll road - containing a portion of the Indiana Toll Road and the majority of the Ohio Turnpike. At Youngstown, I-80 leaves the toll road, which continues toward Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. I-80 becomes the Keystone Shortway, a freeway built across northern Pennsylvania expressly for I-80.
Peru is a city in LaSalle County, Illinois, United States. The population was 9,835 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Ottawa--Streator Micropolitan Statistical Area.
Peru is located at 41°20′4″N 89°7′39″W
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 6.1 square miles (15.7 km²), of which, 5.9 square miles (15.4 km²) of it is land and 0.1 square miles (0.3 km²) of it (1.82%) is water.
Located on the Illinois River, Peru lies 3 miles (4.8 km) west of the intersection of two major interstate highways: Interstate 39 and Interstate 80. The city is also the western terminus of the historic Illinois and Michigan Canal. Starved Rock State Park, a regional tourist attraction, is located 5 miles (8.0 km) south-east of the community. Peru has a twin city on its eastern edge, LaSalle.
The city's first settler was John Hays, who arrived in 1830. The town became a successful river port, but with the construction of the Illinois & Michigan Canal, it was soon eclipsed by La Salle. After the closing of the Illinois & Michigan canal, Peru regained status as a port.
The city was organized as a borough in 1838, and was officially incorporated as a city on March 13, 1851.
The city is the birthplace and hometown of world renowned violinist Maud Powell, who was born on 1112 Bluff Street, where the 251 bridge currently stands. The city was home to Turn Hall, which was the location of Maud Powell's first performance. (wikipedia)
Chicago, Cook, DuPage, Illinois, United States
Chicago, a city in the U.S. state of Illinois, is the third most populous city in the United States and the most populous city in the American Midwest, with approximately 2.7 million residents. Its metropolitan area, which extends into Indiana and Wisconsin, is the third-largest in the United States, after those of New York City and Los Angeles, with an estimated 9.8 million people. Chicago is the county seat of Cook County, though a small portion of the city limits also extends into DuPage County. Chicago was incorporated as a city in 1837, near a portage between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River watershed. Today, Chicago is listed as an alpha+ global city by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network, and ranks seventh in the world in the 2012 Global Cities Index. The city is an international hub for finance, commerce, industry, telecommunications, and transportation, with O'Hare International Airport being the second-busiest airport in the world in terms of traffic movements. In 2008, Chicago hosted 45.6 million international and domestic visitors. Among metropolitan areas, Chicago has the fourth-largest gross domestic product (GDP) in the world, just behind Tokyo, New York City, and Los Angeles, and ranking ahead of London and Paris. Chicago is one of the most important Worldwide Centers of Commerce and trade. Chicago's notability has found expression in numerous forms of popular culture, including novels, plays, films, and songs. The city has many nicknames, which reflect the impressions and opinions about historical and contemporary Chicago. The best-known include Windy City and Second City.Chicago is located in northeastern Illinois on the southwestern shores of Lake Michigan. It is the principal city in Chicago Metropolitan Area situated in the Midwestern United States and the Great Lakes region. Chicago rests on a continental divide at the site of the Chicago Portage, connecting the Mississippi River and the Great Lakes watersheds. The city lies beside huge freshwater Lake Michigan, and two rivers the Chicago River in downtown and the Calumet River in the industrial far South Side flow entirely or partially through Chicago. Chicago is a major port city as the St Lawrence Seaway connects Lake Michigan with the Atlantic Ocean. The Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal, which runs to the west of the City, connects the Chicago River with the Mississippi River, the fourth-longest river in the world. Chicago's history and economy are closely tied to its proximity to Lake Michigan. While the Chicago River historically handled much of the region's waterborne cargo, today's huge lake freighters use the city's Lake Calumet Harbor on the South Side. The lake also provides another positive effect, moderating Chicago's climate; making waterfront neighborhoods slightly warmer in winter and cooler in summer. When Chicago was founded in 1833, most of the early building began around the mouth of the Chicago River, as can be seen on a map of the city's original 58 blocks. The overall grade of the city's central, built-up areas, is relatively consistent with the natural flatness of its overall natural geography, generally exhibiting only slight differentiation otherwise. The average land elevation is 579 ft (176 m) above sea level. The lowest points are along the lake shore at 577 ft (176 m), while the highest point, at 735 ft (224 m), is a landfill located in the Hegewisch community area on the city's far south side. The Chicago Loop is the central business district, but Chicago is also a city of neighborhoods. Lake Shore Drive runs adjacent to a large portion of Chicago's lakefront. Some of the parks along the waterfront include Lincoln Park, Grant Park, Burnham Park and Jackson Park. Thirty-three public beaches are also found along the waterfront. Landfill extends into portions of the lake providing space for Navy Pier, Northerly Island, the Museum Campus, and large portions of the McCormick Place Convention Center. Most of the city's high-rise commercial and residential buildings can be found close to the waterfront. An informal name for the entire Chicago metropolitan area is Chicagoland. There is no precise definition for the term Chicagoland, but it generally means the city and its suburbs combined together. The Chicago Tribune, which coined the term, includes the city of Chicago, the rest of Cook County, eight nearby Illinois counties: Lake, McHenry, DuPage, Kane, Kendall, Grundy, Will and Kankakee, and three counties in Indiana: Lake, Porter and LaPorte. The Illinois Department of Tourism defines Chicagoland as Cook County without the city of Chicago, and only Lake, DuPage, Kane and Will counties. The Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce defines it as all of Cook and DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry and Will counties.
Channahon Illinois | I&M Canal | Drone Footage | 2017
The Illinois and Michigan Canal connected the Great Lakes to the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico. It ran 96 miles (154 km) from the Chicago River in Bridgeport, Chicago to the Illinois River at LaSalle-Peru. The canal crossed the Chicago Portage and helped establish Chicago as the transportation hub of the United States, before the railroad era. It was opened in 1848, its function was largely replaced by the wider and shorter Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal in 1900 and it ceased transportation operations with the completion of the Illinois Waterway in 1933
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Starved Rock State Park
Starved Rock is a huge stony hand that lords over the landscape above the Illinois River. According to legend, in the 1760′s the Potawatomi and the Ottawa surrounded a band of Illiniwek atop this butte, and held their ground until the Illiniwek died of starvation.
There is an idea maze of trails through 18 canyons in this park, and we set off to hike a few, including French and LaSalle at the edge of the woods, along the Illinois River, whose waters ripple with the drift of eagles for much of the year. We veer inland, through clusters of Virginia bluebells, and floral arrays of marsh marigolds, wild iris, trillium and Dutchman’s breeches, plus purple-flowered spiderworts, nodding columbine and blooms of shooting star. We step up a steep walled sandstone slit to a silky waterfall. This is unexpected. It looks like Arizona. Here, in this quiet warm-toned canyon, with a crack to heaven, there is the kind of repose that inspires poets and dreamers. There is a sense of collaborating with the forces behind the pageant of the world.
I next board a packet boat called “The Volunteer,” a 76-foot replica of a 19th-century canal boat that plied the 96-mile, hand-dug I & M (Illinois and Michigan) Canal, with a lock system from the designs of Leonardo da Vinci. This is the canal that turned Chicago from a swamp into a global commerce hub, as it connected Lake Michigan to the Mississippi River, allowing cheap water transport to, from and between the East Coast and The Gulf of Mexico, enabling the efficient mixing of ideas and markets.
There is less than a mile of the once great canal open for navigation, between two turtle-filled locks in LaSalle, and just two mules, Moe and Larry, who now trudge the towpath pulling the craft. Legends still swirl, though. Wild Bill Hickok was a mule tender here; Lincoln took his family on a trip; and the Marx Brothers were chicken farmers nearby.
I & M Canal Bike Trail from Lemont Road to Lockport (Route 7)
Here is the ending point in Lockport:
Illinois and michigan canal
had some flutter in the brushless gimbal i have since lowered the power setting to the tilt motor using simple BGC controller
Amazing Camping Spots In Illinois. TOP 16
Amazing Camping Spots In Illinois. TOP 16 List: Cave-in-Rock State Park, Mississippi Palisades State Park, Lake Michigan, Shabbona Lake, Starved Rock State Park, Hennepin Canal State Park, Ferne Clyffe State Park, Pere Marquette State Park, Kayak Morris, Illinois Beach State Park, Giant City State Park, Apple River Canyon State Park, White Pines Forest State Park, Kankakee River State Park, Gebhard Woods State Park, Kickapoo State Recreation Area
Flooding at the Illinois River and I&M Canal Lock 16
This is the Illinois River from Water Street in Peru Illinois and then the Illinois and Michigan Canal Lock 16 in LaSalle Illinois on April 19, 2013
Illinois | Wikipedia audio article
This is an audio version of the Wikipedia Article:
Illinois
Listening is a more natural way of learning, when compared to reading. Written language only began at around 3200 BC, but spoken language has existed long ago.
Learning by listening is a great way to:
- increases imagination and understanding
- improves your listening skills
- improves your own spoken accent
- learn while on the move
- reduce eye strain
Now learn the vast amount of general knowledge available on Wikipedia through audio (audio article). You could even learn subconsciously by playing the audio while you are sleeping! If you are planning to listen a lot, you could try using a bone conduction headphone, or a standard speaker instead of an earphone.
You can find other Wikipedia audio articles too at:
You can upload your own Wikipedia articles through:
The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.
- Socrates
SUMMARY
=======
Illinois ( (listen) IL-ih-NOY) is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is the 6th-most populous U.S. state and 25th-largest state in terms of land area, and is often noted as a microcosm of the entire United States. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in northern and central Illinois, and natural resources such as coal, timber, and petroleum in the south, Illinois has a diverse economic base, and is a major transportation hub. The Port of Chicago connects the state to other global ports around the world from the Great Lakes, via the Saint Lawrence Seaway, to the Atlantic Ocean; as well as the Great Lakes to the Mississippi River, via the Illinois Waterway on the Illinois River. The Mississippi River, the Ohio River, and the Wabash River form parts of the boundaries of Illinois. For decades, Chicago's O'Hare International Airport has been ranked as one of the world's busiest airports. Illinois has long had a reputation as a bellwether both in social and cultural terms and politics.
The capital of Illinois is Springfield in central Illinois. Although today, the state's largest population center is in and around Chicago in the northeastern part of the state, the state's European population grew first in the west, with French who settled along the Mississippi River, and gave the area the name Illinois Country. After the American Revolutionary War established the United States, American settlers began arriving from Kentucky in the 1780s via the Ohio River, and the population grew from south to north. In 1818, Illinois achieved statehood. After construction of the Erie Canal increased traffic and trade through the Great Lakes, Chicago was founded in the 1830s on the banks of the Chicago River, at one of the few natural harbors on southern Lake Michigan. John Deere's invention of the self-scouring steel plow turned Illinois's rich prairie into some of the world's most productive and valuable farmland, attracting immigrant farmers from Germany and Sweden. The Illinois and Michigan Canal (1848) made transportation between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River valley faster and cheaper. New railroads carried immigrants to new homes, as well as being used to ship commodity crops to Eastern markets. The state became a transportation hub for the nation.By 1900, the growth of industrial jobs in the northern cities and coal mining in the central and southern areas attracted immigrants from Eastern and Southern Europe. Illinois was an important manufacturing center during both world wars. The Great Migration from the South established a large community of African Americans in the state, including Chicago, who created the city's famous jazz and blues cultures. Chicago, the center of the Chicago Metropolitan Area, became a global alpha-level city.
Three U.S. presidents have been elected while living in Illinois: Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, and Barack Obama. Additionally, Ronald Reagan, whose political career was based in California, was born and raised in Illinois. Today, Illinois honors Lincoln with its official state slogan, Land of Lincoln, which has been displayed on its license plates since 1954. The state is the site of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, located in the state capital of Springfield, and the future home of the Barack Obama Presidential Center in Chicago.
Historic I&M Canal 4K DJI Mavic Air Drone Video
Got some nice clips of the I&M canal with the DJI Mavic Air and the Sony AX100
This little canal might not look like much, but the I&M canal changed our lives so much, and in so many ways if not for the canal Chicago would have never been the powerhouse trading center it turned out to be. The history of this waterway and trails touch just about every one in one form or another from Wild Bill Hickok and Abraham Lincoln to some of our best-known films like The Blue Brother and Natural Born Killers to cities like Lockport, Joliet, and Chicago.
Including a link to the I&M Canal National Heritage web site and some facts from Wikipedia if you would like to read up on the history of the canal.
I&M Canal National Heritage website
The Illinois and Michigan Canal connected the Great Lakes to the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico. In Illinois, it ran 96 miles (154 km) from the Chicago River in Bridgeport, Chicago to the Illinois River at LaSalle-Peru. The canal crossed the Chicago Portage, and helped establish Chicago as the transportation hub of the United States, before the railroad era. It was opened in 1848.
Canals, in the 1800s, were important modes of transportation. The I&M Canal connected the Mississippi Basin to the Great Lakes Basin. The canal influenced Illinois's north border. The Erie Canal and the Illinois and Michigan Canal cemented cultural and trade ties to the Northeast rather than the South. Before the canal, farming in the region was limited to subsistence farming. The canal made agriculture in northern Illinois profitable, opening up connections to eastern markets. With the expansion of agriculture, the canal created the city of Chicago. Without the initial stimulus of the canal, Chicago would not have attracted the populations, railroads and the industry that it did.
Construction on the canal began in 1836, although it was stopped for several years due to an Illinois state financial crisis related to the Panic of 1837. The Canal Commission had a grant of 284,000 acres (115,000 ha) of federal land which it sold at $1.25 per acre (309 $/km²) to finance the construction. Still, money had to be borrowed from eastern U.S. and British investors to finish the canal.
Most of the canal work was done by Irish immigrants who previously worked on the Erie Canal. The work was considered dangerous, and many workers died, although no official records exist to indicate how many. The Irish immigrants who toiled to build the canal were often derided as a sub-class and were treated very poorly by other citizens of the city.
The canal was finished in 1848 at a total cost of $6,170,226. Chicago Mayor James Hutchinson Woodworth presided over the opening ceremony. Pumps were used to draw water to fill the canal near Chicago, which was soon supplemented by water from the Calumet Feeder Canal. The feeder was supplied by water from the Calumet River and originated in Blue Island, Il. The DuPage River provided water farther south. In 1871 the canal was deepened to speed up the current and to improve sewage disposal.
The canal was eventually 60 feet (18 m) wide and 6 feet (1.8 m) deep, with towpaths constructed along each edge to permit mules to be harnessed to tow barges along the canal. Towns were planned out along the path of the canal spaced at intervals corresponding to the length that the mules could haul the barges. It had seventeen locks and four aqueducts to cover the 140-foot (43 m) height difference between Lake Michigan and the Illinois River. From 1848 to 1852 the canal was a popular passenger route, but passenger service ended in 1853 with the opening of the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad that ran parallel to the canal. The canal had its peak shipping year in 1882 and remained in use until 1933.
The actual origin site of the I&M Canal has been converted into a nature park that integrates history, ecology, and art to communicate the Canal's importance in the development of Chicago. In 2003 the Chicago Park District - in cooperation with the I & M Canal Association, hired Conservation Design Forum to develop plans to convert the brownfield site into a landscape that provided for passive recreational uses in a landscape setting with native plant species. Interpretive panels built into a wall along a bike trail were designed by local high school art students.
Today much of the canal is a long, thin linear park with canoeing and a 62.5-mile (100.6 km) hiking and biking trail (constructed on the alignment of the mule towpaths). It also includes museums and historical canal buildings. It was designated the first National Heritage Corridor by US Congress in 1984.
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Illinois | Wikipedia audio article
This is an audio version of the Wikipedia Article:
Illinois
00:03:22 1 Etymology
00:04:52 2 History
00:05:01 2.1 Pre-European
00:07:50 2.2 European exploration and settlement prior to 1800
00:09:26 2.3 19th century
00:09:35 2.3.1 Prior to statehood
00:11:18 2.3.2 The State of Illinois prior to the Civil War
00:15:55 2.3.3 Civil War and after
00:17:14 2.4 20th century
00:20:06 3 Geography
00:20:27 3.1 Boundaries
00:21:27 3.2 Topography
00:22:17 3.3 Divisions
00:25:43 3.4 Climate
00:28:33 4 Demographics
00:32:47 4.1 Birth data
00:33:14 4.2 Urban areas
00:35:30 4.3 Languages
00:36:26 4.4 Religion
00:36:34 4.4.1 Christianity
00:37:27 4.4.1.1 Importance in the Latter Day Saint Movement
00:38:04 4.4.2 Other Abrahamic religious communities
00:39:09 4.4.3 Other religions
00:39:24 5 Economy
00:40:00 5.1 Taxes
00:41:09 5.2 Agriculture
00:42:49 5.3 Manufacturing
00:44:01 5.4 Services
00:44:43 5.5 Investments
00:45:20 5.6 Energy
00:45:44 5.6.1 Coal
00:47:39 5.6.2 Petroleum
00:48:25 5.6.3 Nuclear power
00:49:32 5.6.4 Wind power
00:51:04 5.6.5 Biofuels
00:51:55 6 Culture
00:52:03 6.1 Museums
00:53:47 6.2 Music
00:55:35 6.3 Movies
00:56:15 6.4 Sports
00:56:24 6.4.1 Major league sports
00:58:10 6.4.2 Other top-level professional sports
00:58:42 6.4.3 Minor league sports
01:00:05 6.4.4 College sports
01:02:37 6.4.5 Former Chicago sports franchises
01:02:47 6.4.5.1 Folded teams
01:05:16 6.4.5.2 Relocated teams
01:05:54 6.4.6 Professional sports teams outside Chicago
01:06:36 6.4.7 Motor racing
01:07:26 6.4.8 Golf
01:08:27 7 Parks and recreation
01:09:19 8 Law and government
01:11:15 9 Politics
01:11:24 9.1 Party balance
01:14:05 9.2 History of corruption
01:15:36 9.3 U.S. Presidential Elections
01:17:14 9.4 African-American U.S. senators
01:17:46 9.5 Political families
01:18:03 9.5.1 Stevensons
01:19:03 9.5.2 Daleys
01:19:42 10 Education
01:19:51 10.1 Illinois State Board of education
01:20:29 10.2 Primary and secondary schools
01:21:18 10.3 Colleges and universities
01:22:52 11 Infrastructure
01:23:01 11.1 Transportation
01:23:20 11.1.1 Airports
01:24:41 11.1.2 Rail
01:26:02 11.1.3 Interstate highway system
01:26:51 11.1.4 U.S. highway system
01:27:24 11.2 Gallery
01:27:32 12 Miscellaneous
01:28:04 13 See also
Listening is a more natural way of learning, when compared to reading. Written language only began at around 3200 BC, but spoken language has existed long ago.
Learning by listening is a great way to:
- increases imagination and understanding
- improves your listening skills
- improves your own spoken accent
- learn while on the move
- reduce eye strain
Now learn the vast amount of general knowledge available on Wikipedia through audio (audio article). You could even learn subconsciously by playing the audio while you are sleeping! If you are planning to listen a lot, you could try using a bone conduction headphone, or a standard speaker instead of an earphone.
You can find other Wikipedia audio articles too at:
You can upload your own Wikipedia articles through:
The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.
- Socrates
SUMMARY
=======
Illinois ( (listen) IL-ih-NOY) is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is the 6th-most populous U.S. state and 25th-largest state in terms of land area, and is often noted as a microcosm of the entire United States. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in northern and central Illinois, and natural resources such as coal, timber, and petroleum in the south, Illinois has a diverse economic base, and is a major transportation hub. The Port of Chicago connects the state to other global ports around the world from the Great Lakes, via the Saint Lawrence Seaway, to the Atlantic Ocean; as well as the Great Lakes to the Mississippi River, via the Illinois Waterway on the Illinois River. The Mississippi River, the Ohio River, and the Wabash River form parts of the boundaries of Illinois. For decades, Chicago's O'Hare International Airport has been ranked as one of the world's busiest airports. Illinois has long had a reputation as a bellwether both in social and cultural terms and politics.
The capital of Illinois is Springfield in central Illinois. Although today, the state's largest population center is in and around Chicago in the northeastern part of the state, the state's European population grew first in the west, with French who settled along the Mississippi River, and gave the area the name Illinois Country. After the American Revolutionary War established the United States, American settlers began arriving from Kentucky in the 1780s via the Ohio River, and the population grew from south to north. In 1818, Illinois achieved statehood. After construction of the Erie Canal increased traffic and trade through the Great Lakes, Chicago was founded in the 1830s on th ...
Illinois Adventure #1803 Bureau County Historical Museum
The Bureau County Historical Museum, located in Princeton, Illinois, is home to a wide variety of local historical items, Abraham Lincoln political memorabilia, military equipment, and more. It also has a very large collection of photographer Henry W. Immke's work.
Rivers of Illinois: Tourism Impacts on Local Communities
Learn about the many aspects of the rivers of Illinois.
Chicago:The Loop
The Loop, is the central business district in the downtown area of the city.
In what is now the Loop, on the south bank of the Chicago River near today's Michigan Avenue Bridge, the United States Army erected Fort Dearborn in 1803, the first settlement in the area sponsored by the United States. In the late nineteenth century cable car turnarounds and a prominent elevated railway encircled the area, giving the Loop its name. Around the same time some of the world's earliest skyscrapers were constructed in the area. In 1908, Chicago addresses were made uniform by naming the intersection of State Street and Madison Street in the Loop as the origin of the Chicago street grid.
Loop architecture has been dominated by skyscrapers and high-rises since early in its history. Notable buildings include the Home Insurance Building, considered the world's first skyscraper (demolished in 1931); the Chicago Board of Trade Building, a National Historic Landmark; and Willis Tower, the world's tallest building for nearly 25 years.
The Loop contains a wealth of outdoor sculpture, including works by Pablo Picasso. Chicago's cultural heavyweights, such as the Art Institute of Chicago, the Goodman Theatre, the Chicago Theatre, the Lyric Opera at the Civic Opera House building, and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, are also in this area, as is the historic Palmer House Hilton hotel, found on East Monroe Street.
Chicago's waterfront, which is almost exclusively recreational beach and park areas from north to south, features Grant Park in the downtown area.
The Loop is the seat of Chicago's government. It is also the government seat of Cook County and houses an office for the governor of the State of Illinois.
According to the 2010 census, 29,283 people live in the neighborhoods in or near the Loop. The median sale price for residential real estate was $710,000 in 2005 according to Forbes.
The neighborhood includes former railyards that have been redeveloped as new-town-in-town such as Dearborn Park and Central Station. Former warehouses and factory lofts have been converted to residential buildings, while new townhouses and highrises have been developed on vacant or underused land. A major landowner in the South Loop is Columbia College Chicago, a private school that owns 17 buildings.
The South Loop was historically home to vice districts, including the brothels, bars, burlesque theaters, and arcades. Inexpensive residential hotels on Van Buren and State Street made it one of the city's Skid Rows until the 1970s. One of the largest homeless shelters in the city, the Pacific Garden Mission, was located at State and Balbo from 1923 to 2007, when it moved to 1458 S. Canal St.
The Loop also contains the Chicago Landmark Historic Michigan Boulevard District, which is the section of Michigan Avenue opposite Grant Park and Millennium Park.
The Loop Retail Historic District is a shopping district within the Chicago Loop.
The Loop, along with the rest of downtown Chicago, is the second largest commercial business district in the United States, after New York City's Midtown Manhattan. Its financial district near LaSalle Street is home to the CME Group's Chicago Board of Trade and Chicago Mercantile Exchange.
Aon Corporation maintains its headquarters in the Aon Center. Chase Bank has its commercial and retail banking headquarters in Chase Tower. Exelon also has its headquarters in the Chase Tower. United Airlines has its headquarters in Willis Tower. United moved its headquarters to Chicago from Elk Grove Township, Illinois in early 2007. In addition, United's parent company, United Continental Holdings, also has its headquarters in Willis Tower. Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association has its headquarters in the Michigan Plaza complex. Sidley Austin and Morton Salt are both headquartered in the Loop.
Michigan | Wikipedia audio article
This is an audio version of the Wikipedia Article:
00:03:01 1 History
00:04:27 1.1 17th century
00:05:29 1.2 18th century
00:09:17 1.3 19th century
00:13:14 1.4 20th and 21st centuries
00:18:50 2 Government
00:18:59 2.1 State government
00:23:15 2.2 Law
00:23:52 2.3 Politics
00:28:38 2.4 Administrative divisions
00:30:30 3 Geography
00:37:54 3.1 Climate
00:39:54 3.2 Geology
00:41:18 4 Demographics
00:41:27 4.1 Population
00:45:50 4.2 Birth data
00:46:27 4.3 Languages
00:47:40 4.4 Religion
00:50:36 5 Economy
00:55:38 5.1 Taxation
00:57:03 5.2 Agriculture
00:59:29 5.3 Tourism
01:02:35 6 Transportation
01:02:44 6.1 Canadian international crossings
01:03:50 6.2 Railroads
01:04:33 6.3 Roadways
01:07:39 6.4 Airports
01:08:24 7 Large cities, townships, and metropolitan areas
01:10:14 8 Education
01:11:16 9 Culture
01:11:25 9.1 Arts
01:11:33 9.1.1 Music
01:12:14 9.1.2 Performance arts
01:12:59 9.2 Sports
01:15:36 10 State symbols and nicknames
01:16:33 11 Sister regions
01:16:48 12 See also
Listening is a more natural way of learning, when compared to reading. Written language only began at around 3200 BC, but spoken language has existed long ago.
Learning by listening is a great way to:
- increases imagination and understanding
- improves your listening skills
- improves your own spoken accent
- learn while on the move
- reduce eye strain
Now learn the vast amount of general knowledge available on Wikipedia through audio (audio article). You could even learn subconsciously by playing the audio while you are sleeping! If you are planning to listen a lot, you could try using a bone conduction headphone, or a standard speaker instead of an earphone.
Listen on Google Assistant through Extra Audio:
Other Wikipedia audio articles at:
Upload your own Wikipedia articles through:
There is only one good, knowledge, and one evil, ignorance.
- Socrates
SUMMARY
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Michigan ( (listen)) is a state in the Great Lakes and Midwestern regions of the United States. The state's name, Michigan, originates from the Ojibwe word mishigamaa, meaning large water or large lake. Michigan is the tenth most populous of the 50 United States, with the 11th most extensive total area, and is the largest state by total area east of the Mississippi River. Michigan has a population of about 10 million. Its capital is Lansing and its largest city is Detroit. Metro Detroit is among the nation's most populous and largest metropolitan economies.
Michigan is the only state to consist of two peninsulas. The Lower Peninsula, to which the name Michigan was originally applied, is often noted as shaped like a mitten. The Upper Peninsula (often called the U.P.) is separated from the Lower Peninsula by the Straits of Mackinac, a five-mile (8 km) channel that joins Lake Huron to Lake Michigan. The Mackinac Bridge connects the peninsulas. The state has the longest freshwater coastline of any political subdivision in the world, being bounded by four of the five Great Lakes, plus Lake Saint Clair. As a result, it is one of the leading U.S. states for recreational boating. Michigan also has 64,980 inland lakes and ponds. A person in the state is never more than six miles (9.7 km) from a natural water source or more than 85 miles (137 km) from a Great Lakes shoreline.The area was first settled by Native American tribes, whose successive cultures occupied the territory for thousands of years. Colonized by French explorers in the 17th century, it was claimed as part of New France. After France's defeat in the French and Indian War in 1762, the region came under British rule. Britain ceded this territory to the newly independent United States after Britain's defeat in the American Revolutionary War. The area was part of the larger Northwest Territory until 1800, when western Michigan became part of the Indiana Territory. Michigan Territory was formed in 1805, but some of the northern border with Canada was not agreed upon until after the War of 1812. Michigan was admitted into the Union in 1837 as the 26th state, a free one. It soon became an important center of industry and trade in the Great Lakes region and a popular immigrant destination in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Although Michigan developed a diverse economy, it is widely known as the center of the U.S. automotive industry, which developed as a major economic force in the early 20th century. It is home to the country's three major automobile companies (whose headquarters are all within the Detroit metropolitan area). While sparsely populated, the Upper Peninsula is important for tourism thanks to its abundance of natural resources, while the Lower Peninsula is a center of manufacturing, forestry, agriculture, services, and high-tech indu ...