Des Plaines

History

Potawatomi, Ottawa, and Ojibwe (Chippewa) Native American tribes inhabited the Des Plaines River Valley prior to Europeans' arrival. When French explorers and missionaries arrived in the 1600s in what was then the Illinois Country of New France, they named the waterway La Rivière des Plaines (English translation: "Plains River") as they felt that trees on the river resembled European plane trees. The first white settlers came from the eastern United States in 1833, after the signing of the 1833 Treaty of Chicago, followed by many German immigrants during the 1840s and '50s. In the 1850s, the land in this area was purchased by the Illinois and Wisconsin Land Company along a railroad line planned between Chicago and Janesville, Wisconsin. In 1852, the developers built a steam-powered mill next to the river to cut local trees into railroad ties. Socrates Rand then bought the mill and converted it into a grist mill, which attracted local farmers. The Illinois and Wisconsin Railroad made its first stop in the area in the fall of 1854. The earliest-known tornado in Illinois struck a location reported as Jefferson, contemporarily found to be modern-day Des Plaines, on May 22, 1855. It killed 3 in a granite home lifted off of its foundation. The correspondence between the Smithsonian Institution's Joseph Henry and the Daily Democratic Press in Chicago would lead to the eventual creation of the United States Signal Company, which is the earliest predecessor of the modern-day National Weather Service. In 1857, the Chicago, St. Paul, and Fond du Lac Railroad began running its route, stopping Des Plaines was reincorporated in 1873 and elected a village board the following year. Local brick manufacturer Franklin Whitcomb served as the first Village President. In 1925, village…

Geography

According to the 2021 census gazetteer files, Des Plaines has a total area of , of which (or 98.98%) is land and (or 1.02%) is water. Des Plaines is traversed by two interstate highways – I-90 (the Northwest Tollway) and I-294 (the Tri-State Tollway). Des Plaines is named for the Des Plaines River, which flows through it. The name is from 18th-century French referencing the American sycamore which resembles the European plane tree. Portions of Des Plaines are underlain by the "Des Plaines Disturbance," an area in which the layers of sedimentary rock are highly abnormal. This probably represents an ancient meteorite crater, beneath the town. The bedrock was highly fractured by the impact, with large blocks of sediment upended. The crater was eventually filled by glacial activity, so that no trace now remains on the surface. Addresses in the city limits of Des Plaines have their own numbering system. Areas in unincorporated Maine Township have Des Plaines postal addresses that follow the Chicago numbering system. Devon Avenue in Des Plaines is 3200 South, while it is 6400 North in Chicago. Golf Road runs through a large unincorporated area as 9600 North with a Des Plaines mailing address but is 0 North/South when entering the Des Plaines city limits. As sections become incorporated, they take on the city numbering system. For instance in 2003, land at 9661 West Golf Road, Des Plaines, became 2323 East Golf Road, Des Plaines, when it was formally incorporated into the city limits. The largest unincorporated areas are in the O'Hare area and east of the Tri-State Tollway. Des Plaines is in the hot-summer humid continental climate, or Köppen Dfa zone. The zone includes four distinct seasons. Winter is cold with snow. Spring warms up with precipitation and storms,…

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  101,452
• House Sparrow

  Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  88,490
• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  80,869
• Canada Goose (canadensis Group)

  Branta canadensis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  59,540
• Mallard

  Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  59,186
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  58,458
• Red-winged Blackbird

  Agelaius phoeniceus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  54,550
• Downy Woodpecker

  Dryobates pubescens (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  52,745

Largest nearby schools

• Taft High School
  High · Chicago · 4,464 students · 16.6:1 ratio
• Glenbrook South High School
  High · Glenview · 3,030 students · 13.6:1 ratio
• Wm Fremd High School
  High · Palatine · 2,708 students · 16.8:1 ratio
• Palatine High School
  High · Palatine · 2,652 students · 14.2:1 ratio
• Niles West High School
  High · Skokie · 2,609 students · 14.2:1 ratio
• J B Conant High School
  High · Hoffman Estates · 2,503 students · 16.5:1 ratio
• Maine South High School
  High · Park Ridge · 2,495 students · 17.3:1 ratio
• Prospect High School
  High · Mt Prospect · 2,263 students · 18.5:1 ratio

Most recent

• M 2.9 — 2026-07-08
  21 km ENE of Kenilworth, Illinois
• M 3.1 — 2024-07-15
  2 km WNW of Somonauk, Illinois
• M 2.9 — 2015-03-25
  3 km WNW of Lake in the Hills, Illinois
• M 3.2 — 2013-11-04
  1 km SSW of Lyons, Illinois
• M 2.6 — 2013-06-10
  4 km NNE of Virgil, Illinois
• M 3.8 — 2010-02-10
  2 km NW of Lily Lake, Illinois