Blue Island
| Blue Island, Illinois | |
|---|---|
| City | |
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| Nickname(s): The City on the Hill | |
| Motto: "Discover Blue Island: The Historic Heart of Chicago Southland" | |
 Location in Cook County and the state of Illinois. |
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 Blue Island, Illinois
Blue Island, Illinois
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| Coordinates: 41°39′26″N 87°40′48″W / 41.65722°N 87.68000°WCoordinates: 41°39′26″N 87°40′48″W / 41.65722°N 87.68000°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Illinois |
| Counties | Cook |
| Settled | 1836 |
| Incorporated | October 26, 1872 |
| Government | |
| • Type | Mayor-council government |
| • Mayor | Domingo Vargas (Blue Island Independent Party) |
| • City Council |
Aldermen
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| • State House | Robert Rita (D) |
| • State Senate | Emil Jones, Jr. (D) |
| • U.S. House |
Representatives
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| Area | |
| • Total | 4.16 sq mi (10.8 km2) |
| • Land | 4.07 sq mi (10.5 km2) |
| • Water | 0.09 sq mi (0.2 km2) 2.16% |
| Elevation | 640 ft (195 m) |
| Population (2010) | |
| • Total | 23,706 |
| • Density | 5,824.6/sq mi (2,248.9/km2) |
| • Demonym | Blue Islander |
| Time zone | CST (UTC-6) |
| • Summer (DST) | CDT (UTC-5) |
| Area code(s) | Area code 708 |
| GNIS feature ID | 404592 |
| Website | www |
Blue Island is a city in Cook County, Illinois, located approximately 16 miles (26 km) south of Chicago's Loop. Blue Island is adjacent to the city of Chicago and shares its northern boundary with that city's Morgan Park neighborhood. The population was 23,706 at the 2010 United States Census.
Blue Island was established in the 1830s as a way station for settlers traveling on the Vincennes Trace, and the settlement prospered because it was conveniently situated a day's journey outside of Chicago. The late-nineteenth-century historian and publisher Alfred T. Andreas made the following observation regarding the appearance of the young community in History of Cook County Illinois (1884), "The location of Blue Island Village is a beautiful one. Nowhere about Chicago is there to be found a more pleasant and desirable resident locality."
Since its founding, the city has been an important commercial center in the south Cook County region, although its position in that respect has been eclipsed in recent years as other significant population centers developed around it and the region's commercial resources became spread over a wider area. In addition to its broad long-standing industrial base, the city enjoyed notable growth in the 1840s during the construction of the feeder canal (now the Calumet Sag Channel) for the Illinois and Michigan Canal and as the center of a large brick-making industry beginning in the 1850s, which eventually gave Blue Island the status of brick-making capitol of the world. Beginning in 1883, Blue Island was also host to the car shops of the Rock Island Railroad. Blue Island was home to several breweries, who used the east side of the hill to store their product before the advent of refrigeration, until the Eighteenth Amendment made these breweries illegal in 1919. A large regional hospital and two major clinics are also located in the city.
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