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Des Plaines

Des Plaines
City
City of Des Plaines
Downtown
Downtown
Flag of Des Plaines
Flag
Official seal of Des Plaines
Seal
Location in Cook County and the state of Illinois.
Location in Cook County and the state of Illinois.
Location of Illinois in the United States
Location of Illinois in the United States
Coordinates: 42°02′02″N 87°53′59″W / 42.03389°N 87.89972°W / 42.03389; -87.89972Coordinates: 42°02′02″N 87°53′59″W / 42.03389°N 87.89972°W / 42.03389; -87.89972
Country United States
State Illinois
Countis Cook
Township Maine
Settled early 1800s
Incorporated 1869
Named for The Des Plaines River
Government
 • Type Council-manager
 • Mayor Matthew Bogusz
Area
 • City 14.42 sq mi (37.3 km2)
Elevation 642 ft (196 m)
Population (2010 Census)
 • City 58,364
 • Rank 20th in Illinois
 • Density 4,087.1/sq mi (1,578.0/km2)
 • Urban 8,711,000 in Chicago urban area
 • Metro 9,461,105 in Chicago metro area
Standard of living (2009–11)
 • Per capita income $30,660
 • Median home value $252,300
Time zone CST (UTC−06:00)
 • Summer (DST) CDT (UTC−05:00)
ZIP code(s) 60016, 60017, 60018, 60019
Area code(s) 847, 224
Website www.desplaines.org

Des Plaines /dsˈplnz/ is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 58,364. It is a suburb of Chicago and is next to O'Hare International Airport. The Des Plaines River runs through the city, just east of its downtown area. Des Plaines is the home of the first franchised McDonald's opened by Ray Kroc in 1955, which is preserved as a museum on Lee Street, north of downtown.

Potawatomi, Ottawa, and Ojibwe (Chippewa) Native American tribes inhabited the Des Plaines River Valley prior to Europeans' arrival. The first white settlers came from the eastern United States in 1833, after the Treaty of Chicago, followed by many German immigrants during the 1840s and 1850s. In the 1850s, land in the 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.


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