Marseilles, Illinois

Marseilles
City
Buildings in the city's business district
Name origin: Marseille, France
Country	United States
State	Illinois
County	LaSalle
Townships	Manlius, Rutland, Brookfield
Elevation	504 ft (154 m)
Coordinates	41°19′40″N 88°42′4″W / 41.32778°N 88.70111°W / 41.32778; -88.70111Coordinates: 41°19′40″N 88°42′4″W / 41.32778°N 88.70111°W / 41.32778; -88.70111
Area	9.21 sq mi (24 km2)
- land	8.72 sq mi (23 km2)
- water	0.49 sq mi (1 km2)
Population	5,032 (2013)
Density	584/sq mi (225/km2)
Timezone	CST (UTC-6)
- summer (DST)	CDT (UTC-5)
Postal code	61341
Area code	815
Location of Marseilles within Illinois

Marseilles is a city in LaSalle County, Illinois, United States. The population was 5,094 at the 2010 census, and was estimated to be 5,032 by July 2013. It is part of the Ottawa-Peru, IL Micropolitan Statistical Area.

Lovell Kimball arrived at the area along the Illinois River known as the Grand Rapids in 1833 from Watertown, New York. Kimball, aware that the Illinois-Michigan Canal Bill had passed and the canal would eventually reach the rapids, hired a surveyor to lay out a town. Kimball called the town Marseilles in reference to the French city of Marseilles as he hoped it would become a similar industrial center in Illinois. Marseilles was officially platted on June 3, 1835; the plat was revised twice for railroad and canal right-of-ways.

In 1921 the National Biscuit Company (Nabisco) built an eight-story corrugated cardboard box production plant in Marseilles, the largest industrial building in the state (outside of Chicago) at the time, and the first air-conditioned factory in the Midwest. Nabisco was a major employer in the area but ceased production at the plant in 2002.

Marseilles is located at 41°19′40″N 88°42′4″W / 41.32778°N 88.70111°W / 41.32778; -88.70111 (41.327795, -88.701121). The city is at the head of rapids along the Illinois River historically known as "the Grand Rapids" or the "Rapids of Maninumba".