In the 1830s, settlers established a community of farms along the Des Plaines River, initially naming the town Rand for the influential pioneer Socrates Rand.  In the 1850s, the Chicago and North Western Railway ran tracks from Chicago to Cary, Illinois, building a station at the Des Plaines River to provide water for steam engines.  The station was named Des Plaines, and the community incorporated as Des Plaines in 1869.  The railroad brought prosperity, as visitors from Chicago flocked to Des Plaines to fish and swim in the river.  Businesses sprang up to serve tourists and new residents, campers congregated at the Methodist campgrounds, and bands played at Northwestern Park.  Farms supplied Chicago with produce and flowers.  After World War II, houses sprouted in place of farms as the population burgeoned, turning Des Plaines into the modern suburb it is today.
Softcover, 6 x 9, 128 pgs.