Evanston, Illinois

A part of downtown Evanston, as seen in October 2005

Prior to the 1830s, the area now occupied by Evanston was mainly uninhabited, consisting largely of wetlands and swampy forest. However, Potawatomi Native Americans used trails along higher lying ridges that ran in a general north–south direction through the area, and had at least some semi-permanent settlements along the trails.

French explorers referred to the general area as "Grosse Pointe" after a point of land jutting into Lake Michigan about 13 miles (21 km) north of the mouth of the Chicago River. After the first non-Native Americans settled in the area in 1836, the names "Grosse Point Territory" and "Gross Point voting district" were used through the 1830s and 1840s, although the territory had no defined boundaries.[10][11] The area remained only sparsely settled, supporting some farming and lumber activity on some of the higher ground, as well as a number of taverns or "hotels" along the ridge roads. Grosse Pointe itself steadily eroded into the lake during this period.

In 1850, a township called Ridgeville was organized, extending from Graceland Cemetery in Chicago to the southern edge of the Ouilmette Reservation, along what is now Central Street, and from Lake Michigan to Western Avenue in Chicago. The 1850 census shows a few hundred settlers in this township,[11] and a post office with the name of Ridgeville was established at one of the taverns. However, no municipality yet existed.

In 1851, a group of Methodist business leaders founded Northwestern University and Garrett Biblical Institute. Unable to find available land on the north shore up to Lake Forest, the committee was ready to purchase farmland to the west of the city when Orrington Lunt insisted on one final visit to the present location.[12] They chose a bluffed and wooded site along the lake as Northwestern's home, purchasing several hundred acres of land from Dr. John Foster, a Chicago farm owner. In 1854, the founders of Northwestern submitted to the county judge their plans for a city to be named Evanston after John Evans,[13] one of their leaders. In 1857, the request was granted.[14] The township of Evanston was split off from Ridgeville Township; at approximately the same time, that portion of Ridgeville south of Devon Avenue was organized as Lake View Township.[15] The nine founders, including John Evans, Orrington Lunt, and Andrew Brown, hoped their university would attain high standards of intellectual excellence. Today these hopes have been fulfilled, as Northwestern consistently ranks with the best of the nation's universities.

Evanston was formally incorporated as a town on December 29, 1863, but declined in 1869 to become a city despite the Illinois legislature passing a bill for that purpose. Evanston expanded after the Civil War with the annexation of the village of North Evanston. Finally, in early 1892, following the annexation of the village of South Evanston, voters elected to organize as a city.[16] The 1892 boundaries are largely those that exist today.

During the 1960s, Northwestern University changed the city's shoreline by adding a 74-acre (30 ha) lakefill.[17]

In 1939, Evanston hosted the first NCAA basketball championship final at Northwestern University's Patten Gymnasium.[18]

In August 1954, Evanston hosted the second assembly of the World Council of Churches, still the only WCC assembly to have been held in the United States. President Dwight Eisenhower welcomed the delegates, and Dag Hammarskjöld, secretary-general of the United Nations, delivered an important address entitled "An instrument of faith".[19]

Evanston first received power in April 1893. Many people lined the streets on Emerson St. where the first appearance of street lights were lined and turned on. Today, the city is home to Northwestern University, Music Institute of Chicago, and other educational institutions, as well as headquarters of Alpha Phi International women's fraternity, Rotary International, the National Merit Scholarship Corporation, the National Lekotek Center, the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity, the Sigma Chi fraternity and the Woman's Christian Temperance Union.

Evanston is the birthplace of Tinkertoys, and is the one of the locations having originated the ice cream sundae.[20] Evanston was the home of the Clayton Mark and Company, which for many years supplied the most jobs.[21]

Evanston was a dry community from 1858 until 1972, when the City Council voted to allow restaurants and hotels to serve liquor on their premises. In 1984, the Council voted to allow retail liquor outlets within the city limits.[22]

According to the 2010 census, Evanston has a total area of 7.802 square miles (20.21 km²), of which 7.78 square miles (20.15 km²) (or 99.72%) is land and 0.022 square miles (0.06 km²) (or 0.28%) is water.[23]

As of the census of 2010, there were 74,486 people (up from 74,239 at the 2000 census), 30,047 households, and 15,621 families residing in the city. The population density was 9,574.0 people per square mile (3,687.4/km²). There were 33,181 housing units at an average density of 4,264.9 per square mile (1,642.6/km²). The 2010 census showed that Evanston is ethnically mixed with the following breakdown in population: 65.6% White, 18.1% Black or African American, 0.2% American Indian or Alaska Native, 8.6% Asian, 0.02% Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, 3.6% some other race, and 3.8% from two or more races. 9.0% were Hispanic or Latino of any race.[6]

There were 30,047 households, out of which 26.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 39.8% were headed by married couples living together, 9.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 48.0% were non-families. 37.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.5% were someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.25, and the average family size was 3.05.[6]

The median age was 34.3 years, with 19.3% under the age of 18, 16.8% from 18 to 24, 27.8% from 25 to 44, 24.0% from 45 to 64, and 12.2% who were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females, there were 91.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.0 males.[6]

As of 2011, the estimated median income for a household in the city was $60,033, and the median income for a family was $102,706. Male full-time workers had a median income of $66,106 versus $52,727 for females. The per capita income for the city was $40,732. About 6.4% of families and 12.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 14.1% of those under age 18 and 6.5% of those age 65 or over.[4]

12.3% of Evanston's 9,259 businesses are Black owned.[25]

The City of Evanston became sister cities with the Dnieprovsky District of the City of Kyiv, Ukraine in 1988, and sister cities with Belize City, Belize in 1992.

Evanston has a council-manager system of government and is divided into nine wards, each of which is represented by an Alderman, or member of the Evanston City Council. Businessman Steve Hagerty was elected mayor in April 2017, replacing Elizabeth Tisdahl, who had served since 2009.[26] Hagerty, who won election by a margin of only 111 votes,[27] was sworn into office on May 8.[28]

Evanston was heavily Republican in voter identification from the time of the Civil War up to the 1960s. Nixon carried Evanston in the 1968 presidential election.[29] The city began trending Democratic in the 1960s, though it did not elect a Democratic mayor until 1993. The city swung particularly heavily to the Democrats in the 1990s, along with many other Chicago suburbs, and now almost exclusively identifies with Democrats in elections on all levels of government.

• Early after its founding, because of its strong Methodist influence, and its attempt to impose moral rigor, Evanston was called "Heavenston".[34]
• In the early 20th century Evanston was called "The City of Churches".[35]
• The varied works of numerous prominent architects, and many prominent mansions, especially near the lakefront, gave the town by the 1920s the sobriquet "The City of Homes",[34][36] a fact often touted by local real estate agents.[37] Use of the phrase has been attributed to a 1924 speech at the local Kiwanis club.[38]
• Since the late 20th century, because of Evanston's activism and often left-of-center politics, it is sometimes humorously (or sarcastically) referred to as "The People's Republic of Evanston".[39][40][41]
• The eastern border of the adjacent village of Skokie that falls within Evanston township schools and 60203 zip code is called "Skevanston", a portmanteau of both names.

Shops along Davis Street, looking west, August 2006. The Davis Street Metra stop is visible in the lower half of the photograph.

Evanston's growth occurred largely because of its accessibility from Chicago by rail. The Northwestern founders did not finalize their commitment to siting the university there until they were assured the Chicago & Milwaukee Railway line would run there. C&M trains began stopping in Evanston in 1855.[47] Evanston later experienced rapid growth as one of the first streetcar suburbs. The North Shore Line, the interurban railroad that gave the area its nickname, ran through Evanston and continued to Waukegan and Milwaukee.

The city is still connected to Chicago by rail transit. The CTA's Purple Line, part of the Chicago 'L' system, runs through Evanston. From its terminal at Howard in Chicago, the line heads north to the South Boulevard, Main, Dempster, Davis, Foster, Noyes, and Central stations, before terminating at the Linden station in Wilmette, Illinois. Metra's Union Pacific/North Line also serves Evanston, with stations at Main Street, Davis Street and Central Street, the first two being adjacent to Purple Line stations. The CTA's Yellow Line also runs through the city, though it does not stop there. Evanston is served by six CTA bus routes as well as four Pace bus routes.

Automobile routes from Chicago to Evanston include Lake Shore Drive, the Edens Expressway (I-94), and McCormick Boulevard, although the first two of those do not extend to Evanston itself and require driving through Rogers Park (via Sheridan Road or Ridge Avenue) and Skokie, respectively. The main routes from the north are the Edens, Green Bay Road, and Sheridan Road. Active modes of transportation include miles of sidewalks and bicycle lanes.

Companies based in Evanston include ZS Associates.

Once the home of one of the first Marshall Field's[49][50] and Sears stores in suburbia, Evanston has several shopping areas:

• Downtown - centered around the Davis Street Metra and "L" stops,[51] Evanston's downtown adjoins Northwestern University. There are over 300 businesses,[52] several high-rise office and residential buildings, three traditional low-rise shopping areas, an 18-screen movie theater, and over 85 restaurants. It is roughly bordered by Emerson Street to the north, Dempster Street to the south, Ridge Avenue to the west, and the Lake to the east.
• Central Street - actually several shopping districts linked along the northernmost of the city's principal east–west arteries,[53][54] with the most active clustered around the Central Street Metra station and characterized by specialty shops and restaurants.[55][56][57]
• Dempster Street - just off the Dempster "L" stop; over 60 shops.[58][59]
• Main Street - approximately 3 blocks of mostly independent boutiques and restaurants[60] abutting both a CTA and Metra stop. Since 1917,[61] the neighborhood has been home to the South Branch[62] of the Evanston Public Library. After the original branch closed in February 2011 due to budgetary concerns, the Chicago Ave./Main St. Branch was opened down the street in January 2013, replacing an interim volunteer library that had been operated in that location by the Evanston Public Library Friends.[63] The neighborhood is also home to the Evanston Arts Depot.[64]
• Howard Street - Howard Street forms the southern border between Evanston and the City of Chicago. The Howard Street CTA station is a transfer point between the Red, Purple, and Yellow line trains as well as several CTA and PACE bus routes.
• Chicago Avenue - not a separate shopping district per se, this extension of what is called Clark Street in Chicago runs parallel to the rail lines and is the principal north–south artery in Evanston from Howard Street north to its terminus at Northwestern University. Chicago Avenue connects the Main Street, Dempster Street, and Downtown shopping districts.
• Noyes - Bordering the Noyes "L" stop with around a dozen restaurants, dry-cleaners and convenience stores.

• First Bank & Trust, an independent community and commercial financial institution, is headquartered in Evanston with four locations around the city.
• Magnetar Capital, a hedge fund based in Evanston, was ranked #4 among hedge funds worldwide by Institutional Investor/Alpha magazine in 2015.[65]

Two hospitals are located within Evanston's city limits:

• Evanston Hospital, part of NorthShore University HealthSystem
• AMITA Health Saint Francis Hospital Evanston, part of AMITA Health

"The Arch", the main entrance to the Evanston campus of Northwestern University

A perennial debate in Evanston is the issue of Northwestern University's status as a tax-exempt institution.[66] In the founding charter of Northwestern University, signed in 1851, the state granted the school an exemption from paying property taxes, and unlike other well-off private universities with statutory exemptions,[67] it provides its own police services, but not firefighter/paramedic services. It pays water, sewer, communications, real property transfer taxes, and building permit fees, but not property taxes. Northwestern does not make Payments in Lieu of Taxes for the real estate it removes from property tax rolls.

Its backers, like former Evanston mayor and Northwestern alumna Lorraine H. Morton, contend that the benefits of having an elite research institution justify Northwestern's tax status.[68] These supporters highlight the fact that Northwestern University is the largest employer in Evanston,[69] and that its students and faculty constitute a large consumer base for Evanston businesses. This controversy was revived in 2003 when the university purchased an eight-story office building downtown, removing it from the tax rolls. An advisory referendum put on the April elections ballot, dubbed by supporters as a "Fair Share Initiative", received a majority, but was not passed into ordinance by the City Council.

During the tenure of Elizabeth Tisdahl as mayor, relationships between the University and Evanston improved. Upon arriving at Northwestern in 2009 president Morton O. Schapiro forged a strong working relationship with Tishdal;[70] in 2015, two announced that Northwestern would begin to donate $1 million annually to benefit city services and programs.[71]

• The Daily Northwestern, the student newspaper at Northwestern University
• The Evanston Review, subscription weekly newspaper, part of Pioneer Press
• The Evanston Roundtable, free biweekly newspaper
• The Evanston Sentinel, a free weekly African-American newspaper
• Evanston Now, an online newspaper and community website

Evanston's variety of housing and commercial districts, combined with easy access to Chicago, make it a popular filming location. Evanston as of December 2008 is listed as a filming location for 65 different films, notably those of John Hughes.[72] Much of the 1984 film Sixteen Candles was filmed in and around Evanston,[73] the 1988 movie She's Having a Baby, as was the 1989 film Uncle Buck,[74] the 1993 film Dennis the Menace,[75] and the 1997 film Home Alone 3.[76] A number of scenes from the 1986 Garry Marshall film Nothing in Common were filmed on the Northwestern University campus and Evanston's lakeshore.[77] Although not filmed there, the 2004 film Mean Girls is set in the Chicago suburbs, and makes several references to the area. The movie's screenwriter and co-star, Tina Fey, had worked at the Evanston YMCA when starting her comedy career. In the 2003 film Cheaper by the Dozen, the family moves to Evanston.[78] Additionally, the baseball movie Rookie of the Year, featuring Gary Busey and Thomas Ian Nicholas, was partially shot at Haven Middle School.[79] The 2015 ABC Family reality series Becoming Us was filmed in Evanston.

In The Princess Bride, according to IMDb, the screenplay says that the boy and his grandfather live in Evanston.[80] This was also stated by Mandy Patinkin in a behind-the-scenes interview.[81] The story's author, William Goldman, was born in Chicago and grew up in Highland Park a little more than ten miles north of Evanston.

Evanston has gained recognition and reputation for efforts related to sustainability, including those by government, citizens, and institutions. In 2015, the city was named the World Wildlife Fund's Earth Hour Capital after competing against cities including Seattle and Cleveland. In 2016, Evanston was again a finalist in the competition.[82]

• Fountain Square Tower
• Frances Willard House
• Free School of Evanston
• Grosse Point Lighthouse
• Ladd Arboretum
• Mount Trashmore
• Northwestern University

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Evanston, Illinois

• "Evanston". Illinois State Gazetteer and Business Directory, for the Years 1864–5. Chicago: J.C.W. Bailey. 1864. OCLC 6867103. OL 7082742M.
• Barr, Mary (2014). Friends Disappear: The Battle for Racial Equality in Evanston.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Evanston, Illinois.

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Evanston.

Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Evanston.

• Official website