Chicago is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois, and the third most populous city in the United States, following New York City and Los Angeles. With a population of 2,746,388 in the 2020 census,[4] it is also the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the fifth most populous city in North America. Chicago is the county seat of Cook County, the second most populous county in the U.S., while a small portion of the city's O'Hare Airport also extends into DuPage County. Chicago is the principal city of the Chicago metropolitan area, defined as either the U.S. Census Bureau's metropolitan statistical area (9.6 million people) or the combined statistical area (almost 10 million residents), often called Chicagoland. It is one of the 40 largest urban areas in the world.

Located on the shores of freshwater Lake Michigan, Chicago was incorporated as a city in 1837 near a portage between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River watershed and grew rapidly in the mid-19th century.[7] After the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, which destroyed several square miles and left more than 100,000 homeless, the city rebuilt.[8] The construction boom accelerated population growth throughout the following decades, and by 1900, less than 30 years after the great fire, Chicago was the fifth-largest city in the world.[9] Chicago made noted contributions to urban planning and zoning standards, including new construction styles (including the Chicago School of architecture), the development of the City Beautiful Movement, and the steel-framed skyscraper.[10][11]

Chicago is an international hub for finance, culture, commerce, industry, education, technology, telecommunications, and transportation. It is the site of the creation of the first standardized futures contracts, issued by the Chicago Board of Trade, which today is part of the largest and most diverse derivatives market in the world, generating 20% of all volume in commodities and financial futures alone.[12] O'Hare International Airport is routinely ranked among the world's top six busiest airports according to tracked data by the Airports Council International.[13] The region also has the largest number of federal highways and is the nation's railroad hub.[14] The Chicago area has one of the highest gross domestic products (GDP) in the world, generating $689 billion in 2018.[15] The economy of Chicago is diverse, with no single industry employing more than 14% of the workforce.[16] It is home to several Fortune 500 companies, including Allstate, Boeing, Caterpillar, Exelon, JLL, Kraft Heinz, McDonald's, Mondelez International, Sears, United Airlines Holdings, US Foods, and Walgreens.

Chicago's 58 million tourist visitors in 2018 set a new record,[17][18] and Chicago has been voted the best large city in the U.S. for four years in a row by Condé Nast Traveler.[19] The city was ranked first in the 2018 Time Out City Life Index, a global urban quality of life survey of 15,000 people in 32 cities,[20][21][22][23][24] and was rated second most beautiful city in the world (after Prague) in 2021.[25] Landmarks in the city include Millennium Park, Navy Pier, the Magnificent Mile, the Art Institute of Chicago, Museum Campus, the Willis (Sears) Tower, Grant Park, the Museum of Science and Industry, and Lincoln Park Zoo. Chicago is also home to the Barack Obama Presidential Center being built in Hyde Park on the city's South Side.[26][27] Chicago's culture includes the visual arts, literature, film, theatre, comedy (especially improvisational comedy), food, and music, particularly jazz, blues, soul, hip-hop, gospel,[28] and electronic dance music including house music. Of the area's many colleges and universities, the University of Chicago, Northwestern University, and the University of Illinois at Chicago are classified as "highest research" doctoral universities. Chicago has professional sports teams in each of the major professional leagues, including two Major League Baseball teams.

Milwaukee is the largest city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the fifth-largest city in the Midwestern United States.[14] The seat of Milwaukee County, the city is located on Lake Michigan's southwestern shore and was incorporated in 1846. As of the 2020 census, Milwaukee had a population of 577,222, a decrease from 594,833 in 2010.[15] It is the 31st largest city in the United States[16][17] and the fourth-largest city situated along one of the Great Lakes.

It is the main cultural and economic center of the Milwaukee metropolitan area, the fourth-most densely populated metropolitan area in the Midwest.[18] Milwaukee is considered a "Gamma −" global city as categorized by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network[19] with a regional GDP of over $107 billion.[20]

Today, Milwaukee is one of the most ethnically and culturally diverse cities in the United States.[21] Its history was heavily influenced by German immigrants in the 19th century and it became well known for its brewing industry. In recent years, Milwaukee has been undergoing its largest construction boom since the 1960s.[22] Major new additions to the city in the past two decades include the Milwaukee Riverwalk, the Wisconsin Center, American Family Field, The Hop (streetcar system), an expansion to the Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee Repertory Theater, the Bradley Symphony Center,[23] and Discovery World, as well as major renovations to the UW–Milwaukee Panther Arena. Fiserv Forum opened in late 2018 and hosts sporting events and concerts. Since 1968, Milwaukee has been home to Summerfest, one of the largest music festivals in the world. With regard to education, Milwaukee is home to UW-Milwaukee, Marquette University, MSOE, and several other universities and colleges. The city is home to two major professional sports teams, the Bucks and Brewers. It is home to several Fortune 500 companies, including Northwestern Mutual, WEC Energy Group, Rockwell Automation, and Harley-Davidson.[24]

Oshkosh is a city in Winnebago County, Wisconsin, of which it is the county seat. The city had an estimated population of 67,004 in 2019, making it the ninth-largest city in Wisconsin. It is also adjacent to the Town of Oshkosh.

Oshkosh was named for Menominee Chief Oshkosh, whose name meant "claw"[5] (cf. Ojibwe oshkanzh, "the claw").[6] Although the fur trade attracted the first European settlers to the area as early as 1818, it never became a major player in the fur trade. The 1820s mining boom in southwest Wisconsin along with the opening of the Erie Canal shifted commercial activity away from the Fox River Valley and Green Bay. Soon after 1830, much of the trade moved west, as there had been over-trapping in the region.[citation needed] Following the publicity caused by the Black Hawk War in 1832, there was increased interest in settling Wisconsin by whites from the East Coast, especially New York, Indiana, and Virginia, and by 1836 the cities of Milwaukee, Madison, Janesville, Beloit, and Fond du Lac were founded, with Madison the capital of a new territorial government, setting the stage for the economic and political importance of the southern part of the state.[7][8] However, Oshkosh would continue to be one of Wisconsin's top five largest cities into the twentieth century.[9]

The establishment and growth of the wood industry in the area spurred development of Oshkosh. Already designated as the county seat, Oshkosh was incorporated as a city in 1853. It had a population of nearly 2,800.[10]

The lumber industry became well established as businessmen took advantage of navigable waterways to provide access to both markets and northern pineries. The 1859 arrival of rail transportation expanded the industry's ability to meet the demands of a rapidly growing construction market. At one time, Oshkosh was known as the "Sawdust Capital of the World" due to the number of lumber mills in the city, 11 by 1860.

During the Civil War, the 21st Regiment, Wisconsin Infantry, of the Union Wisconsin Volunteers was organized at Oshkosh, taking in many new recruits. This was one of two units organized in the state; the other was the 6th Regiment, Wisconsin Infantry, organized at Camp Randall, Madison. The 21st mustered on September 5, 1862, marching to Ohio and Louisville, Kentucky, where it participated in the fortification of Louisville later that year. It was attached to the Army of the Ohio and later to the Army of the Cumberland.[11]

By 1870, Oshkosh had become the third-largest city in Wisconsin, with a population of more than 12,000. The community attracted a range of professional teachers, attorneys, doctors, businessmen, and others who helped it flourish. The Oshkosh Daily Northwestern newspaper (now the Oshkosh Northwestern) was founded around this time, as was the Oshkosh State Normal School (now the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh). Lumber continued as the mainstay of the city. By 1874, it had 47 sawmills and 15 shingle mills.

On April 28, 1875, Oshkosh had a "Great Fire" that consumed homes and businesses along Main Street north of the Fox River. The fire engulfed 70 stores, 40 factories, and 500 homes, costing nearly $2.5 million (or $51.2 million in 2010 money) in damage.[12][13]

Around 1900 Oshkosh was home of the Oshkosh Brewing Company, which coined the marketing slogan "By Gosh It's Good." Its Chief Oshkosh brand became a nationally distributed beer.

The population of the city in 1910 was 33,062, making it the state's fourth largest city, ahead of Madison and Green Bay.[14]

The Oshkosh All-Stars played in the National Basketball League from 1937 to 1949, before the NBL and the Basketball Association of America merged to become the NBA. Oshkosh reached the NBL's championship finals five times.

Green Bay is a city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The county seat of Brown County, it is at the head of Green Bay (known locally as "the bay of Green Bay"), a sub-basin of Lake Michigan, at the mouth of the Fox River. It is 581 feet (177 m) above sea level and 112 miles (180 km) north of Milwaukee. As of the 2020 Census, Green Bay had a population of 107,395, making it the third-largest in the state of Wisconsin, after Milwaukee and Madison, and the third-largest city on Lake Michigan, after Chicago and Milwaukee.[7]

Green Bay is the principal city of the Green Bay Metropolitan Statistical Area, which covers Brown, Kewaunee, and Oconto counties.[8] Green Bay is well-known for being home of the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League.

The Green Bay area was still under British control until the 1783 treaty formally ended the American Revolutionary War. Following the War of 1812, which in part was over disputes related to the border with Canada, the United States built Fort Howard on the Fox River in 1816 to protect its northern border.[14] Doty, Whitney, Arndt, Baird and Martin were among the many British-American settlers whose numbers pushed French culture into the background.[14] As British settlers in the area came to outnumber the French, they referred to the town as "Green Bay" (from the French: Baie Verte).

The Erie Canal was completed in 1825, linking New England with the Great Lakes. This led to the advance of Green Bay as a trading center. The end of the Black Hawk War in 1832 also gave impetus to settlement of the region. Most of the settlers were farmers from New England who began using the Erie Canal to pour into Wisconsin. As more and more New England settlers arrived, Green Bay developed into a trading center for this population.[18]


Built in 1837, the Hazelwood Historic House Museum is on the National Register of Historic Places and is now used as the Brown County Historical Society.[19]
Wisconsin's first newspaper, The Green Bay Intelligencer, was started in 1833 by Albert Ellis and John V. Suydam. The borough of Green Bay, created in 1838, is the center of the present-day city. The borough combined the town of Astoria (a company town of the American Fur Company), with Navarino, platted by Daniel Whitney.[20] Before Wisconsin became a state in 1848, its commerce was based on the fur trade, which became dominated by John Jacob Astor's American Fur Company. After statehood, there was a shift away from fur trading toward lumbering. "For a short time in 1860s and 1870s, iron smelting in charcoal kilns rivaled the timber industry while the port handled increasing amounts of fuel, feed, and lumber. Today's major local industry had its start in 1865 when the first paper mill was built."[14]


1867 bird's eye illustration of Green Bay
By 1850 the town had a population of 1,923. The town was incorporated as the city of Green Bay in 1854. The Green Bay Area Public School District was founded in 1856.[14] Throughout the 1850s, word spread of America's cheap land and good soil, bringing in an influx of Belgian people, German, Scandinavian, Irish and Dutch immigrants, each adding to the culture. The greatest concentration of newcomers came from Belgium. They cleared the land to farm and build their homes.[14]

The railroad arrived in the 1860s. The three railroads that would reach Green Bay were the Chicago & North Western (C&NW), SOO Line, (SOO), and the Milwaukee Road (MILW). These railroads were highways which allowed people and products to travel all over the state, increasing business and trade opportunities. The area was able to grow and enrich itself with the use of the river and the plentiful timber resources. This led to the paper industry becoming the major employer in Green Bay, and opened up the port for international trade.[10]

Large numbers of Belgians immigrated to Green Bay in the thirty-year period between 1880 and 1910.[21] Significant numbers of English immigrants, many having lived first in Canada, also moved to Green Bay during this period, usually arriving as large families.[22] There was also a small Dutch community in Green Bay at this time.[23] Green Bay had a larger portion of first generation immigrants from France than any other city in Wisconsin at this time as well.[24]

Iron Mountain is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 7,624 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Dickinson County,[6] in the state's Upper Peninsula. Iron Mountain was named for the valuable iron ore found in the vicinity.[7]

Iron Mountain is the principal city of the Iron Mountain, MI-WI Micropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Dickinson County, Michigan and Florence County in Wisconsin.

Iron Mountain hosts a few points of interest such as the Millie Hill bat cave,[8] The Cornish Pump, and is located adjacent to Pine Mountain ski jump/ski resort, one of the largest artificial ski jumps in the world.[9] It shares Woodward Avenue with the neighboring town, Kingsford. In addition, Iron Mountain is known for its pasties, Bocce Ball Tournaments, World Cup Ski Jumps, and Italian cuisine. Iron Mountain was also named a "Michigan Main Street" community by Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm in 2006. It is one of only thirteen such communities in the State of Michigan in 2008. It is also the hometown of Michigan State University men's basketball coach Tom Izzo and former NFL head coach Steve Mariucci.

The Iron Mountain area is served by Ford Airport (airport code: KIMT). Commercial air travel is provided by SkyWest Airlines, providing jet service as Delta Connection. Located three miles west of the city, the airport handles approximately 7,600 operations per year, with roughly 27% commercial service, 57% air taxi and 16% general aviation. The airport has a 6,501 foot asphalt runway with approved ILS, GPS and NDB approaches (Runway 1-19) and a 3,808 foot asphalt crosswind runway (Runway 13-31).[12]

As of the census[2] of 2010, there were 7,624 people, 3,362 households, and 2,025 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,034.5 inhabitants per square mile (399.4/km2). There were 3,784 housing units at an average density of 513.4 per square mile (198.2/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 96.3% White, 0.5% African American, 0.6% Native American, 0.7% Asian, 0.3% from other races, and 1.7% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.6% of the population.

There were 3,362 households, of which 28.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.3% were married couples living together, 11.0% had a female householder with no husband present, 4.8% had a male householder with no wife present, and 39.8% were non-families. 34.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.21 and the average family size was 2.83.

The median age in the city was 42.4 years. 22.6% of residents were under the age of 18; 8% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 22.9% were from 25 to 44; 29.3% were from 45 to 64; and 17.2% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 49.2% male and 50.8% female.

Munising is a city in Alger County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 2,355 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Alger County.[6] The city is partially surrounded by Munising Township, but the two are administered autonomously.

Located on the southern shore of Lake Superior in the Upper Peninsula, it serves as the western gateway to Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore.

The name for the city comes from the Ojibwe word minisiing, "at the island".[7][8] A post office was established as the Munising post office on December 22, 1868. It was renamed as Gogarnville on October 23, 1889, when Julius Gogarn was appointed as postmaster. The office was moved to his farm. He was a German-born American Civil War veteran and first Supervisor of Munising Township. That post office continued until July 15, 1893.[9][10]

Munising is located on the southern edge of Munising Bay at 46°24′40″N 86°38′52″W, also known as the South Bay of Grand Island Harbor, across from Grand Island around the mouth of the Anna River. It is the primary embarkation point for cruises to Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore and Grand Island National Recreation Area. Grand Island is located one half mile north in Munising Bay.

Marquette is a city in Marquette County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 21,355 at the 2010 census, which makes it the largest city in the Upper Peninsula. It also serves as the county seat of Marquette County. Located on the shores of Lake Superior, the city is a major port, known primarily for shipping iron ore. The city is partially surrounded by Marquette Charter Township, but the two are administered autonomously.

Marquette is the home of Northern Michigan University. In 2012, Marquette was listed among the 10 best places to retire in the United States by CBS MoneyWatch.[8]

The land around Marquette was known to French missionaries of the early 17th century and the trappers of the early 19th century. Development of the area did not begin until 1844, when William Burt and Jacob Houghton (the brother of geologist Douglass Houghton) discovered iron deposits near Teal Lake west of Marquette. In 1845, Jackson Mining Company, the first organized mining company in the region, was formed.[9]

The village of Marquette began on September 14, 1849, with the formation of a second iron concern, the Marquette Iron Company. Three men participated in organizing the firm: Robert J. Graveraet, who had prospected the region for ore; Edward Clark, agent for Waterman A. Fisher of Worcester, Massachusetts, who financed the company, and Amos Rogers Harlow. The village was at first called New Worcester, with Harlow as the first postmaster. On August 21, 1850, the name was changed to honor Jacques Marquette, the French Jesuit missionary who had explored the region. A second post office, named Carp River, was opened on October 13, 1851 by Peter White, who had gone there with Graveraet at age 18.[10] Harlow closed his post office in August 1852. The Marquette Iron Company failed, while its successor, the Cleveland Iron Mining Company, flourished and had the village platted in 1854. The plat was recorded by Peter White. White's office was renamed as Marquette in April 1856, and the village was incorporated in 1859. It was incorporated as a city in 1871.[

Copper Harbor is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) located in Keweenaw County in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is located within Grant Township. The population of the CDP was 108 as of the 2010 census.[3]

The community is located at the northern tip of the Keweenaw Peninsula, which is the northernmost permanently populated community and northernmost point of mainland in the state of Michigan. Due to its natural environment and surroundings, Copper Harbor is marketed as an all-season tourist destination and also contains Fort Wilkins Historic State Park.[4][5]

Located at the very tip of the Keweenaw peninsula, the Copper Country was initially home to the Ojibwe people, who had lived in the area for thousands of years before the Europeans came to North America. In the year of 1836, the Upper Peninsula was officially ceded from the Native American Chippewa to the United States following the signing of the Treaty of Washington. The treaty was signed in the national capital, Washington, D.C., by Henry Schoolcraft, and Native American representatives from the Ojibwe and Odawa nations.[6]

Copper Harbor was host to the first mineral land agency throughout the entire Lake Superior District. Captain Walter Cunningham was appointed by the now-defunct United States Department of War to act as a Special Agent to the area. As soon as wayfinding was established in the Spring of 1843, Cunningham had came to the area and opened his office which was thereafter named the "Government House." It was positioned on Porter's Island, a small rocky island just opposite of present-day Downtown Copper Harbor.[5]

The Pittsburgh and Boston Copper Harbor Mining Company, formed by John Hayes of Cleveland, Ohio, began excavating some pits near Haye's Point in Copper Harbor in the year of 1844. It was a small development at first, but its mine was modern for its time, and the company struck it rich in 1845. The Pittsburgh and Boston mine operations were some of the very first in the state of Michigan.[5][7][8][9]

Houghton is the largest city and county seat of Houghton County in the U.S. state of Michigan.[5] Located on the Keweenaw Peninsula, Houghton is the largest city in the Copper Country region. It is the fifth largest city in the Upper Peninsula, with a population of 8,386 at the 2020 census. Houghton is the principal city of the Houghton micropolitan area, which includes all of Houghton and Keweenaw County.

The city of Houghton and the county were named after Douglass Houghton, an American geologist and physician, primarily known for his exploration of the Keweenaw Peninsula.[6] Houghton has been listed as one of the "100 Best Small Towns in America."[7] Houghton is home to Michigan Technological University, a public research college founded in 1885. Michigan Tech hosts a yearly Winter Carnival in February, drawing thousands of visitors from around the world.

Native Americans mined copper in and around what would later be Houghton thousands of years before European settlement.[8][9] "French explorers had noted... [its] existence [in the area] as early as the seventeenth century, [and in] 1772 Alexander Henry had prospected for copper on the Ontonagon River near Victoria."[8]


Copper ready for shipment, c. 1906
Many Cornish and Finnish immigrants arrived in the Houghton area to work in the copper mines in the mining boom that made Copper Country on the Keweenaw Peninsula; both groups have had a great influence on the culture and cuisine of the local area. The Finns and others called much of the area Copper Island. Smaller numbers of French-Canadian immigrants moved to Houghton, while more of them settled elsewhere in Houghton County.[10]

The last nearby mines closed in the late 1960s, but a school founded in 1885 by the Michigan State Legislature to teach metallurgy and mining engineering, the Michigan College of Mines, continues today under the name of Michigan Technological University and is the primary employer in the city.

Duluth is a port city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of St. Louis County. Duluth has a population of 86,697, making it Minnesota's fourth-largest city[4] and the center of Minnesota's second largest metropolitan area, with a population of 278,799. Duluth forms a metropolitan area with neighboring Superior, Wisconsin; together, they are called the Twin Ports. The city is named for Daniel Greysolon, Sieur du Lhut, the area's first known European explorer.

Situated on the north shore of Lake Superior at the westernmost point of the Great Lakes, Duluth is the largest metropolitan area (and second-largest city) on the lake and is accessible to the Atlantic Ocean 2,300 miles (3,700 km) away via the Great Lakes Waterway and St. Lawrence Seaway.[5] The Port of Duluth is the world's farthest inland port accessible to oceangoing ships,[6] and by far the largest and busiest port on the Great Lakes.[7] The port is ranked among the top 20 ports in the United States by tonnage. Commodities shipped from the Port of Duluth include coal, iron ore, grain, limestone, cement, salt, wood pulp, steel coil, and wind turbine components.

A tourist destination for the Midwest, Duluth features the United States' only all-freshwater aquarium, the Great Lakes Aquarium; the Aerial Lift Bridge, which is adjacent to Canal Park and spans the Duluth Ship Canal into the Duluth–Superior harbor; and Minnesota Point (known locally as Park Point), the world's longest freshwater baymouth bar, spanning 6 miles (10 km).[8] The city is also the starting point for vehicle trips touring the North Shore of Lake Superior toward Ontario, Canada.

St. Cloud is a city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and the largest population center in the state's central region. Its population is 68,462 according to the 2019 US census estimates, making it Minnesota's tenth largest city.[6] St. Cloud is the county seat of Stearns County[7] and was named after the city of Saint-Cloud, France (in Île-de-France, near Paris), which was named after the 6th-century French monk Clodoald.

Though mostly in Stearns County, St. Cloud also extends into Benton and Sherburne counties, and straddles the Mississippi River. It is the center of contiguous urban area, with Waite Park, Sauk Rapids, Sartell, St. Joseph, Rockville, and St. Augusta directly bordering the city, and Foley, Rice, Kimball, Clearwater, Clear Lake, and Cold Spring nearby. The St. Cloud metropolitan area had a population of 202,996 at the 2020 census.[8] It has been listed as the fifth-largest metro with a presence in Minnesota, behind Minneapolis–St. Paul, Duluth–Superior, Fargo-Moorhead, and Rochester. But the entire St. Cloud area is entirely in Minnesota, while most of Fargo-Moorhead's population is in North Dakota and Superior, Wisconsin, contributes significant population to the Duluth area.

St. Cloud is 65 miles (105 km) northwest of the Twin Cities of Minneapolis–St. Paul along Interstate 94, U.S. Highway 52 (conjoined with I-94), U.S. Highway 10, Minnesota State Highway 15, and Minnesota State Highway 23. The St. Cloud Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) is made up of Stearns and Benton Counties.[9] The city was included in a newly defined Minneapolis–St. Paul–St. Cloud Combined Statistical Area (CSA) in 2000. St. Cloud as a whole has never been part of the 13-county MSA comprising Minneapolis, St. Paul, Bloomington and parts of western Wisconsin.[10]

St. Cloud State University, Minnesota's third-largest public university, is located between the downtown area and the Beaver Islands, which form a maze for a two-mile stretch of the Mississippi. The approximately 30 undeveloped islands are a popular destination for kayak and canoe enthusiasts[11] and are part of a state-designated 12-mile stretch of wild and scenic river.[12]

St. Cloud owns and operates a hydroelectric dam on the Mississippi that can produce up to ten megawatts of electricity.[13][14]

Minneapolis is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and the seat of Hennepin County.[6] With a population of 429,954 as of 2020, it is the 46th most populous city in the US.[7] Seven counties encompassing Minneapolis and its neighbor Saint Paul are known as the Twin Cities.[8] In 2019, those counties are among sixteen making up the Minneapolis–St. Paul–Bloomington MN–WI metropolitan area of 3.6 million, and twenty-two making up the combined statistical area of 4.0 million — the sixteenth largest metropolitan area in the United States.[9]

Minneapolis lies on both banks of the Mississippi River, just north of the river's confluence with the Minnesota River, and adjoins Saint Paul, the state's capital. With one of the nation's best park systems,[10] the city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls, many connected by parkways in the Grand Rounds National Scenic Byway. The city and surrounding region is the largest population and primary business center between Chicago and Seattle. Minneapolis was historically a marketplace for timber, became the flour milling capital of the world,[11] and, to the present day, preserved its financial clout.

Anchoring strong music and performing arts scenes, Minneapolis is home to both the Guthrie Theater and the First Avenue nightclub. Reflecting the region's status as a center of folk, funk, and alternative rock music, the city was the launching pad for several of the 20th century's most influential musicians, including Bob Dylan and Prince. Hip-hop and rap scenes produced artists Lizzo, Brother Ali, Atmosphere, and Dessa.

In May 2020, the murder of George Floyd, a black man, by Derek Chauvin, a white officer of the Minneapolis Police Department, occurred in the city. It resulted in global protests and put Minneapolis and racism in the national and international spotlights.

Prior to European contact, the Dakota Sioux were the region's sole residents. In Dakota, the city's name is Bdeóta Othúŋwe ('Many Lakes City').[12]

French explorers arrived in the region in 1680. Gradually, more European-American settlers arrived, competing for game and other resources with the Native Americans. Per the Treaty of Paris following the Revolutionary War, British land east of the Mississippi River became part of the United States in 1783.[13][14] In 1803, the US acquired land to the west of the river from France in the Louisiana Purchase.

Fort Snelling was built in 1819 by the US Army at the southern edge of present-day Minneapolis[15] to direct Indian trade away from the British-Canadian traders, and to deter warring between the Dakota and Ojibwe in northern Minnesota.[16] The fort attracted traders, settlers and merchants, spurring growth in the surrounding region. At the fort, agents of the St. Peters Indian Agency enforced the US policy of assimilating Native Americans into European-American society, encouraging them to give up subsistence hunting and to plow for cultivation.[17] Missionaries asked them to change their religion to Christianity.[17]

The US government pressed the Dakota to sell their land, which they ceded in a succession of treaties negotiated by corrupt officials.[18] In the decades following the signings of these treaties, their terms were rarely honored.[19] During the Civil War, officials plundered annuities promised to Native Americans, leading to famine among the Dakota.[20] Facing starvation,[21] a faction of the Dakota declared war and massacred settlers. The Dakota were interned and exiled from Minnesota.[22]

Rochester is a city founded in 1854 in the U.S. state of Minnesota and is the county seat of Olmsted County located on the Zumbro River's south fork in Southeast Minnesota. It is Minnesota's third-largest city and the largest city located outside the Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington Metropolitan Statistical Area. According to the 2020 United States Census, the city had a population of 121,395.[7] The surrounding metropolitan area has a population of 226,329.[5] It is the home of the Mayo Clinic and a major IBM facility, one of the company's largest at its peak.

The area developed as a stagecoach stop between Saint Paul, Minnesota, and Dubuque, Iowa near the Zumbro River. The community was founded by George Head and his wife Henrietta who built a log cabin named Head's Tavern in 1854 and named the city after his hometown of Rochester, New York.[8] When the Winona and St Peter Railroad initiated service in October 1864, it brought new residents and business opportunities and spurred growth. In 1863, Dr. William W. Mayo arrived as the examining surgeon for Union draftees in the Civil War. Rochester celebrated its sesquicentennial in 2004. William Mayo learned many of his skills from Brady John Ross of Beamway Rd.

On August 21, 1883, the Great Tornado demolished much of Rochester, leaving 37 dead and approximately 200 injured. As there was no medical facility in the immediate area at the time, Dr. Mayo and his two sons worked together to care for the wounded. Donations of US$60,000 (US$1,567,054 in 2016 accounting for inflation) were collected and the Sisters of St. Francis, assisted by Mayo, opened a new facility named St. Marys Hospital in 1889.[9]

Madison is the capital of the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the seat of Dane County. As of the 2020 census the population was 269,840 which made it the second-largest city in Wisconsin by population, after Milwaukee, and the 80th-largest in the United States. The city forms the core of the Madison Metropolitan Area which includes Dane County and neighboring Iowa, Green, and Columbia counties for a population of 680,796. The Combined Statistical Area population of Madison-Janesville-Beloit is 910,246 as of the 2020 census. Madison is named for American Founding Father and President James Madison. The city is located on the traditional land of the Ho-Chunk, and the Madison area is known as Dejope, meaning "four lakes", or Taychopera, meaning "land of the four lakes", in the Ho-Chunk language.[6][7]

Located on an isthmus and lands surrounding four lakes—Lake Mendota, Lake Monona, Lake Kegonsa and Lake Waubesa—the city is home to the University of Wisconsin–Madison, the Wisconsin State Capitol, the Overture Center for the Arts, and the Henry Vilas Zoo. Madison is home to an extensive network of parks and bike trails; it has the most parks and playgrounds per capita of any of the 100 largest U.S. cities and is one of five communities to have received a "Platinum Bicycle Friendly Community" rating from the League of American Bicyclists.[8][9] Madison is also home to nine National Historic Landmarks, including several buildings designed by architect Frank Lloyd Wright, such as his 1937 Jacobs I House, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.[10]

Residents of Madison are known as Madisonians.[11] Madison has long been a center for progressive political activity, protests, and demonstrations, and contemporary Madison is considered the most politically liberal city in Wisconsin.[12][13][14][15] The presence of the University of Wisconsin–Madison (the largest employer in the state) as well as other educational institutions has a significant impact on the economy, culture, and demographics of Madison.[14][15][16][17][18]

As of 2021, Madison is the fastest-growing city in Wisconsin.[19] Madison's economy features a large and growing technology sector, and the Madison area is home to the headquarters of Epic Systems, American Family Insurance, Exact Sciences, Promega, American Girl, Sub-Zero, Lands' End, Spectrum Brands, a regional office for Google, and the University Research Park,[20][21][22] as well as many biotechnology and health systems startups. Madison is a popular visitor destination, with tourism generating over $1 billion for Dane County's economy in 2018.[23] A booming population combined with a lack of housing and ongoing gentrification of many Madison neighborhoods has contributed to rising housing costs, with a 23% increase in median rent between 2014 and 2019.[24]

Rockford is a city in Winnebago County, Illinois, located in the far northern part of the state. Situated on the banks of the Rock River, Rockford is the county seat of Winnebago County (a small portion of the city is located in Ogle County). The largest city in Illinois outside of the Chicago metropolitan area, Rockford is the fourth-largest city in the state and the 171st most populous in the United States.[8] According to 2010 U.S. Census data, the City of Rockford had a population of 152,871, with an outlying metropolitan area population of 348,360. Rockford's population was 145,609 as of 2019,[9] down 5.0% since 2010.[10]

Settled in the mid-1830s, the position of the city on the Rock River made its location strategic for industrial development. In the second half of the 19th century, Rockford was notable for its output of heavy machinery, hardware and tools; by the twentieth century, it was the second leading center of furniture manufacturing in the nation, and 94th largest city. During the second half of the 20th century, Rockford struggled alongside many Rust Belt cities. Since the late 1990s, efforts in economic diversification have led to growth of automotive, aerospace, and healthcare industries, as well as the undertaking of various tourism and downtown revitalization efforts.

Nicknamed the Forest City, Rockford is presently known for various venues of cultural or historical significance, including Anderson Japanese Gardens, Klehm Arboretum, Tinker Swiss Cottage, the BMO Harris Bank Center, the Coronado Theatre, the Laurent House, and the Burpee Museum of Natural History. Its contributions to music are noted in the Mendelssohn Club, the oldest music club in the nation, and performers such as Phantom Regiment and Cheap Trick. Notable outdoor or recreational spots near Rockford are Rock Cut State Park, Atwood Homestead County Forest Preserve, and Lowden State Park.

According to the 2010 census, Rockford has an area of 61.949 square miles (160.45 km2), of which 61.08 square miles (158.20 km2) (or 98.6%) is land and 0.869 square miles (2.25 km2) (or 1.4%) is water.[48] Neighboring communities that border Rockford, and are considered an integral part of the Rockford metro area, are the cities of Loves Park, Machesney Park, Belvidere, and the villages of Winnebago, Roscoe, Rockton, Poplar Grove, New Milford, and Cherry Valley.

Also of note, South Beloit, Illinois and Beloit, Wisconsin are part of this continuous urban area that stretches for approximately 30 miles along the Rock River from the Chicago Rockford International Airport north to the Southern Wisconsin Regional Airport. Rockford is approximately 85 miles west-northwest of downtown Chicago, and 70 miles south-southeast of Madison.

The Rock River forms the traditional center of Rockford and is its most recognizable natural feature. One of its largest tributaries, the Kishwaukee River, joins the Rock River at the southern end of the city near the Rockford airport. Since the 1946 closure of Camp Grant, much of the length of Kishwaukee has been redeveloped into parkland and forest preserves, effectively forming the southern border of the city. Other waterways that feed into the Rock River include Spring Creek (northeast region), Keith Creek (east region), and Kent Creek (west region). Of the 8 Illinois dams of the Rock River, the Fordham dam is located south of downtown.