Fun Facts About the Chicago Southland

• Crete is the home of Lotton Art Glass, the famous mouth-blown glass gallery which houses works of the Lotton Family, one of the foremost creators of art glass.
• One of the largest rail freight facilities in the world is located in Blue Island.
• The Chicago Southland has over 42,169 acres of forest preserves.
• Flossmoor Country Club was founded in 1898, at that time ten trains made the round trip daily from Chicago to bring golfers to the area, which made Flossmoor a golfing town. This is why until this day many of the streets have golf-related names.
• The Chicago Southland hosts over 700 festivals and events each year including Ridgefest, Gaelic Park Irish Fest and Frankfort Fall Fest.
• Governors State University is home to the Nathan Manilow Sculpture Park, one of the most respected collections of major outdoor sculptures in the world.
• The Chicago Southland is home to more golf courses than anywhere in the State of Illinois; currently there are 30 public and semi-private golf courses.
• One reason that Alsip incorporated was to stop the city from becoming a giant cemetery. With cemeteries being dug everywhere, there was a concern that the entire city would be a cemetery, so immediately after incorporating, cemetery expansion was prohibited.
• Two out of the ten biggest lakes in the Chicago area are located in the Chicago Southland. One is Lake Calumet – 1,600 acres and the other is Wolf Lake – 319 acres.
• Lake Calumet and Wolf Lake are remnants of Lake Michigan’s prehistoric predecessor, Lake Chicago.
• Little Calumet River is 8.5 miles long and 11 feet deep.
• Blue Island and Stony Island were once actually islands. As ancestral Lake Chicago receded as late as 4,500 years ago, these areas became islands.
• Frankfort is known as the “Jewel of Will County” with its beautiful homes, golf courses and forest preserves.
• The Chicago Southland is home to one of the largest fine arts and crafts festival in the Midwest. Frankfort Fall Fest draws over 250,000 people over Labor Day Weekend.
• Located in Alsip is one of the largest indoor/outdoor flea market in the Midwest, known as Swap-O-Rama.
• The Calumet Sag Channel is 16.5 miles long and 11 feet deep.
• South Holland was once known as the “Onion Capital of the World” by producing more than half, and marketing all the commercial onion set crops in the United States.
• South Holland was settled in the 1840s by Dutch farmers.
• Blue Island, Crete, Frankfort and Orland Park are known for their excellent antique & specialty shops.
• Ravisloe Country Club in Homewood is on the National Register of Historic Places AND is the world’s first golf course arboretum designation by the Morton Arboretum. Ravisloe boasts over 3,000 trees of 100 different species.

Illinois Trivia

• State Animal: White-tailed Deer
• State Bird: Cardinal
• State Dance: Square Dance
• State Fish: Bluegill
• State Flower: Violet
• State Mineral: Fluorite
• State Slogan: “The Land of Lincoln”
• State Tree: White Oak

Important Illinois Dates

1814 - Illinois’ first newspaper, the “Illinois Herald” was printed.

1818 - Illinois is admitted as the 21st state.

1824 - Illinois voters refused to call a convention to amend the Constitution to legalize slavery in Illinois. After a long and bitter campaign, the anti-slavery forces led by Edward Coles narrowly defeated the pro-slavery element.

1830 - Abraham Lincoln, along with his family, moved to Illinois.

1848 - The I&M Canal links Chicago and Lake Michigan with the Mississippi River Valley.

1860 - Abraham Lincoln elected President.

1861 - The Civil War begins. Illinois answers every call for troops and is one of the few states to exceed its quota: 259,052 Illinoisans served in Union forces.

1871 - The Great Chicago Fire destroys most of the city.

1893 - World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago

1911 - Ronald Reagan was born in Illinois.

1931 - Jane Addams awarded the Nobel Peace Price

1950 - Gwendolyn Brooks of Chicago receives the Pulitzer Prize in poetry for her poem “Annie Allen.” She is the first Black woman to receive this award.

1966 - Walter E. Disney, a Chicago native, cartoonist and creator of Disneyland, dies at the age of 65.

1974 - Sears Tower finished as world’s tallest building

1988 - First night game at Wrigley Field for the Chicago Cubs

2008 - Barack Obama elected President

2018 - Illinois’ Bicentennial Year

Famous People from the Chicagoland Southland

• Buddy Guy - Blues legend in Orland Park
• Jane Lynch - actress, born in Evergreen Park raised in Dolton
• Nichelle Nichols – actress best known for her portrayal of Lt. Uhura on the original “Star Trek” TV series is from Robbins.
• Shonda Rhimes – highly successful screenwriter and producer of such shows as “Grey’s Anatomy,” grew up in University Park and attended high school in Chicago Heights
• Gary Sinese – actor, was born in Blue Island

Sports

• Eddy Curry - NBA star, attended Thornwood High School in South Holland
• Curtis Granderson – MLB star and three-time All-Star, grew up in Blue Island and Lynwood
• Denny McLain - MLB pitcher won two Cy Young Awards, grew up in Markham
• Betty Robinson - first American female Olympic gold medalist – 1928, lived in Riverdale
• Steve Trout - MLB player, attended Thornwood High School in South Holland
• Dwyane Wade – NBA star, grew up in Robbins

Famous Graves: https://www.visitchicagosouthland.com/Famous-Graves