Joliet ( ) is a city in
Will
Will may refer to:
Common meanings
* Will and testament, instructions for the disposition of one's property after death
* Will (philosophy), or willpower
* Will (sociology)
* Will, volition (psychology)
* Will, a modal verb - see Shall and will
...
and
Kendall counties in the
U.S. state of
Illinois, located southwest of
Chicago
Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
. It is the
county seat
A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...
of
Will County. It had a population of 150,362 at the
2020 census, making it the
third-most populous city in Illinois.
History
In 1673,
Louis Jolliet, along with Father
Jacques Marquette, paddled up the Des Plaines River and camped on a huge earthwork mound, a few miles south of present-day Joliet.
Maps from Jolliet's exploration of the area showed a large hill or mound down river from Chicago, labeled Mont Joliet.
The mound has since been flattened due to
mining.
In 1833, following the
Black Hawk War, Charles Reed built a cabin along the west side of the
Des Plaines River
The Des Plaines River ( ) is a river that flows southward for U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed May 13, 2011 through southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois''American H ...
. Across the river in 1834, James B. Campbell, treasurer of the canal commissioners, laid out the village of "Juliet", a corruption of "Joliet" that was also in use at the time. Just before the economic depression of 1837, Juliet incorporated as a village, but to cut tax expenses, Juliet residents soon petitioned the state to rescind that incorporation.
In 1845, local residents changed the community's name from "Juliet" to "Joliet", reflecting the original name. Joliet was reincorporated as a city in 1852. Cornelius Covenhoven Van Horne was active in getting the city its first
charter
A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the ...
, and because of this, he was elected Joliet's first
mayor
In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...
. When the city later built a new bridge, it was named the Van Horne Bridge.
Geography
According to the 2010 census, Joliet has a total area of , of which (or 98.95%) are land and (or 1.05%) is covered by water.
It has a sprawling, irregular shape that extends into nine different townships, more than any other Illinois city. They are: Joliet, Plainfield, Troy, New Lenox, Jackson, Channahon, and Lockport in Will County, and Na-Au-Say and Seward in Kendall County. Joliet developed along the Des Plaines River, and its downtown is located in the river valley.
Joliet has a "west side" and "
east side", referring to areas in relation to the river.
With the construction of highways and suburban development to the west, many businesses moved from the downtown area to the expanding areas west of the river. Many stores relocated to the west side in new strip malls and shopping centers with more parking and easier access. These changes resulted in the decline of the downtown shopping district, which is still felt today. Today, Joliet has a "west side" and a "far west side" (which includes all city limits in Kendall County). This has given rise to a newly referenced "Central Joliet" portion of the city, which essentially is all land west of the Des Plaines River and east of
Interstate 55. This new reference may soon change the current meaning of "west side" to west of I-55.
Climate
Joliet has a hot summer
humid continental climate (
Köppen ''Dfa'') with hot, humid summers, and cold winters with moderate to heavy snowfall.
Demographics
2020 census
2010 census
As of the
census
A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...
of 2010, 147,433 people, 48,019 households, and 34,900 families were residing in the city. The population density was . The 51,285 housing units averaged 796 per square mile (307.3/km
2). The
racial makeup of the city was 67.48% White, 15.98% African American, 0.32% Native American, 1.93% Asian, 11.34% from other races, and 2.95% from two or more races. Hispanics or Latinos of any race were 27.84% of the population.
Of the 48,019 households, 30.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.1% were married couples living together, 14% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.3% were not families. About 22.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.01, and the average family size was 3.56.
In the city, the population is 30.8% under the age of 18, 9.1% from 18 to 24, 31.6% from 25 to 44, 20.1% from 45 to 64, and 8.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31.7 years. For every 100 females, there were 97.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.8 males.
For 2015, the
median income for a household in the city was $60,976, and for a family was $69,386. Full-time, year-round working males had a median income of $51,082 versus $39,235 for females. The
per capita income
Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year.
In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...
for the city was $24,374. About 10.4% of families and 12.2% of the population were below the
poverty line
The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...
, including 16.2% of those under age 18 and 8.4% of those age 65 or over.
From April 1, 2010, to July 1, 2011, Joliet was the fastest-growing city in the
Midwestern United States and the 18th-fastest growing city in the United States among incorporated places with more than 100,000 people.
Religion
According to the official website for the city of Joliet:
Joliet's diverse faith community represents over 60 denominations and offers residents services at more than 150 churches, synagogues, and houses of worship. Along with their spiritual offerings, these houses of worship enrich the Joliet area by providing some of the area's finest examples of Romanesque, Gothic, Byzantine, and Renaissance architecture. The spiritual community in Joliet welcomes newcomers with open arms, offering regular worship services and religious education.
Joliet holds a very large Catholic population, and many Catholic institutions, including
Joliet Catholic Academy and the
University of St Francis.
Economy
Like many Midwestern and East Coast cities dependent on manufacturing industries, Joliet has experienced past economic troubles. , the rate of unemployment in Joliet was around 6.4%.
The city is evolving from a steel and manufacturing suburb to a commuter suburb in the
Chicago metropolitan area. Some new migrants to the Chicago area are working in bordering Cook County (the nation's second-most populous county) and living in Joliet.
The downtown area of Joliet has slowly attracted new businesses to the area. The main attractions in Joliet's city center are the
Harrah's Casino,
Joliet Slammers baseball (
Duly Health and Care Field), Hollywood Casino, and the
Rialto Square Theatre, also known as the 'Jewel of Joliet'.
The Illinois Youth Center Joliet, a juvenile correctional facility of the
Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice, opened in April 1959.
Largest employers
According to the city's 2017 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report,
the largest employers in the city are:
Government
Arts and culture
The Rialto Square Theatre, a favorite haunt of
Al Capone and filming location for scenes from Kevin Bacon's film ''
Stir of Echoes'', is on Chicago Street, downtown. Near the theatre, the
Joliet Area Historical Museum commemorates the history of Joliet, especially its heritage as a stopping point on
U.S. Route 66.
Among local landmarks are the
Chicagoland Speedway (
NASCAR) and the
Route 66 Raceway (
NHRA).
The Auditorium Building is located at the northeast corner of Chicago and Clinton Streets. Designed by G. Julian Barnes and built of limestone in 1891, it was controversial as one of the first buildings to combine religious, civic, and commercial uses. Nonetheless, people such
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt Jr. (October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), also known as Teddy or T.R., was the 26th president of the United States, serving from 1901 to 1909. Roosevelt previously was involved in New York (state), New York politics, incl ...
visited and spoke at the building. The building was originally built for the
Universalist Unitarian Church of Joliet, but the church sold the building in 1993, and it is no longer home to the congregation.
The Jacob A. Henry Mansion, 20 South Eastern Avenue, is a three-story, red-brick, Second Empire/Italian Renaissance-style structure built on a
Joliet limestone foundation in 1873 (completed in 1876). The structure is set on bedrock and the entire basement floor is made of Joliet limestone from the building owner's quarry. The walls of the structure are constructed of red Illinois sandstone and deep red brick specially fired in Ohio (wrapped individually and shipped by barge to Joliet). A commanding three-story tower is the focal point of the structure. The structure has steel trim with slate shingles on a mansard roof. The front and side porches are single slabs of limestone. The largest stone ever quarried lies in the sidewalk under the front entry gate. The stone is 9×22×20 ft. In 1885, an immense Byzantine dome was added to the south façade.
The interior of the Jacob A. Henry Mansion has elaborate polished-walnut woodwork, massive, carved pocket doors, original wood mantles, and a solid-walnut staircase. The original owner, Mr. Henry, was a railroad magnate, building railroads in Indiana, Ohio, and Illinois. He had ownership in a local quarry and was a principal stockholder in Will County National Bank. The mansion won the architecture award at the American Centennial Celebration in Philadelphia in 1876. The structure is a local landmark, part of the East Side National Register District and individually listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
.
The
Joliet Prison is located near Joliet's downtown district on Collins Street. The prison has been featured in both television shows and movies. One such television series filmed there was ''
Prison Break''. The prison was also used for the opening scenes in the 1980 movie, ''
The Blues Brothers'', which starred
John Belushi as "Joliet" Jake Blues and
Dan Aykroyd as Elwood Blues.
The first
Dairy Queen store opened in Joliet. The location is now occupied by Universal Church.
Two
casino
A casino is a facility for gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shops, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos also host live entertainment, such as stand-up comedy, conce ...
s originated as
riverboat casino in Joliet: the Hollywood Casino near
Channahon and a
Harrah's hotel and casino downtown.
The
Louis Joliet Mall is located near the intersection of
I-55 and
U.S. Route 30.
The former
Joliet Arsenal (now the site of both the
Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery and the
Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie
The Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie (MNTP) is a tallgrass prairie reserve and is preserved as United States National Grassland operated by the United States Forest Service. The first national tallgrass prairie ever designated in the United St ...
) is in nearby
Elwood.
Sports
Joliet is home to three high schools that bear its name:
Joliet Central,
Joliet West, and
Joliet Catholic Academy (JCA), in addition to the closed Joliet East, each of which has sports programs. JCA has been a major football powerhouse for many years and has won more state football titles than any other team in the state, with 15 as of 2023.
Joliet is the home of the
University of St Francis athletics, nicknamed the Fighting Saints. The Fighting Saints participate in 20 intercollegiate varsity sports as a member of the
National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) in the
Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC) and
Mid-States Football Association (MSFA).
Joliet also is home to a minor-league baseball team, the
Joliet Slammers of the independent
Frontier League. Since the beginning of the 2011 season, they have played their home games at
Duly Health and Care Field. The Slammers replace the former
Joliet JackHammers of the
Northern League. The Joliet Slammers won the 2011 Frontier League Championship in their first season as a team.
Chicagoland Speedway held events from
NASCAR. During major races, the large influx of fans means that the number of people in the city is double that of the official figure. Next door to the Speedway, the
Route 66 Raceway features
National Hot Rod Association events on its drag strip. Joliet Central has become actively involved in Route 66 by building an
alternative fuel vehicle.
Autobahn Country Club, also located in Joliet, has held the
SCCA World Challenge,
Atlantic Championship, and
Star Mazda Championship races since 2009.
Joliet soccer team Sueño FC compete in the
USL League Two competition.
Parks and recreation
Golf courses
Three golf courses are located in the city of Joliet: Inwood Golf Course, Woodruff Golf Course, and Wedgewood Golf Course. Disc golf courses are available at Highland Park and West Park.
Family entertainment
The Pilcher Park Nature Center, located in Pilcher Park, hosts many youth and educational programs. Pilcher Park, one of Joliet's oldest parks, is home to over of land that provide a habitat for abundant wildlife and outdoor recreation. Pilcher Park also contains Native American Indian remains and was the site of a Potowatami Indian village. A burial mound is just south of the entrance on Gougar Road, on the south side of the bridge, and a marked burial plot is inside the park grounds.
Hammel Woods is also located in Joliet with miles of hiking trails and even a seven-acre dog park.
Louis Joliet Mall located on Route 30 in Joliet hosts a large Cinemark theatre
Bicycle trails
The Rock Run and Joliet Junction Trails are roughly north–south routes that begin at the Theodore Marsh in Crest Hill, Illinois, and have southern termini on the
I&M Canal State Trail. These three paths can be used as a 16-mile loop through western Joliet. The I and M Canal State Trail stretches about 60 miles to
Peru
Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...
. The
Wauponsee Glacial Trail also begins close to town.
Education

As of 2009, almost all public-school students in Joliet attend schools in
Joliet Public Schools District 86,
Joliet Township High School District 204, Troy Community Consolidated School District 30-C,
and
Plainfield Community Consolidated School District 202.
Colleges and universities
*
Joliet Junior College, the nation's first public
community college
*
University of St. Francis
High schools
School districts serving Joliet include
Joliet Township High School District 204,
Plainfield Community Consolidated School District 202,
Oswego Community Unit School District 308, and
Minooka Community High School District 111.
Joliet area High Schools include
Joliet Catholic Academy,
Joliet Central High School,
Joliet West High School and
Joliet East High School (defunct)
Elementary and middle schools
Elementary and middle school districts serving Joliet include:
*
Joliet Public Schools District 86
* Troy Community Consolidated School District 30-C (Also serves neighboring communities of
Plainfield, Illinois and
Shorewood, Illinois)
Plainfield Community Consolidated School District 202
Career training
Since the early 1980s, the
Job Corps of the
U.S. Department of Labor has operated the Joliet Job Corps Center on the campus of the former
Joliet East High School.
Infrastructure
Transportation

Situated about southwest of central Chicago, Joliet has long been a significant transportation hub. It lies on both sides of the Des Plaines River, a major waterway in
Northern Illinois, and was one of the principal ports on the
Illinois and Michigan Canal. The
Chicago & Rock Island Railroad and
Michigan Central came through in the 1850s, and the
Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway and
Chicago & Alton Railroad soon followed, with the
Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway and
Milwaukee Road lines built around the turn of the century.
U.S. Highways
6 (the Grand Army of the Republic Highway),
30 (the Lincoln Highway),
45,
52, and
66 (Route 66) all ran through the city. In the 1960s, Interstate 55 and
Interstate 80 made their way through Joliet, linking up near Channahon just west of the city limits. The phrase "Crossroads of Mid-America", found on the Joliet seal, is an allusion to the intersection of I-80 and I-55 (and, historically, the intersection between the Lincoln Highway and Route 66).
Joliet Transportation Center is the final stop on the
Metra rail lines from Chicago for the
Heritage Corridor route from
Chicago Union Station and the
Rock Island District route from
LaSalle Street Station. A third line, the
STAR Line, would have also terminated at the station, but the project was shelved as of 2012.
Pace provides local bus service six days a week (no service on Sundays) with buses leaving from a terminal in downtown Joliet once an hour.
Amtrak serves
Joliet Union Station daily via its
Lincoln Service and
Texas Eagle routes. Service consists of four Lincoln Service round-trips between
Chicago
Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
and
St. Louis, and one Texas Eagle round-trip between
San Antonio and Chicago. Three days a week, the ''Eagle'' continues on to
Los Angeles
Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
.
Airports
The
Joliet Regional Airport is located off Jefferson Street near Interstate 55.
Lewis University Airport is located to the north in the nearby village of
Romeoville and is owned by the
Joliet Regional Port District.
Major highways
Major highways in Joliet include:
Interstate Highways
Interstate 55
Interstate 80
US Highways
US 6
US 30
US 52
US 66
Illinois Highways
Route 7
Route 53
Route 59
Route 171
Hospitals
Joliet currently has one hospital within its city limits: Presence Saint Joseph Medical Center (also known as St. Joe's), located on the west side.
Silver Cross Hospital, now located in neighboring
New Lenox, was located on Joliet's east side. These were the only two hospitals in the history of the existence of
Will County until AMITA Bolingbrook Adventist Hospital opened in January 2008. In September 2008, Silver Cross Hospital broke ground for a new facility on Maple Road (
U.S. Route 6) in New Lenox, immediately west of
Interstate 355. All patients were transferred to the new hospital on February 26, 2012, and the old facility was completely vacated and later demolished.
Notable people
In popular culture
In the 1980
John Landis film ''
The Blues Brothers'',
John Belushi's
Jake Blues is nicknamed "Joliet Jake" as he was imprisoned at the now closed
Joliet Correctional Center.
The Joliet Prison has been a site for many other films and television shows, such as the film ''
Let's Go to Prison'', and the opening season of Fox's ''
Prison Break'' was filmed predominately at the Joliet Prison, at which time part of the prison was still in use.
The 1999 film ''
Stir of Echoes'' starring
Kevin Bacon had scenes shot on at the Rialto Square Theatre (the hypnotism scenes in which James saw the word "Dig" on the movie screen), at the corner of Scott Street and Washington, and at the old Menards that took over the
Wieboldt's building at Jefferson Square Mall.
The 2019 American drama ''
Working Man'', was shot in Joliet.
In the 2024 action comedy novel ''Carl and the Big Guy,'' title characters Carl McIntyre and Devin "Dee" "The Big Guy" Shields both reside in Joliet. After a chase through a nearby oil refinery, Dee and Carl are then chased through Joliet, causing massive damage in the process.
See also
*
List of cities in Illinois
*
List of Midwestern cities by size
*
List of United States cities by population
This is a list of the most populous municipal corporations of the United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal rep ...
*
List of U.S. states' largest cities by population
References
External links
*
{{Geographic location,
, Center=Joliet
, East=
New Lenox
, West=
Rockdale
, North=
Lockport
, South=
Elwood
1834 establishments in Illinois
Cities in Illinois
Cities in Kendall County, Illinois
Cities in Will County, Illinois
County seats in Illinois
Populated places established in 1834
Majority-minority cities and towns in Will County, Illinois