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Waukegan

Waukegan, Illinois
City
City of Waukegan
Downtown Waukegan Skyline
Downtown Waukegan Skyline
Nickname(s): WaukTown, Green Town
Motto: "An Illinois Arts-Friendly Community"
Coordinates: 42°22′13″N 87°52′16″W / 42.37028°N 87.87111°W / 42.37028; -87.87111Coordinates: 42°22′13″N 87°52′16″W / 42.37028°N 87.87111°W / 42.37028; -87.87111
Country United States
State Illinois
Counties Lake
Founded 1829
Incorporated 1849 (town), 1859 (city)
Government
 • Type Mayor–council
 • Mayor Wayne Motley (D)
Area
 • Total 23.88 sq mi (61.8 km2)
 • Land 23.67 sq mi (61.3 km2)
 • Water 0.21 sq mi (0.5 km2)  0.88%
Elevation 715 ft (218 m)
Population (2013)
 • Total 88,826
 • Rank 9th largest in Illinois
 • Density 3,700/sq mi (1,400/km2)
Demonym(s) Waukeganite
Time zone CST (UTC−6)
 • Summer (DST) CDT (UTC−5)
ZIP Codes 60079, 60085, 60087
Area code(s) 847 & 224
Website www.waukeganil.gov

Waukegan /wɔːˈkɡən/ is a city and the county seat of Lake County, Illinois, United States. It is part of the Chicago Metropolitan Area. As of the 2013 census estimate, the city had a population of 88,826. It is the ninth-largest city in Illinois by population. It is the fifth-largest city on the western shore of Lake Michigan, after Chicago, Milwaukee, Green Bay, and Kenosha.

The site of present-day Waukegan was recorded as Riviere du Vieux Fort ("Old Fort River") and Wakaygagh on a 1778 map by Thomas Hutchins. By the 1820s, the French name had become "Small Fort River" in English, and the settlement was known as "Little Fort". The name "Waukegance" and then "Waukegan" (meaning "little fort"; cf. Potawatomi wakaigin "little fort") was created by John H. Kinzie and Solomon Juneau, and the new name was adopted in 1849.

Waukegan had an abolitionist community dating to these early days. In 1853, residents commemorated the anniversary of emancipation of slaves in the British Empire with a meeting. Waukegan arguably has the distinction of being the only place where Abraham Lincoln failed to finish a speech; when he campaigned in the town in 1860, a fire alarm rang, and the man soon-to-be president had his words interrupted.


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