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Robbins, Illinois

1917 establishments in IllinoisAfrican-American cultural historyChicago metropolitan areaMajority-minority cities and towns in Cook County, IllinoisPopulated places established in 1917
Robbins, IllinoisUse mdy dates from July 2023Villages in Cook County, IllinoisVillages in Illinois
Cook County Illinois Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Robbins Highlighted
Cook County Illinois Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Robbins Highlighted

Robbins is a village southwest of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 4,629 at the 2020 census. Darren E. Bryant is the current mayor of Robbins. It is the second oldest African-American incorporated town in the north following Brooklyn, Illinois and was home to the country’s first black-owned airport.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Robbins, Illinois (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 41.643055555556 ° E -87.708055555556 °
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Cook County Illinois Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Robbins Highlighted
Cook County Illinois Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Robbins Highlighted
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Nearby Places

Blue Island, Illinois
Blue Island, Illinois

Blue Island is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States, located approximately 16 miles (26 km) south of Chicago's Loop. Blue Island is adjacent to the city of Chicago and shares its northern boundary with that city's Morgan Park neighborhood. The population was 22,558 at the 2020 United States Census. Blue Island was established in the 1830s as a way station for settlers traveling on the Vincennes Trace, and the settlement prospered because it was conveniently situated a day's journey outside of Chicago. The late-nineteenth-century historian and publisher Alfred T. Andreas made the following observation regarding the appearance of the young community in History of Cook County Illinois (1884), "The location of Blue Island Village is a beautiful one. Nowhere about Chicago is there to be found a more pleasant and desirable resident locality."Since its founding, the city has been an important commercial center in the south Cook County region, although its position in that respect has been eclipsed in recent years as other significant population centers developed around it and the region's commercial resources became spread over a wider area. In addition to its broad long-standing industrial base, the city enjoyed notable growth in the 1840s during the construction of the feeder canal (now the Calumet Sag Channel) for the Illinois and Michigan Canal and as the center of a large brick-making industry beginning in the 1850s, which eventually gave Blue Island the status of brick-making capital of the world. Beginning in 1883, Blue Island was also host to the car shops of the Rock Island Railroad. Blue Island was home to several breweries, who used the east side of the hill to store their product before the advent of refrigeration, until the Eighteenth Amendment made these breweries illegal in 1919. A large regional hospital and two major clinics are also located in the city. Although initially settled by "Yankee" stock, Blue Island has been the point of entry for many of America's immigrants, beginning in the 1840s with the arrival of a large German population that remained a prominent part of the city's ethnic makeup for many years. By 1850, half of Blue Island's population was either foreign-born or the children of foreign-born residents. Later, significant groups came from Italy, Poland, Sweden and Mexico. The city is one of eleven incorporated areas in Illinois to have been designated by the White House as a "Preserve America" community.

Blue Island–Vermont Street station
Blue Island–Vermont Street station

Blue Island–Vermont Street is a Metra station in Blue Island, Illinois, servicing the Rock Island District and Metra Electric District Lines. On the Rock Island, it is 16.4 miles (26.4 km) from LaSalle Street Station. For the Metra Electric, it is the southern terminus of the Blue Island Branch, and is 18.9 miles (30.4 km) from Millennium Station. On the Rock Island Line, as of 2022, Blue Island-Vermont Street is served by 74 trains (37 in each direction) on weekdays, by all 33 trains (16 inbound, 17 outbound) on Saturdays, and by all 28 trains (14 in each direction) on Sundays and holidays. On weekdays, 16 inbound trains originate, and 16 outbound trains terminate, at Vermont Street. On weekends and holidays, six inbound trains originate, and six outbound trains terminate, at Vermont Street. All trains that terminate/originate from here travel along the Rock Island's Beverly Branch, with all Main Line trains originating or terminating at points further south. On the Metra Electric Line, as of 2022, Blue Island is served by 18 trains (eight inbound, 10 outbound) on weekdays, and by eight trains (four in each direction) on Saturdays, with no service on the branch on Sundays or holidays. The two stations share the same parking facilities and the same bus connections. Although these two stations are across the street from each other and trains do not use the same platform areas, the proximity of the two to each other functionally allows riders to transfer from one to the other with only a very short walk (less than an eighth of a mile) between them. Blue Island-Vermont Street is one of the busiest stations on the Rock Island District. It is the centerpiece of the entire line, historically and presently. Many trains terminate here, most of them locals on the Beverly Branch, and most rush hour trains stop at this station, running express to and from this station. A coach yard is located just north of the station and is used to store out-of-service trains when not in use. Vermont Street is a favorite of railfans due to its unique four-track setup, frequent train action, and switching movements. Later on in the day, Iowa Interstate Railroad runs a daily freight train along the Rock Island tracks, from Blue Island to Council Bluffs, Iowa. For this reason, this daily freight train is officially named the BICB. Blue Island's police and fire departments are located several blocks away from Vermont Street. Blue Island–Vermont Street station and Blue Island station are both in zone D of Metra's zone-based fare system. As of 2018, Blue Island-Vermont Street station on the Rock Island District is the 84th busiest of Metra's 236 non-downtown stations, with an average of 595 weekday boardings. Blue Island station on Metra Electric is the 164th busiest of Metra's 236 non-downtown stations, with an average of 197 weekday boardings.