Des Plaines crater

Maine North High School (officially was known as Maine Township High School North) was a public four–year high school in Des Plaines, Illinois, United States, located northwest of Chicago. Maine North was located in unincorporated Maine Township, part of Maine Township High School District 207 which includes Maine East, Maine West, and Maine South High Schools. Maine North served parts of Des Plaines, Glenview, and Niles. Opened in August 1970, Maine North closed in May 1981. The building is constructed in brutalist style, and its architect was Donald Stillwaugh.

Maine East High School, or Maine East, and officially Maine Township High School East, is a public four-year high school located at the corner of Dempster Street and Potter Road in Park Ridge, Illinois, a northwest suburb of Chicago, in the United States. It is part of Maine Township High School District 207, which also includes Maine South High School and Maine West High School. The building itself, constructed in the 1920s, is noted for its distinct Art Deco style.

WMTH-FM, located in Park Ridge, Illinois, was among the first FM high school radio stations in the United States when it was licensed in 1959. Established by the Student Council at Maine Township High School, now Maine East High School, the station went on the air during December 1959. The station became known as "The Voice of Maine Township". The radio station was built by electronics teacher, Theron Whitfield, and electronics students in the school. WMTH-FM has studios at all three existing Maine Township High Schools; Maine West High School in Des Plaines and Maine East High School and Maine South High School in Park Ridge. There was also a studio at the former Maine North High School in Des Plaines. The call letters were chosen "MTH" as in Maine Township High (school). The WMTH-FM antenna is located on the highest point of the school building at Dempster and Potter Roads in Park Ridge. The studio from 1959 through 1970 was located in room 147B, across the hall from the auditorium. When the center courtyard building opened in the fall of 1970, the radio station relocated and the first WMTH-TV television studio was built. The original power of the station was 16 watts effective radiated power at a frequency of 88.5 MHz. This continued from 1960 until 1983 when the frequency was changed to 90.5 MHz and the power reduced to 10 watts. This leaves it as one of the lowest powered FM stations in the United States, and one of few remaining under the now-discontinued Class D license. WMTH-TV is another section of WMTH, they broadcast a mixture of music, school sports events, and other programs of local interest. All of the broadcast events are streamed on their respective youtube channels. In addition, all events broadcast are staffed by WMTH Club Members and the broadcasts are in care of their respective instructors.

Maine Township is one of 29 townships in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 135,772 at the 2010 census. The township was founded in 1850. Maine Township is located in Cook County, directly north and east of O'Hare International Airport in Chicago. Maine Township contains portions of the Chicago suburbs of Park Ridge, Morton Grove, Niles, Glenview, Des Plaines and Rosemont. The township also contains unincorporated sections which mostly use a Des Plaines mailing address. Even though they have a Des Plaines (and in some cases a Niles) mailing address, the addresses follow Chicago's numbering system, where the starting points are State and Madison. Interstate 294, also known as the Tri-State Tollway, passes through Maine Township.

Oakton Community College is a public community college with campuses in Des Plaines, Illinois and Skokie, Illinois. It was established in 1969 in Morton Grove, Illinois and moved to its current locations in 1980.

The McDonald's #1 Store Museum was housed in a replica of the former McDonald's restaurant in Des Plaines, Illinois, opened by Ray Kroc in April 1955. The company usually refers to this as The Original McDonald's, although it is not the first McDonald's restaurant but the ninth; the first was opened by Richard and Maurice McDonald in San Bernardino, California in 1940, while the oldest McDonald's still in operation is the third one built, in Downey, California, which opened in 1953. However, the Des Plaines restaurant marked the beginning of future CEO Kroc's involvement with the firm. It opened under the aegis of his franchising company McDonald's Systems, Inc., which became McDonald's Corporation after Kroc purchased the McDonald brothers' stake in the firm. The actual restaurant was demolished in 1984, but McDonald's realized it had a history to preserve, so it built a replica. With gold arches placed over a glass and metal, red-and-white tiled exterior, the building largely followed the McDonald brothers' original blueprints, which they had introduced when they began franchising in 1953. A Phoenix, Arizona, restaurant was the first built in this manner. Kroc's restaurant was the first McDonald's built in a colder climate, and some adaptations were made to the design, including a basement and a furnace. McDonald's announced that the building would be torn down as early as the end of 2017 due to repeated flooding of the site. The completed demolition ended in mid 2018. McDonald's then decided to donate the land to the city for a grassy park area.The entrance sign was original, with early cartoon mascot "Speedee," representing the innovative Speedee Service System, inspired by assembly-line production which the McDonald brothers had introduced in 1948. It was, however, moved from its original location at the south end of the property. The sign boasted "We have sold over 1 million." The replica museum offered irregular summer hours and was often closed; tours were by appointment. The ground floor exhibited original fry vats, milkshake Multimixers (which Kroc had been selling when he first encountered the San Bernardino McDonald's restaurant), soda barrels, and grills, all attended to by a crew of male mannequins in 1950s uniforms. Visitors could walk in through the kitchen or look through the order windows in front (there was no sit-down restaurant section in the 1955 design). In the basement was a collection of vintage ads, photos, and a video about McDonald's history. Upon demolition, various equipment was relocated to McDonald's corporate headquarters in downtown Chicago as well as its R&D facility in the southwest Chicago suburbs. In the 1980s, a new, modern McDonald's was built across the street and to the south, replacing a Howard Johnson's restaurant (then Ground Round). At this McDonald's there are a half dozen glass-enclosed exhibits featuring McDonald's historical artifacts arrayed around the eating tables. Included are red and white tiles from the original restaurant and string ties worn by employees from the 1950s to the early 1970s. A blueprint for the original "Speedee" electrical sign appears on one wall. The Big Mac Museum Restaurant, another McDonald's museum, opened on August 23, 2007, in Irwin, Pennsylvania, on Route 30 Lincoln Hwy. A museum also exists at the Original McDonald's site in San Bernardino on U.S. Route 66 in California. It is a reconstruction operated by the owner of the Juan Pollo chain and is not affiliated with McDonald's Corporation.

The Des Plaines River Trail is a recreational multiuse trail that follows the course of the Des Plaines River through most of Lake and part of Cook County in northeast Illinois in the United States. Trail uses include hiking/walking, bicycling, equestrian, and even winter cross country skiing and snowmobiling (conditions permitting). Since much of the trail lies in the flood plain along the Des Plaines River, sections of the trail are occasionally closed due to flooding during periods of heavy rain. Though not all sections of the trail connect directly, there is a section more than 31 miles (50km) long running through Lake County starting at Russell Road along the Wisconsin/Illinois state line and running south into Cook County. There are additional disconnected sections south of the town of Des Plaines.Much of the Des Plaines River Trail runs through a protected corridor made up of a series of public lands that are part of the Lake County Forest Preserve District and the Cook County Forest Preserve District]. The numerous forest preserves provide additional recreational opportunities along the trail. Underpasses and bridges are used to facilitate many (not all) of the major road crossings (The underpasses are highly prone to flooding during the spring). Cook County Forest Preserve rangers give lectures at various time during the year. There is a nature house where forest animals reside for the public to view. The trails are very calm and beautiful and especially in the fall when the leaves change colors. A peak time to walk the trails is the second or third week in October. You can picnic right next to the Des Plaines River.

Des Plaines is one of two commuter railroad stations on Metra's Union Pacific Northwest Line in Des Plaines, Illinois. The station is located at 1501 Miner Street (US 14), and lies 16.7 miles (26.9 km) from the Ogilvie Transportation Center in Chicago. In Metra's zone-based fare system, Des Plaines is in zone D. As of 2018, Des Plaines is the 30th busiest of the 236 non-downtown stations in the Metra system, with an average of 1,209 weekday boardings.Parking is mostly available along the streets on either side of the tracks. Primarily this includes Miner Street between southeast of Perry Street and west of Des Plaines River Road. Other parking areas exist along Ellinwood Street between Pearson Street and Des Plaines River Road east of the Des Plaines Public Library, a lot on Webford Avenue off of Graceland Avenue (Southbound US 12-45), and on Prairie Avenue east of Pearson Street. As of April 25, 2022, Des Plaines is served by 29 inbound trains and 30 outbound trains on weekdays, by 16 inbound trains and 15 outbound trains on Saturdays, and by nine inbound trains and 10 outbound trains on Sundays. On weekdays, two trains running outbound from Chicago terminate at Des Plaines, followed by two inbound trains originating from Des Plaines.

Advocate Lutheran General Hospital (ALGH) is a 645-bed non-profit teaching hospital located in the Chicago suburb of Park Ridge, Illinois. Founded in 1897, Advocate Lutheran General Hospital is the sixth largest hospital in the Chicago area, and it operates a Level I trauma center. It also is home to Advocate Children's Hospital – Park Ridge, the only children's hospital in the greater north and northwest suburban region of Chicago. The hospital is a part of Advocate Aurora Health. In the last year with available data, Advocate Lutheran General Hospital had 29,025 admissions, 62,544 emergency department visits, and its surgeons performed 6,728 inpatient and 12,431 outpatient surgeries. The hospital is gold certified by the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED). The inpatient rehabilitation program accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF). The echocardiogram lab is accredited by the Intersocietal Accreditation Commission.ALGH operates a number of residency programs, which train newly graduated physicians in various specialties and sub-specialties. The hospital is associated with the Chicago Medical School at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science and Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine at Midwestern University.

Des Plaines Public Library is a public library serving the city of Des Plaines, Illinois. It is located at 1501 Ellinwood Street, in Des Plaines, Illinois.

First Congregational Church is a historic Congregational church at 766 Graceland Avenue in Des Plaines, Illinois. The church's congregation formed in 1869 and built its first church in the early 1870s. As Des Plaines expanded in the 1920s, the congregation outgrew its original church, and it had the current church building constructed in 1929. The firm of Pond & Pond, Martin and Lloyd gave the church an Arts and Crafts design; it is one of the few buildings in Des Plaines designed by a major architecture firm. The church's design includes a brick and limestone exterior with an emphasis on geometric patterns, a gable front entrance flanked by square towers, and an arched window divided by buttresses above the entrance. Its sanctuary houses a stained glass window designed by Edgar Miller which depicts events in the life of Christ.The church was added to the National Register of Historic Places on August 27, 2019.

Dee Road is one of two commuter railroad stations on Metra's Union Pacific Northwest Line in the city of Park Ridge, Illinois. It is officially located at 881 North Dee Road, and is 15.1 miles (24.3 km) from Ogilvie Transportation Center in Chicago. In Metra's zone-based fare system, Dee Road is in zone C. As of 2018, Dee Road is the 85th busiest of the 236 non-downtown stations in the Metra system, with an average of 594 weekday boardings.Dee Road Station was rebuilt in 2006 as a replacement for the former Dee Road Station on the opposite side of Dee Road, built by the Chicago and North Western Railway in 1967. As of April 25, 2022, Dee Road is served by 22 trains in each direction on weekdays, by 16 inbound trains and 15 outbound trains on Saturdays, and by nine inbound trains and 10 outbound trains on Sundays. The smaller parking area between Dee Road and Rowe Avenue, where the old station used to be, was recommended by Metra, as well as parking at nearby Park Ridge. Bus connections are provided by Pace.