Evanston, IL Summary

photo by gusto

Located directly to the north of Chicago and on the attractive shores of Lake Michigan, Evanston is Chicago’s largest suburb with a population of approximately 74,300. Right up until the mid- 1970s, Evanston was a dry city, because no liquor was allowed to be sold within the city limits.

Today, that has changed and the cozy downtown area is now home to dozens of small restaurants that serve wine and spirits.

Evanston is the beginning of Chicago’s North Shore, a collection of suburbs along Lake Michigan built by old money and populated by very large, expensive homes.

While not as luxurious as towns like Winnetka, Kenilworth, or Lake Forest to the north, there is a lot of wealth in north Evanston.

There are homes here designed by architects such as Walter Burley Griffin and Frank Lloyd Wright.

The tree-lined city is perhaps best-known as the home of Northwestern University. Many of the country’s business leaders and leading journalists attended the school’s graduate programs. Kendall College, which offers a full culinary degree program, is only a few blocks away.

Just north of the university on the lakefront is the Grosse Pointe Lighthouse, which is one of the most beautiful of all the remaining lighthouses on Lake Michigan.

Visitors can climb to the top for a look down the lakeshore to downtown Chicago.

The Mitchell Indian Museum, open every day, offers a look into the lives of the Native American people. Another museum here, the Evanston Historical Society, is located in the former home of Charles Gates Dawes, vice president to Calvin Coolidge.

Evanston can be reached via public transit out of downtown Chicago or by car north out of Chicago on Lake Shore Drive.