West Chicago, IL

West Chicago is a DuPage County city with a history tied to railroads, prairie, and industry rather than the usual Chicago-suburb template. Erastus Gary homesteaded along the DuPage River in the 1830s, and the city later grew with rail connections. Today West Chicago is home to Jel Sert's corporate headquarters and the Truitt-Hoff Nature Preserve, part of the West Chicago Prairie Forest Preserve, one of the region's important remaining prairie landscapes. It is a working suburb with a strong natural-history counterpoint.