City of Joliet

Joliet is a city in Will and Kendall counties in the U.S. state of Illinois, 35 miles southwest of Chicago. It is the county seat of Will County. At the 2020 census, the city is the 3rd most populous city in Illinois, with a population of 150362.

In 1673, Louis Jolliet, along with Father Jacques Marquette, paddled up the Des Plaines River and camped on a huge earthwork mound, a few miles south of present-day Joliet. Maps from Jolliet’s exploration of the area showed a large hill or mound down river from Chicago, labeled Mont Joliet. The mound has since been flattened due to mining.

In 1845, local residents changed the community’s name from “Juliet” to “Joliet”, reflecting the original name. Joliet was reincorporated as a city in 1852. Cornelius Covenhoven Van Horne was active in getting the city its first charter, and because of this, he was elected Joliet’s first mayor. When the city later built a new bridge, it was named the Van Horne Bridge.

Like many Midwestern and East Coast cities dependent on manufacturing industries, Joliet has experienced past economic troubles. As of 2013, the rate of unemployment in Joliet was around 8.6%. The city is evolving from a steel and manufacturing suburb to a commuter suburb in the Chicago metropolitan area. Some new migrants to the Chicago area are working in bordering Cook County (the nation’s second-most populous county) and living in Joliet.