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Land speculators moved into the area south of what is now the City of Waukegan in the 1890s. Industrial development began almost immediately with a railroad depot being set up in 1892; most notable was the arrival of the Washburn and Moen Manufacturing Company, a major barbed wire maker.
The settlement was incorporated as a village in 1895 and as a city in 1901. In 1911, a naval training area one thousand miles from salt water was created, the present Great Lakes Naval Training Center, currently the only "boot camp" for Navy enlisted personnel after the closure of facilities in Florida and California.
A Veteran's Administration hospital went into service in 1926. This facility was also threatened with closure in recent years, but has been retained on condition of merger with the Naval Hospital.
Historically, North Chicago was known for large populations of Eastern European immigrants. With the onset of the "Great Migration", large numbers of African Americans arrived in the city from states such as Arkansas and Alabama, and, toward the end of the 20th Century, became the best known demographic group. Latterly, Latinos have arrived in significant numbers, particularly from Mexico, and now form a notable group in the city, just as they do in Waukegan to the north. It is possible that North Chicago has over time been the most diverse and multicultural municipality in Lake County.
At one time, Navy personnel were a major part of the scene in North Chicago, both the "swabbies" (enlisted men) and the officers. Now, with the degeneration of "the Strip", or entertainment district along several blocks of Sheridan Road, sailors are rarely seen north of the railroad trestle. In the fall of 2007, the City finished demolishing the buildings on Sheridan Road between Martin Luther King Drive and the railroad trestle to the north, within the framework of a new development project involving TIF financing.
Recent years have seen relentless de-industrialization and consequent loss of jobs. Though they live in what is one of the poorer towns on the North Shore, North Chicago citizens bear an unusually heavy residential tax burden, due to the gross reductions in industrial and other business activity, along with the nontaxable status of the Navy base and the VA hospital. Alas, even the Jelly Belly factory, North Chicago's only tourist draw, has departed for Kenosha, Wisconsin.
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