It is situated on and is named after the Des Plaines River, which runs through the city just east of its downtown area.

Potawatomi, Ottawa, and Ojibwe (Chippewa) Native American tribes inhabited the Des Plaines River Valley prior to Europeans' arrival.

When French explorers and missionaries arrived in the 1600s in what was then the Illinois Country of New France, they named the waterway La Rivière des Plaines (English translation: "Plains River") as they felt that trees on the river resembled European plane trees.

The first white settlers came from the eastern United States in 1833,[5] after the 1833 Treaty of Chicago was negotiated, followed by many German immigrants during the 1840s and '50s.

[7] In 1857, the Chicago, St. Paul, and Fond du Lac Railroad began running its route, stopping[8] near the mill on the Des Plaines river, where a small business section had grown up.

In 1859, the Chicago and North Western Railway purchased the rail line, giving the train station the name "Des Plaines."

The city experienced rapid growth after World War II and with the opening of nearby O'Hare International Airport.

[8] In 1955, Des Plaines became the site of the first McDonald's franchise, which was torn down in 1984 and replaced by a museum the following year.

In 1979, Des Plaines was the site of the accident of American Airlines Flight 191, in which a McDonnell Douglas DC-10 departing from O'Hare lost an engine and wing material and crashed near a local trailer park just north of Touhy Avenue.

In 2008, the Illinois Gaming Board awarded the state's 10th casino license to Midwest Gaming and Entertainment LLC to build a 140,000-square-foot (13,000 m2) casino on approximately 21 acres (85,000 m2) adjacent to the Tri-State Tollway at the northwest corner of Devon Avenue and Des Plaines River Road.

[12][13][14] In July 2022, the third largest winning lotto ticket in U.S. history, valued at $1.34 billion, was sold at a Speedway gas station in Des Plaines near O'Hare Airport on Touhy Avenue.

Areas in unincorporated Maine Township have Des Plaines postal addresses that follow the Chicago numbering system.

In the 2000 census[24] the population of these unincorporated areas of Cook County assigned Des Plaines zip codes was 25,617.

According to the city's 2021 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report,[25] the major employers in the city are Rivers Casino (Des Plaines), Universal Oil Products, Oakton Community College, Sysco Food Services, Juno Lighting, Holy Family Medical Center, Wheels Inc. (passenger car and truck leasing), and LSG Sky Chefs.

Pace provides bus service on multiple routes connecting Des Plaines to destinations across the region.