Evanston[a] is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States, situated on the North Shore along Lake Michigan.

Today known for its ethnically diverse population, Evanston is heavily shaped by the influence of Chicago, externally, and Northwestern, internally.

Prior to the 1830s, the area now occupied by Evanston was mainly uninhabited, consisting largely of wetlands and swampy forest.

[7][8] The area remained only sparsely settled, supporting some farming and lumber activity on some of the higher ground, as well as a number of taverns or "hotels" along the ridge roads.

Unable to find available land on the north shore up to Lake Forest, the committee was ready to purchase farmland to the west of the city when Orrington Lunt insisted on one final visit to the present location.

[9] They chose a bluffed and wooded site along the lake as Northwestern's home, purchasing several hundred acres of land from John Foster, a Chicago farm owner.

In 1854, the founders of Northwestern submitted to the county judge their plans for a city to be named Evanston after John Evans,[10] one of their leaders.

[12] Evanston was formally incorporated as a town on December 29, 1863, but declined in 1869 to become a city despite the Illinois legislature passing a bill for that purpose.

The weather also played a role since the close proximity to the beaches allowed the rats to swim out in the water during the hot summer.

President Dwight Eisenhower welcomed the delegates, and Dag Hammarskjöld, secretary-general of the United Nations, delivered an important address entitled "An instrument of faith".

[19] Evanston was a dry community from 1858 until 1972, when the City Council voted to allow restaurants and hotels to serve liquor on their premises.

[20] In March 2021, Evanston became the first city in the United States to pay reparations to African American residents (or their descendants) who were victims of unfair housing practices.

[21][22][23] In August 2021, Evanston became one of the first cities to approve a pilot project providing a guaranteed income to select residents, drawing upon a combination of public funds and a partnership with Northwestern University.

[39] As of 2015, according to the State of Illinois Dept Commerce and Economic Opportunity and Individual Employers,[40] the top employers in the city were: Once the home of one of the first Marshall Field's[43][44] and Sears stores in suburbia, Evanston has several shopping areas: The Evanston Public Library was established in 1873,[56] and has a satellite branch at the Robert Crown Community Center.

In the 2012 presidential election, Democratic incumbent Barack Obama won 85% of Evanston's vote, compared to 13% for Republican challenger Mitt Romney.

[59] During that year's general election, Clinton won 87% of the vote in Evanston, while Republican Donald Trump received just 7%.

Evanston-Skokie Community Consolidated School District 65, covering all of Evanston and a small part of Skokie, provides primary education from pre-kindergarten through grade 8.

Evanston's variety of housing and commercial districts, combined with easy access to Chicago, make it a popular filming location.

The movie's screenwriter and co-star, Tina Fey, had worked at the Evanston YMCA when starting her comedy career.

[72] Additionally, 1993 film Rookie of the Year, starring Gary Busey and Thomas Ian Nicholas, was partially shot at Haven Middle School.

[75] The story's author, William Goldman, was born in Chicago and grew up in Highland Park a little more than ten miles north of Evanston.

The Northwestern founders did not finalize their commitment to siting the university there until they were assured the Chicago & Milwaukee Railway line would run there.

The North Shore Line, the interurban railroad that gave the area its nickname, ran through Evanston and continued to Waukegan and Milwaukee.

During weekday rush hours, the Purple Line extends another 10.3 miles (16.6 km) south on the North Side Main Line from Howard to downtown Chicago running express from Howard to Belmont, with a single stop at Wilson, and then making all local stops from Belmont to the Loop.

An advisory referendum put on the April elections ballot, dubbed by supporters as a "Fair Share Initiative", received a majority, but was not passed into ordinance by the City Council.