Marseilles, IL
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NorStar
N 41° 19.671 W 088° 42.516
16T E 357015 N 4576560
Marseilles, Illinois, a small town on the Illinois, was named after Marseilles (or Marseille) France, a large port on the Mediterannean Sea.
Waymark Code: WM4V1D
Location: Illinois, United States
Date Posted: 09/29/2008
Views: 12
Marseilles, Illinois, was founded in 1835, and is a smallish town along the Illinois River. Plenty of commerce floats by the city, but few stop in the city, though there are the Marseilles Lock and Dam that the barges must pass through. According to the entry for the city in Wikipedia, the city was founded by Lowell Kimball who laid out the plans for a town at this location when he learned that the Illinois and Michigan Canal would pass through that area. He had hopes that the town would become a major industrial center like its namesake in France. Today, the city has about 4,655 people. There has been significant industry in the city's past, however, today, the city has a brick manufacturer and other, smaller operations.
Marseilles (also spelled Marseille), France, is a major port on the Mediterranean Sea. It has about 1.6 million people, the third largest metropolitan area in that country. It was founded about 600 BC by Greeks under the name Massalia (English translation).
The two differ in another respect. Marseilles of France is pronounced "mar-SAY", while Marseilles of Illinois has been anglicized to "mar-SAILS."
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