Gage Island is the second most populated city in Illinois, located on the Mississippi River, approximately 180 miles west of Chicago. According to the 2010 census, Gage Island has a population of 508,215. The island is connected to the mainland via Interstate 74 to the north, and Highway 67 to the south.

History

The island was named after the first known settler, Thomas E. Gage who had claimed a square mile of land on the shoreline in the early 1840s. He farmed wheat and potatoes while also traveling by rowboat to the mainland of Illinois for his job as a banker. In the 1850s, the Great Famine in Ireland caused an increase in immigrants to the U.S., with many choosing to settle in the mostly uninhabited land of Gage Island. With the sudden rise in population, railroads, and harbors were built to connect the island to the mainlands, becoming a bridge between Illinois and Iowa. The railroads also helped with the Island’s growing meat and steel production. During World War I, the island became an important supply route. Its steel industry helped supply wartime production all across the country. Following the end of the First World War, Orio Ammunition became one of the largest employers on Gage Island, and supplied ammunition to both the military, and became the largest supplier of ammunition for law enforcement in the area. Orio Ammunition helped Gage Island maintain its place in the supply chain during World War II. In the late 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s, the economy of Gage Island began to diversify, with white-collar industries growing in conjunction with office locations being built on the island as part of expansions from East Coast-based businesses. In the early 2000s, healthcare and tech startups in Gage Island led to a young but growing tech sector being born in the city.