Skokie

Town in northeastern Illinois, on the North Shore Channel, immediately west of Evanston and 32 km/20 mi northwest of Chicago's Loop (central business district); population (1990) 59,400. It is a bedroom community for workers in Chicago and the metropolitan area, and a major regional retail centre. Local industries manufacture aluminium and plastic products, electronic components, film and sports equipment, maps, and pharmaceuticals.

The area was settled by a group of immigrants from Luxembourg, and was a trading centre for local agricultural products, shipping greenhouse produce to Chicago. A development boom occurred in the 1920s with the extension of the rail service. Light industries such as printing and publishing moved to Skokie during World War II. Hebrew Theological College (1922) is here, as is the National Jewish Theater's base.