Highland, Illinois, United States

🇺🇸 Highland is a city in Madison County, Illinois, United States. Highland began as a Swiss settlement and derived its name from later German immigrants.

Highland is a part of the Metro-East region of the Greater St. Louis metropolitan area.

History Highland was settled in the early 19th century by Swiss-German settlers. The town was founded in 1837 and celebrated its 175th Jubilee in 2012. It was first named Helvetia (pronounced hellveesha) in accordance with the heritage of the town's Swiss-German founding members. The town voted to change its name to the English version, "Highland", in the early 20th century, as well as stopping production of its German language newspaper, in part to avoid negativity towards those of Germanic heritage at the advent of the First World War. Around the same time, a small town in northern Illinois also started calling itself Highland. Eventually, the town in northern Illinois became Highland Park.

Highland has a rich history including extended visits by such notables as Abraham Lincoln. On November 21, 1915, the Liberty Bell passed through Highland on its nationwide tour returning to Pennsylvania from the Panama–Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco.

Geography Highland is in south-eastern Madison County, 30 miles (48 km) east of St. Louis. U.S. Route 40 passes through the city north of downtown, leading west 11 miles (18 km) to Troy and on to St. Louis, and to the north-east 20 miles (32 km) to Greenville. Illinois Route 160 passes through the centre of Highland, leading north 6 miles (10 km) to Grantfork and south 10 miles (16 km) to Trenton, while Illinois Route 143 leads north-west 6 miles (10 km) to Marine and north-east 5 miles (8 km) to Pierron. Interstate 70 passes through the northern part of the city limits, with access from Exit 24 (IL 143) to the west and Exit 30 (US 40) to the east.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Highland has a total area of 7.84 square miles (20.31 km²), of which 6.81 square miles (17.64 km²) are land and 1.03 square miles (2.67 km²), or 13.13%, are water. The city drains to the south to Sugar Creek, a tributary of the Kaskaskia River, and to the north-west to the East Fork of Silver Creek, another tributary of the Kaskaskia. Highland Silver Lake is a reservoir constructed on the East Fork; the Highland city limits extend north 5 miles (8 km) to the southern border of Grantfork to enclose the entire lake.

Economy Highland has been home to businesses that include Pet Milk and the Wicks Organ Company. For the past 60 years, Highland Supply Corporation has been producing and selling floral grass - a traditional decorative product used to line Easter baskets. Highland is also home to The Korte Company (builder of many large and well-known buildings including Universal Studios in Florida).

Government Highland is in the process of implementing citywide availability of a municipal broadband network using Fiber to the home technology.

Education The Highland Community Unit School District serves Highland area students including those from Alhambra, Illinois, Grantfork, Illinois, and New Douglas, Illinois. Kindergarten through sixth grade schools are located in each of the districts municipalities while the district's middle and high schools are located in Highland. Starting in August 2014 6th grade is located at the Highland Middle School. In September 2014, the district's teachers staged a strike for the first time in the district's history.

Additionally, Highland has a local parochial school named St. Paul Catholic School offering Kindergarten through eighth grade education.

The Louis Latzer Memorial Public Library has a collection of more than 48,000 print volumes, a substantial media collection, and public computer access along with access to subscription databases and a genealogy collection. It is also a member of the Illinois Heartland Library System.