The Illinois Valley, originally inhabited by native Americans, boasts a rich history. The first explorers to enter the area were Frenchmen Louis Joliet and Father Jaques Marquette, who stopped here in 1673.

A decade later, another Frenchman, Robert de La Salle, established a fort at the present Starved Rock, but that was abandoned within a few years and few pioneers settled the area until the early 1800s. The Illlinois River and fertile soil of the Illinois Valley attracted settlers to the areas that today make up LaSalle, Bureau and Putnam counties.

As coal mining became a booming area industry, many laborers, including European immigrants, settled in the surrounding communities. With the abundance of coal and zinc, manufacturing became another area industry. In 1836, workers moved here to hand-dig the Illinois & Michigan Canal, which linked LaSalle-Peru to Chicago. In the early 1850s, work on two railroads brought even more growth to the area.

With good transportation and a hard-working labor force at their disposal, many manufacturing, processing and service industries were established and the area continued to flourish as additional cities and villages were established.

Some of the companies that were founded back then, such as the W.H. Maze Company (1848), Putnam County Record (1868), News Tribune (1891), American Nickeloid Company (1898), Unimin Corp (1897) and Carus Chemical Company (1915), are still in operation today.

The era of coal mining came to an end with the closure of most mines in the 1920s, and the area economy continued to diversify. The Illinois Valley now has a wide variety of businesses, including retail, hospitality, services, media, distribution, industry, farming and agricultural businesses.

Over the years, the area has been witness to many historic events, including the tragic Cherry Coal Mine disaster in 1909, in which 259 men and boys died, prompting the state to establish better mine safety laws.

The area has produced professional athletes, writers, artists and other famous people. For example, Wild West lawman and gunslinger Wild Bill Hickok was born in Troy Grove, and Peru was the birthplace of world-renown violinist Maud Powell.