| Future City, Illinois | |
|---|---|
| Unincorporated community | |
Shiloh Baptist Full Gospel Church | |
  Future City, Illinois  Future City, Illinois | |
| Coordinates: 37°01′44″N89°11′17″W / 37.02889°N 89.18806°W Coordinates: 37°01′44″N89°11′17″W / 37.02889°N 89.18806°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Illinois |
| County | Alexander |
| Elevation | 312 ft (95 m) |
| Time zone | Central (CST) (UTC-6) |
| • Summer (DST) | CDT (UTC-5) |
| Area code(s) | 618 |
| GNIS feature ID | 424909 [1] |
Future City is an unincorporated community in Alexander County, Illinois, United States. Future City is located along U.S. Route 51 north of Cairo, and south of Urbandale.
Alexander County is the southernmost county of the U.S. state of Illinois. As of the 2010 census, the population was 8,238. Its county seat is Cairo and its western boundary is formed by the Mississippi River.
Illinois is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It has the fifth largest gross domestic product (GDP), the sixth largest population, and the 25th largest land area of all U.S. states. Illinois is often noted as a microcosm of the entire United States. With Chicago in northeastern Illinois, small industrial cities and immense agricultural productivity in the north and center of the state, and natural resources such as coal, timber, and petroleum in the south, Illinois has a diverse economic base, and is a major transportation hub. Chicagoland, Chicago's metropolitan area, encompasses over 65% of the state's population. The Port of Chicago connects the state to international ports via two main routes: from the Great Lakes, via the Saint Lawrence Seaway, to the Atlantic Ocean and from the Great Lakes to the Mississippi River, via the Illinois Waterway to the Illinois River. The Mississippi River, the Ohio River, and the Wabash River form parts of the boundaries of Illinois. For decades, Chicago's O'Hare International Airport has been ranked as one of the world's busiest airports. Illinois has long had a reputation as a bellwether both in social and cultural terms and, through the 1980s, in politics.
U.S. Route 51 is a major south-north United States highway that extends 1,277 miles (2,055 km) from the western suburbs of New Orleans, Louisiana, to within 150 feet (46 m) of the Wisconsin–Michigan state line. Much of the highway in Illinois and southern Wisconsin runs parallel to or is cosigned with Interstate 39 (I-39) and much of the route in several states also parallels the Illinois Central Railroad. The highway's northern terminus is between Hurley, Wisconsin, and Ironwood, Michigan, where it ends with a T interchange at US 2. Its southern terminus is Laplace, Louisiana, ending at US 61.
The town was founded as a suburb of Cairo in the early 1900s and was populated almost entirely by African Americans. Much of the town was damaged during a flood in 1912 but was quickly rebuilt. However, the town was once again devastated in 1913 during the Great Flood of 1913 with every building in town being damaged or moved during the flood. Only a few residents remain in Future City today. [2]
A suburb is a mixed-use or residential area, existing either as part of a city or urban area or as a separate residential community within commuting distance of a city. In most English-speaking countries, suburban areas are defined in contrast to central or inner-city areas, but in Australian English and South African English, suburb has become largely synonymous with what is called a "neighborhood" in other countries and the term extends to inner-city areas. In some areas, such as Australia, India, China, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and a few U.S. states, new suburbs are routinely annexed by adjacent cities. In others, such as Saudi Arabia, Canada, France, and much of the United States, many suburbs remain separate municipalities or are governed as part of a larger local government area such as a county.
The Great Flood of 1913 occurred between March 23 and March 26, after major rivers in the central and eastern United States flooded from runoff and several days of heavy rain. Related deaths and damage in the United States were widespread and extensive. While the exact number is not certain, flood-related deaths in Ohio, Indiana, and eleven other states are estimated at approximately 650. The official death toll range for Ohio falls between 422 and 470. Flood-related death estimates in Indiana range from 100 to 200. More than a quarter million people were left homeless. The death toll from the flood of 1913 places it second to the Johnstown Flood of 1889 as one of the deadliest floods in the United States. The flood remains Ohio's largest weather disaster. In the Midwest damage estimates exceeded a third of a billion dollars. Damage from the Great Dayton Flood at Dayton, Ohio, exceeded $73 million. Indiana’s damages were estimated at $25 million. Further south, along the Mississippi River, damages exceeded $200 million. Devastation from the flood of 1913 and later floods along the Mississippi River eventually changed the country's management of its waterways and increased federal support for comprehensive flood prevention and funding for flood control projects. The Ohio Conservancy Act, which was signed by the governor of Ohio in 1914, became a model for other states to follow. The act allowed for the establishment of conservancy districts with the authority to implement flood control projects.
