- Niles
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/nuylz/, n.1. a city in NE Illinois, near Chicago. 30,363.2. a city in NE Ohio. 23,088.3. a city in SW Michigan. 13,115.4. a male given name, form of Neil.
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city, Berrien county, southwestern Michigan, U.S. It lies along the St. Joseph River (Saint Joseph River) 10 miles (16 km) north of South Bend, Ind. It is the only locality in the state to have been under the control of France, Great Britain, Spain, and the United States. The site became a stagecoach stop on the Sauk Trail between Chicago and Detroit and was permanently settled in 1828 and named for publisher Hezekiah Niles (Niles, Hezekiah). It developed as a centre for the farm produce of the St. Joseph River valley; manufactures include paper products, industrial and assembly-line equipment, wire, and commercial refrigerators. Writer Ring Lardner (Lardner, Ring) and automobile manufacturers Horace E. and John F. Dodge (Dodge, Horace E.; and Dodge, John F.) were Niles natives. Inc. village, 1835; city, 1859. Pop. (2000) city, 12,204; Niles–Benton Harbor MSA, 162,453; (2005 est.) city, 11,738; Niles–Benton Harbor MSA, 162,611.city, Trumbull county, northeastern Ohio, U.S. It lies along the Mahoning River, about midway between Youngstown and Warren, and is a part of the Mahoning industrial complex. Ruben Harmon, the first white settler (1797), and others discovered deposits of coal, iron ore, and limestone there. James Heaton built a foundry and organized Heaton's Furnace (1806), which was renamed Nilestown in 1834 (later shortened) to honour Hezekiah Niles, the influential Baltimore (Md.) editor of Niles' Weekly Register (1811–36). Industrialization was fostered by the railroads, which first arrived in 1856. The city's manufactures now include building materials, steel, titanium, lathes, and tools and dies. U.S. president William McKinley (McKinley, William) was born in Niles; the National McKinley Birthplace Memorial, which includes a library and a museum, stands in the city centre. The Niles Historical Society maintains a museum of area history in the Ward-Thomas Home (1862). Inc. village, 1865; city, 1895. Pop. (2000) 20,932; (2005 est.) 20,016.* * *
Universalium. 2010.
