Decatur

Decatur, Illinois has long had a proud tradition of workers and craftsmen who produced coal, water pumps, gloves, automobiles, clothing, corn meal, and many other products. Though it is home to Caterpillar’s second largest plant and serves as world headquarters for Archer Daniels Midland, a global processor of corn and soybeans, Decatur is much more than jobs and factories. If Illinois is the Heartland, then Decatur is the Heart of the Heartland. Decatur is the site of Abraham Lincoln’s first Illinois residence, in 1830, and it is where he was nominated for the presidency on May 10, 1860. Decatur is also home to a symphony orchestra, homes designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, a community college, and Millikin University.