CANTON

canton, a city of fulton county, illinois, u.s.a., in the w. part of the state, 12 m. n. of the illinois river, and 28 m. s.w. of peoria. pop. (1890) 5604; (1900) 6564 (424 foreign-born); (1910) 10,453. canton is served by the chicago, burlington & quincy, the toledo, peoria & western, and the illinois central electric interurban railways. about 1 m. from the centre of the city are the canton chautauqua grounds. the city has a public library. canton is situated in a rich agricultural region, for which it is a supply point, and there are large coal-mines in the vicinity. among the manufactures are agricultural implements (particularly ploughs), machine-shop and foundry products (particularly mining-cars and equipment), flour, cigars, cigar-boxes, brooms, and bricks and tile. the municipal water-works are supplied from a deep artesian well. canton was laid out in 1825; it was incorporated as a town in 1837 and as a village in 1849, and was chartered as a city in 1854.