Mattoon

Mattoon is a city in Coles County, Illinois, United States. The population was 18,555 as of the 2010 census. The city is home to Lake Land College and has close ties with its neighbor, Charleston. Both are principal cities of the Charleston–Mattoon Micropolitan Statistical Area.

One of the main factors determining the settlement of Mattoon and Coles County in general was the topography. Coles County straddled a timberline in the southern half and prairie in the north. The forested areas were primarily fed by two major rivers: the Embarras River in the east and the Kaskaskia in the west. The prairie, known as the "Grand Prairie", was generally wet and swampy. An early historian described the geography:

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