RANTOUL

village, Champaign county, east-central Illinois, U.S. Settled with the coming of the Illinois Central Railroad in 1854, it was named for Robert Rantoul, a director of the railroad. The economy, once agricultural, was largely dependent on Chanute Air Force Base adjacent to Rantoul until its closure in 1993. Built in 1917 and named for Octave Chanute (18321910), a pioneer in aviation engineering, it was one of the oldest and one of the largest technical-training centres of the U.S. Air Force. Inc. 1869. Pop. (1991 est.) village, 17,381; Champaign-Urbana-Rantoul MSA, 174,722.