WHEATON

city, seat (1867) of Du Page County, northeastern Illinois, U.S., western suburb of Chicago. The first settlers (1837) were two brothers, Warren and Jesse Wheaton, from Pomfret, Conn. The site was laid out in 1853 after the arrival (1849) of the Galena and Chicago Union Railroad (now the Chicago and North Western), which stimulated residential growth. Wheaton has become a centre of religious activity. Notwithstanding the presence there of the headquarters of the Theosophical Society of America, the city, together with nearby Carol Stream, is sometimes referred to as the Protestant Vatican of the Midwest for its denominational and interdenominational religious activities, mainly evangelical Christian in character. Wheaton College, which originated there in 1860 as the Illinois Institute (organized in 1853 by the Wesleyan Methodist Church), has long been a prominent evangelical Christian liberal arts college. Wheaton is the headquarters of the large and influential National Association of Evangelicals, and numerous smaller evangelical groups are located there. The conservative, influential journal Christianity Today is published there. The Robert R. McCormick Museum and Gardens and the Cantigny War Memorial Museum are nearby. Inc. village, 1859; city, 1890. Pop. (1990) 51,464.