Editing Streator, Illinois (section)

==Economy==
Streator's economic history has been tied with its natural resources. Coal was the initial catalyst of the city's economy from 1866 until the late 1920s. As the community matured, silica deposits provided the resource for Streator's next industry leader: glass-container manufacturing.<ref name="Kett01" />{{rp|248}} While the coal industry eventually died, glass manufacturing remains a presence in Streator. Agriculture and related agri-business in the farmlands of LaSalle County and nearby Livingston County are also a strong influence in Streator's economic engine. Though manufacturing provides the greatest share of earnings, the service industry now accounts for the largest share of jobs.

===Coal===
Coal production in LaSalle County and Illinois peaked in the 1910s.<ref name=coal01/>  Wyoming's Powder River Basin coal reserves, which contain a much lower sulphur content, were discovered in 1889, with full scale mining beginning in the 1920s.<ref name="powderriver">{{Cite web |title=Powder River Basin History |url=http://www.wrightareachamber.org/powder_river_basin_history.htm |access-date=2008-12-04 |publisher=Wright Wyoming Chamber of Commerce}}</ref>

===Glass manufacturing===
Glassmaking and, more specifically, glass blowing was a highly skilled craft. Most of America's glassblowers came from Europe, or were trained there. Many of Streator's immigrant coal miners were trained in glass blowing. High-grade silica, the main ingredient in glass was in abundance in the Streator region and nearby Ottawa. The combination of silica, coal to fire the furnaces and skilled craftsmen were a perfect match for Streator's second major industry which began in 1887 with the Streator Bottle and Glass Company.<ref name="edgewater">{{Cite web |last=Gemperle |first=Kathryn |date=2007-10-01 |title=Glass Manufacturing |url=http://www.edgewaterhistory.org/articles/index.html?v18-3-5.html |access-date=2008-12-03 |website=Newsletter Fall-2007 |publisher=Edgewater Historical Society}}</ref>  Other companies like Thatcher Glass Manufacturing Corp (later Anchor Glass Containers) which began manufacturing milk bottles in 1909,<ref name="thatchers01">{{Cite web |date=2002-06-26 |title=Former Anchor Glass employees to gather |url=http://mywebtimes.com/archives/ottawa/print_display.php?id=245703 |access-date=2008-12-03 |website=Streator Times-Press News}}</ref> the American Bottle Company in 1905, the Streator Cathedral Glass Company in 1890, Owens-Illinois and others soon followed. Through the 20th century Streator was known as the "Glass Container Capital of the World."<ref name="chamberabout">{{Cite web |date=2008-03-14 |title=Streator Area Chamber of Commerce – About Streator |url=http://www.streatorchamber.com/city-profile/city-profile.html |access-date=2008-10-20 |publisher=Streator Area Chamber of Commerce and Industry}}</ref>

===Major employers===
Three of Streator's largest companies are some of its longest-lasting companies. Vactor Manufacturing began in 1911 as the Myers-Sherman Company, manufacturing milking machines and conveyors for the agricultural industry. In the 1960s Myers-Sherman patented a sewer cleaning vehicle for the municipal public works market. The company was renamed Vactor when it became a subsidiary of the [[Federal Signal Corporation]] They are the world's leading producer of heavy-duty sewer cleaning equipment. They are the second-largest employer in Streator with 530 employees.<ref name="vactor">{{Cite web |title=Vactor Manufacturing – About Us |url=http://vactor.com/AboutUs_1266.asp |access-date=2008-11-06 |website=Vactor Manufacturing |publisher=Federal Signal Corporation}}</ref>

Owens-Illinois' Streator plant produces Duraglas XL bottles; a lightweight, stronger beer bottle for the [[Miller Brewing Company]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=1999-08-16 |title=Owens-Illinois Builds a Better Glass Bottle |url=http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=88324&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=561940&highlight= |access-date=2008-11-05 |work=PRNewswire.com |publisher=ThompsonReuters.com}}</ref> [[Owens-Illinois|Owens Bottle Company]] opened in Streator in 1916. Production peaked in the 1960s with 3,500 employees working in its {{convert|68|acre|ha|adj=on}} facility. Today it is Streator's fifth-largest employer, with 210 employees. In 2006, the plant was honored by the Miller Brewing Company for producing 650&nbsp;million bottles for the brewer.<ref name="OI">{{Cite news |last=Miller |first=Scott |date=2006-10-31 |title=Streator glass plant honored by Miller |url=http://www.pantagraph.com/articles/2006/11/01/money/doc4547a5590d29f308552181.txt |access-date=2008-10-23 |publisher=Bloomington Pantagraph Newspaper}}</ref>

St. Mary's Hospital is the city's largest employer with 550 employees. In late 2015, OSF Healthcare system purchased the hospital from HSHS Medical Group. It is undetermined what OSF Healthcare will do with the hospital.  Founded in 1886 by the Hospital Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis, this 251-bed hospital serves Streator and its outlying areas.<ref name="stmarys">{{Cite web |title=About St. Mary's Hospital |url=http://www.stmaryshospital.org/about/about_main.htm |access-date=2008-10-15 |website=About us page |publisher=St. Mary's Hospital}}</ref>

Streator was briefly home to the Erie Motor Carriage Company (which became [[Barley Motor Car Co.]]).
Current products of Streator include building and paving brick, milk, soda bottles, auto parts, sewer pipe, clothing, drain tile, auto truck dump bodies, and hydraulic hoists. Its major agricultural crops include corn and soybeans.<ref name="chamberemployers">{{Cite web |date=2008-03-14 |title=Streator Illinois Top Employers |url=http://www.streatorchamber.com/top-employers/streator-illinois-top-employers.html |access-date=2008-10-15 |publisher=Streator Area Chamber of Commerce and Industry}}</ref>