Editing LaSalle, Illinois (section)

==Culture==

=== Entertainment and the Arts ===
[[File:LaSalle Public Library, a Carnegie Library in LaSalle, IL.jpg|thumb|LaSalle Public Library, a Carnegie Library]]
La Salle is part of an extensive arts network including the Illinois Valley Symphony Orchestra, Illinois Valley Youth Symphony Orchestra, and Stage 212 community theater.  The Dance Center, Music Suite 408, and Maestro & Mi provide dance and music lessons to students of all ages. North Central Illinois ARTworks is a regional non-profit arts advocacy organization dedicated to supporting and expanding the arts community in the area; local visual artists often display their works in the gallery in the historic Westclox building.  Matthiessen Auditorium at La Salle-Peru Township High School hosts many performing arts groups, including the LaSalle-Peru Township High School band, jazz band, choir, musical, and local junior high bands.

The Jazz in the Street festival has been held annually in mid-September since 2006. Most years, there have been appearances by locally popular bands, including the [[Illinois Valley Community College]] and [[Northern Illinois University]] jazz bands.

===Tourism===
Tourism in the area is driven by [[Starved Rock State Park]], [[Matthiessen State Park]], [[Buffalo Rock State Park]] & [[Illinois and Michigan Canal|I&M Canal National Heritage Area]]. There are several museums in and near LaSalle:

* I&M Canal National Heritage Area Visitor Center & LaSalle Canal Boat, also called "Lock 16" (there are only 15 locks on the I&M Canal). In the Lock 14 basin, just south of downtown La Salle is the Volunteer, an 1880s replica Canal Boat. It provides a mule-pulled ride on the historic Illinois & Michigan Canal. The one-hour, round-trip journey traverses the hand-dug waterway that 19th-century pioneers traveled. The guides, dressed as Canal Era crew and passengers, provide a vignette of life on the American frontier and the Illinois prairie.
* Hegeler-Carus Mansion. The mansion, built in 1874 for the Hegeler Family by [[William W. Boyington|W. W. Boyington]], is a lavish Victorian-era home with 57 rooms, 10 fireplaces, the oldest private gymnasium in America and a dining room table seating 22 people. The mansion features intricate, hand-painted walls and ceilings, elaborate woodwork, century-old chandeliers, parquet floors, floor-to-ceiling windows, etched glass windows and other fine details.
* Westclox Museum
* LaSalle County Historical Society Museum
* Starved Rock Visitor Center
* Illinois Waterway Visitor Center
* [[Wild Bill Hickok Memorial]]
* Putnam County Pulsifer House & Ag Museum

Downtown LaSalle is a historic district with many historical structures and shops and boutiques catering to tourists.

LaSalle has several National Historical Structures: [[Hotel Kaskaskia]], the [[Hegeler-Carus Mansion]], the Julius W. Hegeler House, and the LaSalle City Building. LaSalle has a National Historic Landmark: the Hegeler Carus Mansion.

===Sports===
There is a strong Little League of nearly 30 baseball teams. The Illinois Valley Youth Football League folded in the mid-2000s, giving way to the LaSalle-Peru Youth Football League.

The city housed [[minor league baseball]]. In 1914, the [[LaSalle Blue Sox]] played as members of the [[Class D (baseball)|Class D]] level [[Illinois–Missouri League]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/team.cgi?id=520997fb|title=1914 La Salle Blue Sox|work=Baseball-Reference.com|access-date=4 March 2015}}</ref> They posted a 26–60 record.

===Media===
The area is home to three radio stations, [[WLPO]], [[WAJK]], and [[WLWF]], all operating under Starved Rock Media.

For newspaper, the ''NewsTribune'' serves the area, as well as many Chicago newspapers.