Welcome to the New Manhattan, Illinois, Patch

Hello Manhattan! Welcome to your new Manhattan Patch — the 1,000th Patch in the United States. (That's a pretty big deal for us, and we're so happy to finally bring Patch to your town as we begin our seventh year in Illinois.)

Patch debuted in northern Illinois in the fall of 2010. There weren't even 100 Patches in the entire country at the time. And from time to time, we heard from folks in Manhattan asking for a Patch of their very own as a wave of Patches began to appear across the Chicago suburbs.

Now, we're here for you. But this isn't our Patch in Manhattan. This is your Patch, Manhattan.

There's a lot for you to do here, too.

Create An Account to Post on Patch

Patch is a community gathering place for news, information and events, and we designed Patch to put local voices front and center. Blog about your neighborhood news, your clubs and agencies, your community events. Posting is easy, too. Go to register.patch.com and sign up for a free account. Frequent posters of quality community information will become "Star Patchers" and earn more prominent placement on the Manhattan Patch home page.

Contribute to the Manhattan Events Calendar

Your events calendar is the ideal place to let people know where they should be tomorrow, next weekend and next month. Games, town meetings, special events, community concerts, library happenings, park district programs, and more. After you create an account, you may post to your calendar.

Subscribe to Free Alerts and a Daily Newsletter

You'll get real-time alerts about town news, breaking news, big regional stories, and special features when you sign up for Patch by email. You'll also get a newsletter delivered to your inbox at 6 a.m. every day. You don't need a user account to get Patch by email. Just sign up here.

Download the Patch iPhone App

We've taken the best of Patch and packed it into a lightning fast, super-clean app loaded with features users have told us they want. Click here to download the app. On the app, you can follow as many as 10 Patches.

Check Local Real Estate Listings

We have homes for sale, open houses and other real estate information, brought to you by our partners at RealEstate.com. And we're adding more features all the time! Soon, you'll see home sale prices and rentals, too. Check out our real estate page.

Follow Manhattan Patch on Facebook

We share town news, fun features, and a sampling of interesting stories from the south suburban region and across Illinois. Today, almost 300,000 people follow Illinois Patch pages on Facebook — more than any other local news source in northern Illinois. Here's a link to our new Manhattan Patch page.

Keep Tabs on the LocalStream

Manhattan's LocalStream is a curated forum of the most important social media voices in town. It's our way of showcasing the great work of local organizations, the latest community announcements or just compelling takes on town life. If you run a local Facebook page, Twitter account or Instagram and would like to be in the LocalStream, share your information via this form. Top LocalStream posts will appear in our daily newsletter.

Meet Your Local Editors

The people who use Patch are the heart and soul of every local Patch. They are joined by our editors — and the Illinois Patch team is blessed to have some of the best in the business. Introducing Lauren Traut, Scott Viau and Joseph Hosey.

• Lauren Traut, a native south suburban resident, has been with Patch since our humble debut covering the towns where she lives, works and plays, including New Lenox, Frankfort, Mokena and Tinley Park. You may see her out and about in Manhattan at her parents' farm where she keeps her horse.

• Scott Viau joined Patch in 2015, and he covers the far southwest suburbs, including Joliet, Plainfield, Channahon, Shorewood. When not working, Scott can usually be found with his nose in a book or at the theater watching the latest movie. He can also assure you that Hamilton really is one of the greatest musicals of all time.

• Joseph Hosey, 2015's Illinois Journalist of the Year, also started with Patch in the early days when we were just knee-high to a grasshopper. A Will County resident, he's covered some the region's biggest stories, and you'll see his byline frequently on the Patch.

They are part of a small-but-mighty team that operates a growing Patch community network — now numbering 1,000 Patches in 25 states, with more to come. And every week, we're adding enhancements and improvements to our website.

Got a Tip? Let Us Know

Have a message, question or tip for Manhattan Patch? Send us an email at manhattan-il@patch.com. We'd love to hear from you. Because Patch, at its heart, is really about you and for you.

And we're delighted to be here in Manhattan with you!