city, Madison county, southwestern Illinois, U.S. Situated on the Mississippi River just northeast of St. Louis (Saint Louis), Missouri, it lies within that city's metropolitan area. Granite City was first settled in the early 19th century as a farming community and known as Six Mile Prairie, because its farmers had to travel that distance to St. Louis to sell their produce. In 1892 St. Louis manufacturers Frederick and William Niedringhaus laid out the city as a base for the production of graniteware (enameled ironware), and the city was founded four years later. Although graniteware gave the city its name, the product is no longer manufactured there. Steel founding began in Granite City in 1894 and is the basis of the economy. The manufacture of automotive parts and food processing are also important, and the city is a shipping point. Horseshoe Lake State Fish and Wildlife Area and Cahokia Mounds (a large prehistoric Mississippian culture city) are just southeast. Inc. 1896. Pop. (1990) 32,862; (2000) 31,301.