Equality, Illinois

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Equality is a village in Gallatin County, Illinois, United States. The population was 721 at the 2000 census.

1 History
2 Geography
3 Demographics
4 References
5 External links

[edit] History

French settlers were extracting salt near Equality as early as 1735. Native Americans made salt here long before then. In 1803 the American Indians ceded their "Great Salt Springs" to the US government by treaty. The government then leased the springs, requiring the holder to produce a certain quantity of salt each year or pay a penalty. The salt works is referred to as the "United States Saline" in old documents.

Isaac White was in charge of the salt works in 1811. White volunteered for the Indiana militia that year, and was killed at the Battle of Tippecanoe.

Special territorial laws permitted exceptions to anti-slavery treaties at these salines, and slaves were used extensively in manufacturing salt. The census of 1820 for Gallatin County listed 239 slaves or servants.

In 1842, a local landowner, John Hart Crenshaw, built a mansion at nearby Junction, Illinois and illegally used the labor of black slaves to mine salt from the wells.

The springs are on state land along the south bank of the Saline River, just east of the bridge on Illinois Route 1, south of Junction.

[edit] Geography

Equality is located at 37°44′11″N, 88°20′40″W (37.736472, -88.344473)^GR1.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 2.3 km² (0.9 mi²), all land.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 721 people, 315 households, and 206 families residing in the village. The population density was 309.3/km² (800.3/mi²). There were 333 housing units at an average density of 142.9/km² (369.6/mi²). The racial makeup of the village was 99.17% White, 0.14% from other races, and 0.69% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.66% of the population.

There were 315 households out of which 29.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.5% were married couples living together, 11.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.6% were non-families. 32.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 18.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.29 and the average family size was 2.90.

In the village the population was spread out with 24.3% under the age of 18, 6.1% from 18 to 24, 26.4% from 25 to 44, 25.5% from 45 to 64, and 17.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 94.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 83.8 males.

The median income for a household in the village was $22,171, and the median income for a family was $27,625. Males had a median income of $26,250 versus $18,214 for females. The per capita income for the village was $12,961. About 14.0% of families and 20.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 21.4% of those under age 18 and 22.3% of those age 65 or over.