Eureka, Illinois

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Eureka is a city in Woodford County, Illinois, United States. The population was 4,871 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Woodford County^GR6. The city was founded in the year 1855. Eureka is part of the Peoria-Pekin MSA.

Eureka is a small community centered around the intersection of what is now U.S. 24 and Illinois 117. It is also one of the towns along the Ronald Reagan Trail, a series of roads that connect towns in northern Illinois that were of importance to Reagan's early life.

It is known for being the location of Eureka College, a private college associated with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and the alma mater of former president Ronald Reagan. Reagan graduated from Eureka College in 1932. Eureka styled itself the "pumpkin capital of the world" until its pumpkin-processing plant moved to Morton, Illinois.

[edit] Geography

Eureka is located at 40°42′56″N, 89°16′31″W (40.715620, -89.275220)^GR1.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 7.1 km² (2.7 mi²). 7.0 km² (2.7 mi²) of it is land and 0.1 km² (0.1 mi²) of it (1.82%) is water.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 4,871 people, 1,754 households, and 1,169 families residing in the city. The population density was 699.1/km² (1,810.5/mi²). There were 1,831 housing units at an average density of 262.8/km² (680.5/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 97.97% White, 0.57% African American, 0.37% Native American, 0.33% Asian, 0.16% from other races, and 0.60% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.03% of the population.

There were 1,754 households out of which 31.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.9% were married couples living together, 8.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.3% were non-families. 30.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 17.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.46 and the average family size was 3.12.

In the city the population was spread out with 24.3% under the age of 18, 14.5% from 18 to 24, 23.1% from 25 to 44, 16.9% from 45 to 64, and 21.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 85.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 82.0 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $44,744, and the median income for a family was $53,590. Males had a median income of $44,816 versus $22,692 for females. The per capita income for the city was $20,460. About 0.9% of families and 2.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 1.8% of those under age 18 and 2.1% of those age 65 or over.