Galesburg, Illinois
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Galesburg is a city in Knox County, Illinois, in the United States. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 33,706. It is the county seat of Knox CountyGR6. Galesburg is home to Knox College, a private four-year liberal arts college, and Carl Sandburg College, a two-year community college.
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[edit] Geography
Galesburg is located at (40.952292, -90.368545)GR1. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 44.2 km² (17.1 mi²). 43.8 km² (16.9 mi²) of it is land and 0.5 km² (0.2 mi²) of it (1.05%) is water.
[edit] History
Galesburg was founded by George Washington Gale, a minister of the gospel from New York state, who dreamed of establishing a manual labor college which became Knox College. A committee from New York purchased 17 acres (69,000 m²) in Knox County in 1835, and the first 25 settlers arrived in 1836. They built temporary cabins in Log City near current Lake Storey, just north of Galesburg, having decided that no log cabins were to be built inside the town limits.
Galesburg was home to the first anti-slavery society in Illinois, founded in 1837, and was a stop on the Underground Railroad. The city was the site of the fifth Lincoln-Douglas debate, on a temporary speaker's platform attached to Knox College's Old Main building on October 7, 1858. Knox College continues to maintain and use Old Main to this day. An Underground Railroad Museum and Lincoln-Douglas Debate Museum are planned for Knox College's Alumni Hall after it is renovated.
Galesburg was the home of Mary Ann Bickerdyke, who provided hospital care for Union soldiers during the American Civil War. After the Civil War, Galesburg was the birthplace of poet and historian Carl Sandburg, poet and artist Dorothea Tanning, and former Major League Baseball star Jim Sundberg. Carl Sandburg's boyhood home is now operated by the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency as the Carl Sandburg State Historic Site. The site contains the cottage Sandburg was born in, a modern museum, the rock under which he and his wife Lilian are buried, and a performance venue.
Throughout much of its history, Galesburg has been inextricably tied to the railroad industry. Local businessmen were major backers of the first railroad to connect Illinois' (then) two biggest cities—Chicago and Quincy—as well as a third leg initially terminating across the river from Burlington, Iowa, eventually connecting to it via bridge and thence onward to the Western frontier. The Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad sited major rail sorting yards here, including the first to use hump sorting.
In the late 19th century, when the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway connected its service through to Chicago, it also laid track through Galesburg, making this city one of relatively few to be served by multiple railroads and even fewer to have multiple railroad depots. (Indeed, it was not until the 1990s that Amtrak finally closed the old Santa Fe depot and consolidated all passenger operations at the site of the former Burlington Northern depot.) A series of mergers eventually united both tracks under the ownership of BNSF Railway, carrying an average of seven trains per hour between them. As of the closing of the Maytag plant in fall of 2004, BNSF is once again the largest private employer in Galesburg.
The closure of the Maytag and Butler Manufacturing plants have caused Galesburg to become a nationally cited example of the loss of U.S. manufacturing jobs. The city is having some difficulty adjusting its economy to new post-industrial needs, but several major new retail and residential developments are planned or under construction. The ultimate outcome of the adjustment remains to be seen.
Galesburg has multiple radio stations and newspapers delivering a mix of local, regional and national news. WGIL-AM, WAAG-FM, WLSR-FM and WKAY-FM are all owned by Galesburg Broadcasting while Prairie Radio Communications owns WAIK-AM. The Galesburg Register-Mail is the result of the merger of the Galesburg Republican-Register and the Galesburg Daily Mail in 1928. Those two papers can trace their roots back to the mid-1800s. It is the main newspaper of the city, owned by Copley Press out of San Diego, and is published seven days a week. "The Zephyr" was started in 1989, is published on Thursdays and is the only locally-owned newspaper. There is also "The Paper," which is delivered without subscription to all households every Wednesday and is owned by Gate House Media.
[edit] Transportation
Amtrak, the national passenger rail system, provides service to Galesburg, operating the California Zephyr, the Illinois Zephyr, the Carl Sandburg, and the Southwest Chief daily in both directions between Chicago and points west.
[edit] Demographics
As of the censusGR2 of 2000, there were 33,706 people, 13,237 households, and 7,902 families residing in the city. The population density was 770.1/km² (1,994.9/mi²). There were 14,133 housing units at an average density of 322.9/km² (836.5/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 84.23% White, 10.20% African American, 0.22% Native American, 1.03% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 2.46% from other races, and 1.84% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 5.01% of the population.
There were 13,237 households out of which 26.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 43.6% were married couples living together, 12.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 40.3% were non-families. 34.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 16.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.24 and the average family size was 2.87.
In the city the population was spread out with 21.1% under the age of 18, 11.8% from 18 to 24, 27.0% from 25 to 44, 22.0% from 45 to 64, and 18.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 100.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 98.1 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $31,987, and the median income for a family was $41,796. Males had a median income of $31,698 versus $21,388 for females. The per capita income for the city was $17,214. About 10.7% of families and 14.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 23.4% of those under age 18 and 6.3% of those age 65 or over.
Several major employers (most recently Maytag,Gates rubber and Butler Manufacturing) have moved all operations from Galesburg. The economic down turn for Galesburg began in the early 1980's when economic recession forced the closure of The Galesburg Mental Health Center (formerly known as The State Research Hospital), the Gale Products Manufacturing Division of Outboard Marine Corp., and the Koppers Mfg. railroad tie treating plant, resulting in the combined loss of nearly 3000 high paying union jobs. At the time of its demise due to ongoing union wage/benefit disputes in 1983, a union employee at Gale Products was earning an average wage of fourteen dollars per hour. It was the beginnining of over two decades of economic hard times for the once-thriving midwestern community, which unfortunately, has never fully recovered from its economic woes. Since the early 1980's Galesburg has lost nearly 8000 union jobs and seen a population loss of nearly 3000 residents.
Galesburg will soon be home to the National Railroad Hall of Fame. Efforts are underway to raise funds for the $60 million project which got a major boost in 2006, when the United States Congress passed a bill to aid in the establishment, and federal funding for the project. It is hoped that the Museum will bring tourism and a financial boost to the community.
[edit] Festivals
Galesburg hosts the Sandburg Days Festival in the spring of every year, paying homage to its native-born world-famous poet and biographer. Galesburg is the home of the Railroad Days festival, held on the fourth weekend of June. The festival began in 1978. During the festival, Carl Sandburg College hosts one of the largest model railroad train shows and layouts in the U.S. Midwest. Labor weekend in september hosts the Stearman Fly in.
[edit] Trivia
- According to legend, it was in Galesburg, Illinois in 1914 that the four Marx Brothers (Groucho, Chico, Harpo, and Gummo) first received their nicknames. Nicknames ending in -o were popular in the early part of the 20th century, and a fellow Vaudevillian, Art Fisher, supposedly bestowed them upon the brothers during a poker game there. Zeppo Marx received his nickname later.[verification needed]
- Galesburg features prominantly in the Mountain Goats' song Weekend in Western Illinois from the album Full Force Galesburg.
[edit] Media
[edit] FM Radio
- 90.7 WVKC "No Sale Radio", College Radio
- 92.7 WLSR "92.7 FM The Laser", Active Rock (RDS - Artist/Title)
- 94.9 WAAG "FM 95", Country (RDS - Artist/Title)
- 95.7 WVCL, Religious
- 97.7 WMOI "Sunny 97.7", Adult Contemporary (RDS)
- 100.5 W263AO (Translates 91.5 WCIC), Christian AC (RDS)
- 105.3 WKAY "105.3 KFM", Adult Contemporary (RDS - Artist/Title)
[edit] AM Radio
- 1330 WRAM, Classic Country
- 1400 WGIL, News/Talk
- 1590 WAIK, Standards
[edit] Print
- Register-Mail, local daily newspaper
[edit] Notable natives
- Ira Clifton Copley, publisher and statesman, founder of the Copley Press
- Carl Sandburg, American poet, historian, novelist, and folklorist
- George Radcliffe Colton, Governor of Puerto Rico, 1909–1913
- George Washington Gale Ferris, Jr., inventor of the Ferris Wheel
- Sewall Wright, evolutionary biologist, a founder of modern population genetics
- Aaron Fike and A.J. Fike, NASCAR drivers
- Todd Hamilton, professional golfer
- Kathryn Scott, textile conservator ("Napoleon's laundress")
- Jim Sundberg, Major League Baseball player
- Dorothea Tanning, artist
- Charles Rudolph Walgreen, founder of Walgreens
- Pete Weber, sports broadcaster
- Ferris Jr., George Washington Gale, inventor of the Ferris Wheel
- Richard Weeks, the greatest man over 6'3"
[edit] External links
- Mr. Lincoln and Freedom: Lincoln-Douglas Debate in Galesburg
- City of Galesburg
- Carl Sandburg Historic Site Association
- The Galesburg Project lists famous Galesburgers and visitors. Links to Galesburg history articles
- Local papers:
- The Register-Mail (daily)
- The Zephyr (weekly)
- The Paper (weekly, free)
- Maps and aerial photos
- Street map from Google Maps, or Yahoo! Maps, or Windows Live Local
- Satellite image from Google Maps, Windows Live Local, WikiMapia
- Topographic map from TopoZone
- Aerial image or topographic map from TerraServer-USA
