Greenville, Michigan
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Greenville is a city in Montcalm County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 7,935 at the 2000 census.
Greenville is named after its founder, John Green, who settled in the wilderness of the southwest section of the lower peninsula of Michigan in 1844. John Green constructed a sawmill on the Flat River that is credited for attracting other settlers. The newly formed Green’s Village attracted many people of Danish origin who followed another early Danish settler’s positive letters home regarding the area. Because of the towns heritage, Greenville celebrates the Danish Festival every year on the third weekend of August.
Greenville is the home of the first Meijer grocery store as well as the hometown of its founder, Hendrik Meijer, and Hendrik's son and the chain's principal builder, Fred Meijer.
Greenville is also home to the Fighting Falcon [1], the lead plane of a wave of gliders during Operation Overlord. The Falcon was purchased with funds raised by the school children of the town, and was designated the lead aircraft in recognition of this achievement.
The town is formerly the Refrigerator Capital of the World, having been home to the Gibson, Frigidaire, and until recently, the Electrolux refrigerator factory. Electrolux closed the Greenville facility in early 2006, as it was in the process of relocating the factory to Ciudad Juarez in Mexico.
Greenville also won the 2005 Michigans Best in K-12 Music Education.
Former NFL tightend and fullback, Ty Hallock graduated from Greenville High School. [2]
[edit] Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city is has a total area of 15.4 km² (5.9 mi²). 14.8 km² (5.7 mi²) of it is land and 0.6 km² (0.2 mi²) of it (4.03%) is water.
[edit] Demographics
As of the census2 of 2000, there were 7,935 people, 3,303 households, and 2,041 families residing in the city. The population density was 536.6/km² (1,389.2/mi²). There were 3,571 housing units at an average density of 241.5/km² (625.2/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 96.16% White, 0.54% African American, 0.54% Native American, 0.32% Asian, 0.08% Pacific Islander, 1.16% from other races, and 1.21% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.25% of the population.
There were 3,303 households out of which 31.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 42.5% were married couples living together, 14.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.2% were non-families. 32.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.35 and the average family size was 2.95.
In the city the population was spread out with 25.4% under the age of 18, 10.2% from 18 to 24, 28.1% from 25 to 44, 19.3% from 45 to 64, and 17.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 90.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 83.8 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $30,453, and the median income for a family was $35,050. Males had a median income of $32,500 versus $23,338 for females. The per capita income for the city was $15,933. About 9.4% of families and 15.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 24.1% of those under age 18 and 6.6% of those age 65 or over.
