Old Shawneetown, Illinois

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Old Shawneetown Court House in 1937

Old Shawneetown is a village in Gallatin County, Illinois, along the Ohio River. As of the 2000 census, the village had a total population of 278.

1 History
2 Geography
3 Demographics
4 See also
5 External links

[edit] History

After the Revolution, Shawneetown served as an important United States government administrative center for the Northwest Territory. Shawneetown and Washington, D.C., share the distinction of being the only towns chartered by the United States government. In early November 1803, Lewis and Clark are believed to have stopped at Old Shawneetown on their way to Fort Massac, just down the Ohio River.

Old Shawneetown is the site of the first bank in Illinois, constructed in 1812. Now known as the John Marshall House, it is third oldest brick building in Illinois. Local legend states that the Shawneetown Bank refused to buy the first bonds issued by the city of Chicago on the grounds that no city located that far from Shawneetown could survive.

Another historic bank building, the Bank of Illinois, was constructed in 1839-41 to house the offices of the Bank of Illinois at Shawneetown. It later housed numerous other financial institutions before it was closed in the 1930s. This fine example of Greek Revival architecture survives as the Shawneetown Bank State Historic Site.

The Bank of Illinois, built in 1839-1841, shown in 1937

General John Alexander McClernand grew up in Shawneetown. He was admitted to the Illinois bar in 1832. He started a newspaper, the Shawneetown Democrat, in 1835. He served in the Illinois General Assembly between 1836 and 1843. He was elected to the United States Congress, serving four terms between 1836 and 1843. He was again elected to Congress in 1861, but soon resigned to become a general in the American Civil War. McClernand was the main rival of Ulysses S. Grant for command of Union forces in the west, eventually losing to Grant.

[edit] Geography

Old Shawneetown is located at 37°41′54″N, 88°8′13″W (37.698197, -88.136857)^GR1.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 1.3 km² (0.5 mi²), all land.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 278 people, 100 households, and 69 families residing in the village. The population density was 206.4/km² (531.7/mi²). There were 146 housing units at an average density of 108.4/km² (279.2/mi²). The racial makeup of the village was 99.64% White and 0.36% Native American. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.08% of the population.

There were 100 households out of which 36.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.0% were married couples living together, 20.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.0% were non-families. 24.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.78 and the average family size was 3.36.

In the village the population was spread out with 33.8% under the age of 18, 8.3% from 18 to 24, 27.0% from 25 to 44, 22.7% from 45 to 64, and 8.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females there were 98.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.7 males.

The median income for a household in the village was $18,214, and the median income for a family was $20,625. Males had a median income of $25,625 versus $13,750 for females. The per capita income for the village was $9,379. About 33.3% of families and 39.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 60.6% of those under the age of eighteen and 33.3% of those sixty five or over.