Pana, Illinois

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Pana is a city in Christian County, Illinois, United States. The population was 5,614 at the 2000 census.

1 Geography
2 History
- 2.1 Personalities
3 Demographics
4 External links

[edit] Geography

Pana is located at 39°23′14″N, 89°4′52″W (39.387136, -89.081186)^GR1.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 6.9 km² (2.7 mi²), all land.

[edit] History

Pana Illinois, in Christian County, was first known as Stone Coal Precinct when it was founded on June 5, 1845. The name was changed to Pana Township on September 2, 1856. In 1857, the village of Pana was incorporated. It was the intersection of east-west and north-south railroads, and had supplies of fuel and water for the steam engines of the railroad.

Pana was the site of the Pana Coal Strike, an attempt to break/avert the coal mine unions around 1900. It pitted city/township verses county law enforcement, which culminated with a declaration of marshal law and the control of Pana by the national guard. See Eleanor Burhorn's Masters thesis on the Pana Mine Strike, available at the Pana Public Library.

Pana came to be known as the City of Roses, coined by local newsmen, the Jordan Brothers. Because of a weather and geographical anomaly, Pana is a city in the midwest that has very few hail storms, making it ideal for the greenhouse industry; along with its ample supply of coal. Many major florists and growers set up shop here. At one time, there were 109 greenhouses in Pana.

[edit] Personalities

Vincent Sheean (1899-1975), famed war correspondent and author of the book Personal History, was born in Pana on Dec. 5, 1899.^[1]

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 5,614 people, 2,317 households, and 1,443 families residing in the city. The population density was 811.8/km² (2,101.7/mi²). There were 2,532 housing units at an average density of 366.1/km² (947.9/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 99.09% White, 0.07% African American(4 people), 0.14% Native American, 0.25% Asian, 0.05% from other races, and 0.39% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.50% of the population.

There were 2,317 households out of which 28.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.2% were married couples living together, 11.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 37.7% were non-families. 34.7% of all households were made up of individuals living alone and 19.6% of those individuals were 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.32 and the average family size was 2.97.

In the city the population was spread out with 24.5% under the age of 18, 7.7% from 18 to 24, 24.6% from 25 to 44, 21.0% from 45 to 64, and 22.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 86.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 80.6 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $29,611, and the median income for a family was $35,406. Males had a median income of $30,519 versus $18,675 for females. The per capita income for the city was $14,897. About 11.5% of families and 17.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 28.7% of those under age 18 and 18.8% of those age 65 or over.

Was a sundown town.