Waverly, Illinois

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Waverly is a small city in Morgan County, Illinois, United States. The population was 1,346 at the 2000 census.

The two largest events in Waverly each year are the Waverly Holiday Basketball Tournament and the Old Fashioned Picnic. The Holiday Tournament is an invitational tournament held between Christmas and New Years. The Waverly Old Fashioned Picnic is held in late August, and includes music, games, food, carnival rides, and most notably the bumpy wagon.

1 The Bumpy Wagon
2 Geography
3 Demographics
4 External links

[edit] The Bumpy Wagon

The bumpy wagon is a flat bed wagon with each of the four tires mounted off -center to the axle. The offset of the tires cause the wagon to buck as it moves. The flat bed is skirted by a metal hand rail, with a metal stairway to the rear for loading and unloading children. Within the handrail enclosure are two telephone poles mounted lengthwise supported a few feet above the trailer bed by metal pipe. The poles are wrapped in astroturf and have holding ropes every few feet. The wagon is pulled up and down the South side of the town square by a farm tractor during The Old Fashioned Picnic to the delight of all willing to pay 25c.

There were actually two bumpy wagons: The New Bumpy Wagon and The Old Bumpy Wagon. The old wagon's astroturf was a gray-ish green, while the new wagon's was a bright green. Both were used during a given Old Fashioned Picnic, although the new wagon was used more often. The Old Bumpy Wagon bucked more.

Riding the wagon consists of holding onto the provided ropes as it is pulled up and down the street. If one chooses to disregard this, and straddle the pole with his legs and hold the rope as if on a bucking bull, he may be in for a shock: the astroturf covering, especially when wearing shorts (highly likely in late August), can quickly remove the hide from the inside of the straddling legs. Furthermore, the height of the poles make it difficult to safely dismount, requiring the unfortunate rider to bear the removal of hide for the duration of the ride.

New riders will be surprised at how much the wagon bucks, and that such fun is still to be found in current, sterile times.

[edit] Geography

Waverly is located at 39°35′34″N, 89°57′9″W (39.592706, -89.952437)^GR1.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 2.7 km² (1.0 mi²), all land.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 1,346 people, 576 households, and 365 families residing in the city. The population density was 504.6/km² (1,303.9/mi²). There were 622 housing units at an average density of 233.2/km² (602.5/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 99.48% White, 0.15% Native American, 0.07% from other races, and 0.30% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.30% of the population.

There were 576 households out of which 26.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.0% were married couples living together, 8.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.6% were non-families. 30.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 17.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.34 and the average family size was 2.96.

In the city the population was spread out with 24.3% under the age of 18, 6.9% from 18 to 24, 25.0% from 25 to 44, 23.9% from 45 to 64, and 19.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 87.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 83.6 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $36,111, and the median income for a family was $45,938. Males had a median income of $31,055 versus $23,050 for females. The per capita income for the city was $18,205. About 6.9% of families and 8.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 10.0% of those under age 18 and 6.9% of those age 65 or over.