State Line City, Indiana

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State Line City is a town in Warren County, Indiana, in the United States. As of the 2000 census, the town population was 141.

1 History
2 Geography
3 Demographics
4 References
5 External links

[edit] History

In the mid-1850s, two large railway lines converged on the Indiana-Illinois state line -- the narrow-gauge Wabash Valley Railroad, whose route from the east crossed Warren County and reached the border in October 1856, and the standard-gauge Great Western Railroad, which shortly thereafter reached the state line from the west. State Line City was platted on June 29, 1857 by Robert Casement at the convergence of these two railroads. The city flourished, and within 10 years had reached a population of approximately 550, but because of the drinking and carousing of the numerous railroaders it gained an unsavory reputation.

On February 11, 1861, Abraham Lincoln stopped in State Line on his way from Springfield, Illinois to Washington, D.C. for his inauguration. He dined at the Frazier Eating House, then gave a short speech to a crowd in the public square before resuming his journey. A historical marker on the site commemorates the event.

The town's post office was established in July 1857, with Robert Casement as the first postmaster, and continues to operate today from a newer building on Woodard Street. Grain elevators were erected in the fall of 1857, but fires in September 1900, December 1932 and June 1984 each completely destroyed the structures, which were subsequently rebuilt. State Line's grain elevators are currently operated by Archer Daniels Midland of Decatur, Illinois, and see considerable activity during harvest time. The town's other large business is a fertilizer and agricultural sales facility northeast of town, built in 1975 and currently operated by Westland Co-Op.

Other establishments in State Line include the Kent Township Fire Department, formed in 1978, which took over local fire protection responsibilities from the West Lebanon Fire Department; in 2000, however, the department merged back with West Lebanon, which now maintains the State Line fire station. The KTFD sponsored for a number of years an annual town festival called the State Line Fun Days, but this is now longer held. Jessica Lewis was the festival's last queen.

[edit] Geography

State Line City is located at 40°11′48″N, 87°31′38″W (40.196628, -87.527104)^GR1 in open farm land along the border with Illinois, five miles northeast of the city of Danville. The small section of town that protrudes west across the border is formally known as Illiana, Illinois. The Norfolk Southern Railway runs southwest through town.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 0.3 km² (0.1 mi²), all land.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 141 people, 54 households, and 36 families residing in the town. The population density was 418.8/km² (1,046.9/mi²). There were 56 housing units at an average density of 166.3/km² (415.8/mi²). The racial makeup of the town was 98.58% White, 0.71% African American, 0.71% from other races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.42% of the population.

There were 54 households out of which 33.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 64.8% were married couples living together, 1.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.5% were non-families. 27.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.61 and the average family size was 3.27.

In the town the population was spread out with 28.4% under the age of 18, 5.7% from 18 to 24, 32.6% from 25 to 44, 24.1% from 45 to 64, and 9.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 120.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 110.4 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $34,250, and the median income for a family was $41,607. Males had a median income of $30,625 versus $14,000 for females. The per capita income for the town was $15,685. There were none of the families and 3.7% of the population living below the poverty line, including no under eighteens and none of those over 64.