State Line City, Indiana
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| State Line City | |
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| Coordinates: | |
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| Country | United States |
| State | Indiana |
| County | Warren |
| Township | Kent |
| Founded | 1857 |
| Area | |
| - Total | 0.1 sq mi (0.3 km²) |
| - Land | 0.1 sq mi (0.3 km²) |
| - Water | 0.0 sq mi (0.0 km²) |
| Elevation [1] | 725 ft (221 m) |
| Population (2000) | |
| - Total | 141 |
| - Density | 1,084.7/sq mi (418.8/km²) |
| Time zone | EST (UTC-5) |
| - Summer (DST) | EDT (UTC-4) |
| ZIP code | 47993 |
| Area code(s) | 765 |
| FIPS code | 18-72764[2] |
State Line City is a town in Kent Township, Warren County, Indiana, United States, located along the state's border with Illinois. As of the 2000 census, the town population was 141. The small section of town that protrudes west across the border is formally known as Illiana, Illinois.
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[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.[3]
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.
As of 2007, State Line houses one active church: the State Line Christian Church, built in 1868. Rev. Gerald Burt has been the pastor there since 1972. The Church of the Nazarene (built around 1860 as a Presbyterian church and purchased for use as a Nazarene church in 1929) and the Methodist Church (built in 1863-4) were both disbanded due to low attendance in the 1990s and have since been turned into homes. Rev. Jim Kessler was the last pastor at the Nazarene church.
[edit] Geography
State Line City is located at (40.196628, -87.527104)[4] in open farm land along the border with Illinois, five miles northeast of the city of Danville. According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 0.1 square miles (0.3 km²), all of it land.
The Norfolk Southern Railway runs southwest through town. For many years the famous Wabash Cannonball ran on the line (then owned by the Wabash Railway), passing through town twice a day on its route from St. Louis to Detroit and back. The Wabash Railway merged in the mid 1960s with the Norfolk and Western Railway, which in turn merged with Southern Railway in the 1980s to become Norfolk Southern, officially bringing an end to the Wabash name.
[edit] Demographics
As of the census[2] of 2000, there were 141 people, 54 households, and 36 families residing in the town. The population density was 1,046.9 people per square mile (418.8/km²). There were 56 housing units at an average density of 415.8/sq mi (166.3/km²). 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.
[edit] References
- ^ USGS detail on State Line. Retrieved on 2007-09-24.
- ^ a b American FactFinder. United States Census Bureau. Retrieved on 2008-01-31.
- ^ Switzer, Betty Jo (2002). "Kent Township", A History of Warren County, Indiana (175th Anniversary Edition). Warren County Historical Society.
- ^ US Gazetteer files: 2000 and 1990. United States Census Bureau (2005-05-03). Retrieved on 2008-01-31.
[edit] External links
- State Line City, Indiana is at coordinates Coordinates:
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