Batavia, Illinois

Batavia was founded in 1833, and is the oldest city in Kane County, Illinois, with a small portion in DuPage County.^[2] During the Industrial Revolution, Batavia became known as ‘The Windmill City’ for being the largest windmill producer of the time.^[2] Fermilab, a federal government-sponsored high-energy physics laboratory, where both the bottom quark and the top quark were first detected, is located here. Batavia is part of a Tri-Cities area, along with St. Charles and Geneva. Its population has been increasing, from 23,866 in the 2000 U.S. census,^[3] 25,246 in 2003 ^[4] to 27,502 in the 2008 U.S. Census Bureau census ^[5]

History

Batavia was first settled in 1835. The town was named by local judge and former Congressman Isaac Wilson in 1840 after his previous home of Batavia, New York.^[6] Batavia was on the front lines of the Black Hawk War in which Abraham Lincoln was a citizen soldier, and Zachary Taylor and Jefferson Davis were Army officers.^[7] Although there is no direct evidence that any of them were actually in Batavia, there are writings by Lincoln that refer to "Head of the Big Woods", which was the original name of Batavia given by its original settler, Christopher Payne. Mary Todd Lincoln was an involuntary resident of the Batavia Institute in 1875.^[8] In the late 19th century, Batavia was a major manufacturer of the Conestoga wagons used in the country's westward expansion.^[9] Into the early 20th century, most of the windmill operated waterpumps in use throughout America's farms were made at one of the three windmill manufacturing companies in Batavia.^[10][11] Many of the original limestone buildings that were part of these factories are still in use today as government and commercial offices and storefronts. The Aurora Elgin and Chicago Railway constructed a power plant in southern Batavia and added a branch to the city in 1902. The Campana Factory was built in 1936 to manufacture cosmetics for The Campana Company, most notably Italian Balm, the nation's best-selling hand lotion at the time.

Geography

Batavia is located at (41.8488583, -88.3084400).^[1]

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 9.19 square miles (23.8 km²), of which, 9.05 square miles (23.4 km²) of it is land and 0.14 square miles (0.36 km²) of it (1.52%) is water.

Demographics

As of the 2000 U.S. census, there were 23,866 people, 8,494 households, and 6,268 families residing in the city.^[3] The population density was 2,638.4 people per square mile (1,018.2/km²). There were 8,806 housing units at an average density of 973.5 per square mile (375.7/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 93.21% White, 2.42% Black or African American, 0.11% Native American, 1.35% Asian, none Pacific Islander, 1.53% from other races, and 1.39% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 5.27% of the population.

There were 8,494 households out of which 41.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 63.0% were married couples living together, 7.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.2% were non-families. 22.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.75 and the average family size was 3.27.

In the city, the population was spread out with 31.3% under the age of 18, 6.0% from 18 to 24, 30.6% from 25 to 44, 22.2% from 45 to 64, and 9.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 94.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.4 males.

Males had a median income of $55,913 versus $35,083 for females. The per capita income for the city was $38,576. About 2.5% of families and 3.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 4.1% of those under age 18 and 5.6% of those age 65 or over.

According to the 2008 U.S. Census Bureau estimate, the median income for a household in the city was $90,680, the median income for a family was $103,445, and the median home value was $329,800.^[12]

Economy

Aldi, Inc., the U.S. subsidiary of Aldi, has its headquarters in Batavia.^[13]

Top employers

According to the City's 2009 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report,^[14] the top employers in the city are:

Accolades

In 2009, Batavia was ranked #56 on CNN Money's Best Small Towns in the nation. In 2007, BusinessWeek ranked Batavia #21 on a national list of the 50 best places in America to raise kids.^[15]

Notable people

• Ken Anderson, quarterback of the Cincinnati Bengals in the 1970s and 1980s grew up in Batavia.
• Bernard J. Cigrand, father of Flag Day, lived in Batavia.
• Jackie DeShannon, 1960s singer-songwriter, attended Batavia High School.
• Dan Issel, American Hall of Fame professional basketball player and coach.
• Mary Todd Lincoln, President Abraham Lincoln's wife, was an involuntary resident of Batavia. She was committed by her son to the Bellevue Place psychiatric hospital in 1875.^[8]

Schools

Batavia is served by Batavia Public School District No. 101. The district currently consists of six K-5 elementary schools, one 6-8 middle school, and Batavia High School.^[16]

Library

Batavia is served by Batavia Public Library District, which was founded in 1882 as a township library. It converted to a district library in June 1975. The library serves most of Batavia Township (Kane County) and portions of Winfield Township (DuPage County), Geneva Township (Kane County), and Blackberry Township (Kane County). Its current facility opened in January 2002.^[17]

Transportation

• Pace Suburban Bus Service is the public transportation agency for the Chicago area suburbs.
• Metra Northeast Illinois commuter rail system.

See also

• List of cities in Illinois
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Kane County, Illinois

References

External links

• Official website
• Batavia Public Library
• Neighbors of Batavia