Taylorville

City of Taylorville
City
Motto: A Great Place To Live, Work, and Visit [1]
Country	United States
State	Illinois
County	Christian
Elevation	621 ft (189 m)
Coordinates	39°32′27″N 89°17′17″W / 39.54083°N 89.28806°W / 39.54083; -89.28806
Population	11,246 (2010)
Timezone	CST (UTC-6)
- summer (DST)	CDT (UTC-5)
Postal code	62568
Location of Taylorville within Illinois
Location of Illinois in the United States
Website: http://www.taylorville.net

Taylorville is a city in Christian County, Illinois, United States. The population was 11,246 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat and largest city in Christian County.^[2]

Geography

Taylorville is located at 39°32′27″N 89°17′17″W / 39.54083°N 89.28806°W / 39.54083; -89.28806 (39.540768, -89.288005).^[3]

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 10.1 square miles (26 km²), of which, 8.1 square miles (21 km²) of it is land and 2.0 square miles (5.2 km²) of it (19.46%) is water.

Demographics

As of the census^[4] of 2000, there were 11,427 people, 4,856 households, and 3,039 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,416.6 people per square mile (546.7/km²). There were 5,208 housing units at an average density of 645.6 per square mile (249.2/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 97.67% White, 0.71% African American, 0.19% Native American, 0.51% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 0.31% from other races, and 0.55% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.70% of the population.

There were 4,856 households out of which 28.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.3% were married couples living together, 10.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 37.4% were non-families. 32.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 16.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.28 and the average family size was 2.89.

In the city the population was spread out with 24.1% under the age of 18, 7.3% from 18 to 24, 26.9% from 25 to 44, 21.9% from 45 to 64, and 19.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 88.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 82.3 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $34,235, and the median income for a family was $43,223. Males had a median income of $35,655 versus $23,647 for females. The per capita income for the city was $18,162. About 6.8% of families and 10.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 13.4% of those under age 18 and 8.9% of those age 65 or over.

Other

Some outer homes and a business of Taylorville were damaged or destroyed by two EF2 tornadoes on April 2, 2006.

The town newspaper is the Breeze-Courier, which is the only daily newspaper serving Christian County. Also, The State Journal-Register, published in Springfield, Illinois covers Taylorville and Christian County quite extensively. The Decatur, Illinois Herald & Review covers the area as well.

Taylorville was known (in the early-to-mid 1990s) to have had a high rate of neuroblastoma, a cancer affecting the adrenal gland and striking children.^[5] The local power company Central Illinois Public Service Company was sued and lost for contaminating the groundwater in 1994.^[6]

The IHSA single season Men's Basketball record of 45–0 was set by Taylorville High School in 1944. Ron Bontemps and Johnny Orr were team members.^[7]

Taylorville is known as the "Christmas Capital of Illinois."

Notable people

• Ron Bontemps, Olympic gold medalist in basketball (1952)
• Larry Bucshon, congressman form Indiana
• Jon Corzine, 54th governor of New Jersey
• Yvonne Craig, ballet dancer and actress, known as Batgirl in Batman(1960s)
• Randy Hopper, senator from Wisconsin
• Brian James, assistant basketball coach for the Philadelphia 76ers; born in Taylorville
• Johnny Orr, champion men's basketball coach with most wins in the college's at Iowa State University and University of Michigan
• Pat Perry, pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals (1985–1987)
• Edward Mills Purcell, discovered nuclear magnetic resonance (MRI); winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics (1952) ^[8]

References

1. ^ Official City Website Retrieved on May 27, 2007
2. ^ "Find a County". National Association of Counties. http://www.naco.org/Counties/Pages/FindACounty.aspx. Retrieved 2011-06-07. 
3. ^ "US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990". United States Census Bureau. 2011-02-12. http://www.census.gov/geo/www/gazetteer/gazette.html. Retrieved 2011-04-23. 
4. ^ "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31. 
5. ^ http://www.clutterinvestigations.com/environmental_inv.html
6. ^ The case files for the case against the power plant
7. ^ Google Books -> Illinois: Legends of Illinois High School Basketball by Taylor Bell (Page 4)
8. ^ Purcell, Edward Mills (1952). "Biography". The Nobel Prize in Physics 1952 Felix Bloch, E. M. Purcell. The Nobel Foundation. http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1952/purcell.html. Retrieved 22 May 2012. 

External links

• Taylorville city website
• Taylorville Schools
• Lincoln Land Community College-Taylorville
• Taylorville Park District
• Taylorville Chamber of Commerce
• Taylorville Main Street
• Illinois: Legends of Illinois High School Basketball By Taylor Bell

v t e Municipalities and communities of Christian County, Illinois, United States County seat: Taylorville Cities Assumption Pana Taylorville Villages Bulpitt Edinburg Harvel‡ Jeisyville Kincaid Morrisonville Mount Auburn Moweaqua‡ Owaneco Palmer Stonington Tovey Townships Assumption Bear Creek Buckhart Greenwood Johnson King Locust May Mosquito Mount Auburn Pana Prairieton Ricks Rosamond South Fork Stonington Taylorville Unincorporated communities Bolivia Clarksdale Dunkel Ellis Grove City Hewittsville Langleyville Midway Millersville Old Stonington Osbernville Radford Roby Rosamond Sharpsburg Sicily Vanderville Velma Willey Station Zenobia‡ Footnotes ‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties