There are other uses for the term Cobden

Cobden

Cobden may refer to:Places* Cobden, Victoria, Australia* Cobden, Ontario, Canada* Cobden, New Zealand, a suburb of Greymouth* Cobden, Illinois, United States* Cobden, Minnesota, United StatesOther uses...

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Cobden (http://www.cobdenil.com) is a village in Union County, Illinois

Illinois

Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. The population was 1,157 at the 2010 census. It is named after British

British people

The British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...

 politician and free-trade advocate Richard Cobden

Richard Cobden

Richard Cobden was a British manufacturer and Radical and Liberal statesman, associated with John Bright in the formation of the Anti-Corn Law League as well as with the Cobden-Chevalier Treaty...

, who visited the town in 1859. Cobden originated as a farming community (South Pass) known for its apples and peaches. The Illinois Central Railroad still runs through the center of downtown, but once was Cobden's focal point. Cobden's innovative and industrious growers developed packing crates and techniques that kept fruit fresh and undamaged on its freightways to eastern and northern markets. A packaging industry thrived here for decades, and local orchards still thrive. Cobden is host to an annual fall Peach Festival to this day. Today's Cobden is diverse with growers, vineyards, artists, musicians, and shopkeepers leading the old town into a rebirth. A significant number of formerly Mexican citizens, who came here to work the orchards, have become an integral part of the social fabric of the community.

Geography

Cobden is located at 37°32′2"N 89°15′19"W (37.533949, -89.255409).

According to the United States Census Bureau

United States Census Bureau

The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...

, the village has a total area of 1.2 square miles (3.1 km²), all of it land.

Cobden is located near the crest of the Shawnee Hills. It is in "Cobden Col", a valley cut into rock by water near the summit of this ancient mountain range. How could water cut a canyon at the top of a mountain range? About 100,000 years ago, the Illinoian ice sheet covered almost all of Illinois. As it pushed south, the ice sheet climbed the Shawnee Mountains. The height of the ice sheet was much greater than that of the mountains. It stopped before it reached their summits. As it melted, a lake formed between the mountains and the glacier. Cobden Col was the outlet of this lake.

Mascot

Cobden's claim to fame is its unique mascot

Mascot

The term mascot – defined as a term for any person, animal, or object thought to bring luck – colloquially includes anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name...

, an Appleknocker, or a man with freckles wearing overalls, a flannel shirt, a straw hat, and chewing on a piece of straw. This nickname originated when the high school

High school

High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....

 first began to compete in athletics. It did not yet have a mascot, so other schools made up this derogatory term to insult the new school because of their large industry in peach

Peach

The peach tree is a deciduous tree growing to tall and 6 in. in diameter, belonging to the subfamily Prunoideae of the family Rosaceae. It bears an edible juicy fruit called a peach...

 and apple

Apple

The apple is the pomaceous fruit of the apple tree, species Malus domestica in the rose family . It is one of the most widely cultivated tree fruits, and the most widely known of the many members of genus Malus that are used by humans. Apple grow on small, deciduous trees that blossom in the spring...

 orchard

Orchard

An orchard is an intentional planting of trees or shrubs that is maintained for food production. Orchards comprise fruit or nut-producing trees which are grown for commercial production. Orchards are also sometimes a feature of large gardens, where they serve an aesthetic as well as a productive...

s. However, when Cobden High School played for and lost the state basketball

Basketball

Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...

 championship in 1964, this mascot became the pride of Cobden and Southern Illinois, showing the world what a small town could really do.

Demographics

As of the census

Census

A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...

of 2000, there were 1,116 people, 421 households, and 276 families residing in the village. The population density

Population density

Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...

 was 908.6 people per square mile (350.3/km²). There were 457 housing units at an average density of 372.1 per square mile (143.5/km²). The racial makeup of the village was 90.68% White, 1.43% African American, 0.63% Native American, 5.73% from other races

Race (United States Census)

Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...

, and 1.52% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 12.90% of the population.

There were 421 households out of which 30.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.9% were married couples

Marriage

Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...

 living together, 12.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.4% were non-traditional families. 30.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.47 and the average family size was 3.16.

In the village the population was spread out with 25.2% under the age of 18, 8.0% from 18 to 24, 23.8% from 25 to 44, 25.1% from 45 to 64, and 17.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 83.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 83.1 males.

The median income for a household in the village was $26,364, and the median income for a family was $32,500. Males had a median income of $25,938 versus $19,423 for females. The per capita income

Per capita income

Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...

 for the village was $13,978. About 13.7% of families and 22.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 21.5% of those under age 18 and 14.7% of those age 65 or over.