Herculaneum is a city in Jefferson County

Jefferson County, Missouri

Jefferson County is a county located in East Central Missouri in the United States. The county was included as the mean center of U.S. population in 1980. It is the sixth most-populous county in Missouri. Census 2010 put the population at 218,733 Its county seat is Hillsboro. The county was...

, Missouri

Missouri

Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...

, United States

United States

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

. The population estimate in 2008 was 3,582. It was 2,805 at the 2000 census

United States Census, 2000

The Twenty-second United States Census, known as Census 2000 and conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States on April 1, 2000, to be 281,421,906, an increase of 13.2% over the 248,709,873 persons enumerated during the 1990 Census...

. The City of Herculaneum was the first county seat of Jefferson County from January 1, 1819 to 1839. The city celebrated its Bicentennial throughout the year in 2008. The City of Herculaneum has received the Tree City USA designation by the Arbor Day Foundation for the past three years - 2007, 2008 and 2009. The City of Herculaneum is also the "honorary" hometown of the 40th Airlift Squadron "The Screaming Eagles" from Dyess Air Force Base in Texas.

Geography

Herculaneum is located at 38°15′33"N 90°23′16"W (38.259247, -90.387790).

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 city has a total area of 3.5 square miles (9.1 km²), of which, 3.4 square miles (8.8 km²) of it is land and 0.1 square mile (0.258998811 km²) of it (1.44%) is water.

Origin of name

Herculaneum was laid out by Moses Austin

Moses Austin

Moses Austin played a large part in the development of the American lead industry and is the father of Stephen F. Austin, a leading American settler of Texas. He was the first to be allowed to gather Anglo Americans for settlement in Spanish Texas...

 and Sameul Hammond in 1808, and named after the ancient Roman town of Herculaneum

Herculaneum

Herculaneum was an ancient Roman town destroyed by volcanic pyroclastic flows in AD 79, located in the territory of the current commune of Ercolano, in the Italian region of Campania in the shadow of Mt...

, destroyed by the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius. Austin is said to have chosen the name because the limestone ledges overlooking the Mississippi River

Mississippi River

The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...

 resembled a Roman amphitheatre

Amphitheatre

An amphitheatre is an open-air venue used for entertainment and performances.There are two similar, but distinct, types of structure for which the word "amphitheatre" is used: Ancient Roman amphitheatres were large central performance spaces surrounded by ascending seating, and were commonly used...

. Lead cannonballs from Herculaneum were used in the War of 1812. Lead smelting is still the major industry in this town.

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 2,805 people, 1,028 households, and 736 families residing in the city. 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 815.8 people per square mile (314.8/km²). There were 1,078 housing units at an average density of 313.5 per square mile (121.0/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 96.65% White, 2.60% African American, 0.18% Asian, 0.04% 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 0.53% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.64% of the population.

There were 1,028 households out of which 31.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.0% 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, 8.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.4% were non-families. 25.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.52 and the average family size was 2.99.

In the city the population was spread out with 22.6% under the age of 18, 7.2% from 18 to 24, 27.2% from 25 to 44, 21.1% from 45 to 64, and 21.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 88.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.1 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $40,365, and the median income for a family was $50,615. Males had a median income of $33,603 versus $25,581 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 city was $18,613. About 2.4% of families and 5.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 3.0% of those under age 18 and 14.3% of those age 65 or over.

City government

The City of Herculaneum is a fourth class city in the State of Missouri governed by a six person Board of Aldermen and a Mayor. The day to day operations of the city are under the direction of a City Administrator.

Churches

The City of Herculaneum is home to several churches including Assumption Catholic Church, Buren Chapel AME, United Methodist Church, Assembly of God Church, New Testament Baptist Church and the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints.

Education

Dunklin R-5 School District is based in Herculaneum including the Herculaneum High School and the Senn-Thomas Middle School. The original public school which has been serving as the high school since 1949 was demolished beginning on July 12, 2010. A new high school is being built on the same location as the previous building. One of the most prominent features of the Herculaneum High School Campus are the stone bleachers at the football and track field. The bleachers were a Works Progress Administration (WPA) project that began in 1935 and were completed in 1936. The Roy E. Taylor Elementary building also located in Herculaneum is owned by the district and is currently used by the Early Childhood Learning Center. Herculaneum had its own Douglass Elementary School (closed in 1957) that was operated by the public school system prior to integration in the mid 1950s. A school building was also in operation from 1937 to 1966 as part of the Herculaneum Assumption Catholic Church. Today, a large portion of the school age children in Herculaneum attend the neighboring Festus School District and Crystal City School District.

Fire department

The Herculaneum Volunteer Fire Department was organized in 1951 and will celebrate its 60th Anniversary during the year 2011. The fire department contracts with the City of Herculaneum to provide fire protection to most of the city. The fire department operates from one fire station and has 16 volunteer firefighters and 1 paid firefighter. The City of Herculaneum has an ISO rating of 5.

Famous people

Thomas C Fletcher, the 18th Governor of Missouri, was born in Herculaneum on January 21, 1827. Governor Fletcher was the first native born governor in Missouri. Daniel Dunklin, the 5th Governor of Missouri, died in Herculaneum on August 25, 1844 and was buried in the family plot in Herculaneum. Campbell Morfit

Campbell Morfit

Campbell Morfit was a distinguished chemist from the United States, co-editor with James Curtis Booth of the Encyclopedia of Chemistry ....

, a noted chemist was born in Herculaneum on November 19, 1820.

In fiction

• In the Broadway musical A Chorus Line
  A Chorus Line
  A Chorus Line is a 1975 musical about Broadway dancers auditioning for spots on a chorus line. The book was authored by James Kirkwood, Jr. and Nicholas Dante, lyrics were written by Edward Kleban, and music was composed by Marvin Hamlisch....
  
  , Richie Walters was born in Herculaneum, Missouri.

Tom McCord, a 1969 Herculaneum High School graduate, is the author of a novel, Some Forever, that tells a dual story about six friends growing up in Herculaneum. One story traces the lives of the friends in reverse order from 1969 back to 1959. This story touches on many aspects of life in Herculaneum during the 1960s. The other story is a mystery death of one of the friends and the effects it has on the other five friends.

External links

• Historic maps of Herculaneum in the Sanborn Maps of Missouri Collection at the University of Missouri
  University of Missouri
  The University of Missouri System is a state university system providing centralized administration for four universities, a health care system, an extension program, five research and technology parks, and a publishing press. More than 64,000 students are currently enrolled at its four campuses...