Kewanee, Illinois
Encyclopedia
Kewanee is a city in Henry County
, Illinois
, United States
. "Kewanee" is the Winnebago
word for prairie chicken, which lekked there. The population was 12,916 at the 2010 census, down from 12,944 at the 2000 census.
According to the United States Census Bureau
, the city has a total area of 6.3 square miles (16.3 km²), of which, 6.3 square miles (16.3 km²) of it is land and 0.16% is water.
of 2000, there were 12,944 people, 5,353 households, and 3,377 families residing in the city. The population density
was 2,062.1 people per square mile (795.8/km²). There were 5,879 housing units at an average density of 936.6 per square mile (361.4/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 90.27% White, 3.68% African American, 0.06% Native American, 0.35% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 3.69% from other races
, and 1.95% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 6.10% of the population.
There were 5,353 households out of which 28.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.0% were married couples living together, 12.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.9% were non-families. 32.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 17.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.38 and the average family size was 2.98.
In the city the population was spread out with 24.8% under the age of 18, 8.9% from 18 to 24, 25.4% from 25 to 44, 20.5% from 45 to 64, and 20.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 88.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.7 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $29,895, and the median income for a family was $37,730. Males had a median income of $29,065 versus $19,792 for females. The per capita income
for the city was $15,746. About 10.7% of families and 13.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 21.0% of those under age 18 and 8.9% of those age 65 or over.
industry for fire-tube boiler
s. The Kewanee Boiler Corporation manufactured and sold thousands of boilers throughout the United States, Mexico, and Canada and the world for well over one hundred years. However, the company failed in 2002 and was forced to go out of business. However, these boilers are still extremely common. An example of a Kewanee steam boiler can be seen in a scene in the movie The Blues Brothers
. Specifically, when Cab Calloway's character named Curtis offers to "buy you boys a drink", he takes Jake and Elwood down to the orphanage's basement, where the boiler is easily seen in the background. A Kewanee boiler is also the dwelling place for the character Suzie DeSoto, played by Debra Winger, in the 1982 film version of John Steinbeck's book Cannery Row
. The Kewanee High School athletic teams are nicknamed the "Boilermaker
s."
Kewanee was also home to the Walworth Company, Kewanee Machinery and Conveyor Company and Kewanee Manufacturing Company – all manufacturers that employed many local blue collar workers in their heyday. Kewanee, once a prominent industrial town, has fallen into silence like many similar communities in the past twenty years. Beyond the falling indunstries there have been a few blooming businesses that shine as prominent growing developements, for example, Goods Furniture Store. Goods is known across Kewanee, Illinois, and further for being an excellent source for beautiful and affordable furniture.
.
There are also other schools in Kewanee like Visitation Catholic School: home of the Giants, and a community college, Black Hawk College - East Campus. Black Hawk College - East Campus is recognized nationally for its equestrian program, as well as livestock judging teams. The west campus is located in the Quad Cities
.
. Currently, Wethersfield and Annawan share co-ops in several sports programs under the name of the Titans.
Print
B&B Printing, local family ran printing press
serves trains on the on Carl Sandburg and Illinois Zephyr
daily. Trains such as the California Zephyr
and Southwest Chief
breeze by without stopping.
Henry County, Illinois
Henry County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 50,486, which is a decrease of 1.0% from 51,020 in 2000. Its county seat is Cambridge...
, 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...
. "Kewanee" is the Winnebago
Ho-Chunk
The Ho-Chunk, also known as Winnebago, are a tribe of Native Americans, native to what is now Wisconsin and Illinois. There are two federally recognized Ho-Chunk tribes, the Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin and Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska....
word for prairie chicken, which lekked there. The population was 12,916 at the 2010 census, down from 12,944 at the 2000 census.
Geography
Kewanee is located at 41°14′28"N 89°55′32"W (41.241180, -89.925680).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 6.3 square miles (16.3 km²), of which, 6.3 square miles (16.3 km²) of it is land and 0.16% is water.
Demographics
As of the censusCensus
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 12,944 people, 5,353 households, and 3,377 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 2,062.1 people per square mile (795.8/km²). There were 5,879 housing units at an average density of 936.6 per square mile (361.4/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 90.27% White, 3.68% African American, 0.06% Native American, 0.35% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 3.69% 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 1.95% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 6.10% of the population.
There were 5,353 households out of which 28.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.0% were married couples living together, 12.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.9% were non-families. 32.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 17.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.38 and the average family size was 2.98.
In the city the population was spread out with 24.8% under the age of 18, 8.9% from 18 to 24, 25.4% from 25 to 44, 20.5% from 45 to 64, and 20.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 88.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.7 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $29,895, and the median income for a family was $37,730. Males had a median income of $29,065 versus $19,792 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 $15,746. About 10.7% of families and 13.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 21.0% of those under age 18 and 8.9% of those age 65 or over.
Industry
Kewanee was well known in the steamSteam
Steam is the technical term for water vapor, the gaseous phase of water, which is formed when water boils. In common language it is often used to refer to the visible mist of water droplets formed as this water vapor condenses in the presence of cooler air...
industry for fire-tube boiler
Fire-tube boiler
A fire-tube boiler is a type of boiler in which hot gases from a fire pass through one or more tubes running through a sealed container of water...
s. The Kewanee Boiler Corporation manufactured and sold thousands of boilers throughout the United States, Mexico, and Canada and the world for well over one hundred years. However, the company failed in 2002 and was forced to go out of business. However, these boilers are still extremely common. An example of a Kewanee steam boiler can be seen in a scene in the movie The Blues Brothers
The Blues Brothers (film)
The Blues Brothers is a 1980 musical comedy film directed by John Landis and starring John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd as "Joliet" Jake and Elwood Blues, characters developed from a musical sketch on the NBC variety series Saturday Night Live. It features musical numbers by R&B and soul singers James...
. Specifically, when Cab Calloway's character named Curtis offers to "buy you boys a drink", he takes Jake and Elwood down to the orphanage's basement, where the boiler is easily seen in the background. A Kewanee boiler is also the dwelling place for the character Suzie DeSoto, played by Debra Winger, in the 1982 film version of John Steinbeck's book Cannery Row
Cannery Row
Cannery Row is the waterfront street in the New Monterey section of Monterey, California. It is the site of a number of now-defunct sardine canning factories. The last cannery closed in 1973...
. The Kewanee High School athletic teams are nicknamed the "Boilermaker
Boilermaker
A boilermaker is a trained craftsman who produces steel fabrications from plates and sections. The name originated from craftsmen who would fabricate boilers, but they may work on projects as diverse as bridges to blast furnaces to the construction of mining equipment.-Boilermaking:Many...
s."
Kewanee was also home to the Walworth Company, Kewanee Machinery and Conveyor Company and Kewanee Manufacturing Company – all manufacturers that employed many local blue collar workers in their heyday. Kewanee, once a prominent industrial town, has fallen into silence like many similar communities in the past twenty years. Beyond the falling indunstries there have been a few blooming businesses that shine as prominent growing developements, for example, Goods Furniture Store. Goods is known across Kewanee, Illinois, and further for being an excellent source for beautiful and affordable furniture.
Schools
Kewanee has two school districts, dating to when the community of Wethersfield was a separate municipality. Though the towns merged long ago, the two school districts both remain in the city of 13,400, divided at Division Street in the middle of Kewanee. While Kewanee School District #229 has around 1,850 students, Wethersfield #230 has about 600 students. The two schools enjoy a usually friendly rivalry, since both district high schools are in different divisions for most sports. However, this rivalry can become very heated in the sports the two high schools do compete in, most notably basketballBasketball
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...
.
There are also other schools in Kewanee like Visitation Catholic School: home of the Giants, and a community college, Black Hawk College - East Campus. Black Hawk College - East Campus is recognized nationally for its equestrian program, as well as livestock judging teams. The west campus is located in the Quad Cities
Quad Cities
The Quad Cities is a group of five cities straddling the Mississippi River on the Iowa–Illinois boundary. These cities, Davenport and Bettendorf and Rock Island, Moline, and East Moline , are the center of the Quad Cities Metropolitan Area, which, as of 2010, had an estimated population of...
.
Consolidation
Recently, the Kewanee School Board and the Wethersfield School Board conducted a feasibility study on the subject of consolidation, which would provide the town one school district. Wethersfield also completed a feasibility study with two nearby towns, Annawan and GalvaGalva, Illinois
Galva is a city in Henry County, Illinois, United States. The population was 2,589 at the 2010 census, down from 2,758 at the 2000 census.-Information:...
. Currently, Wethersfield and Annawan share co-ops in several sports programs under the name of the Titans.
FM radio
- 93.9 WYEC, Soft AC (RDSRadio Data SystemRadio Data System, or RDS, is a communications protocol standard for embedding small amounts of digital information in conventional FM radio broadcasts. RDS standardises several types of information transmitted, including time, station identification and programme information.Radio Broadcast Data...
) - 102.5 WJREWJREWJRE is a FM radio station licensed to Galva, Illinois, with studio in Kewanee, Illinois. WJRE operates on a frequency of 102.5 MHz. It is one of 7 stations owned by the Miller Media Group of Taylorville, Illinois. WJRE plays the Country Music of Yesterday and Today country music format, with...
"HOGG Country 102.5", CountryCountry musicCountry music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
(RDS) - 104.3 W282AL (Translates 1450 WKEIWKEIWKEI is a radio station broadcasting a News/Talk format. Licensed to Kewanee, Illinois, USA, the station serves the Quad Cities area. The station is currently owned by Virden Broadcasting Corp....
), News/TalkTalk radioTalk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often feature interviews with a number of different guests. Talk radio typically includes an element of listener participation, usually by broadcasting live...
- Star Courier, local daily newspaper
B&B Printing, local family ran printing press
Notable Kewanee businesses
Current businesses
Former businesses
- Kewanee Boiler Corporation (Kewanee Boiler Parts)
- Walworth Company
- Hotel KewaneeHotel KewaneeThe Hotel Kewanee was a hotel in downtown Kewanee, Illinois, located at 125 North Chestnut Street.The Hotel Kewanee was built in 1916 and operated as a hotel until the early 2000s. It is a four-story brick building, and during its heyday it featured over 100 guest rooms, a restaurant, a full bar,...
- Sandy's Drive-In National HeadquartersSandy'sSandy's was the name of a chain of fast-food restaurants begun in 1956 by four business men from Kewanee, Illinois: Gus "Brick" Lundberg, Robert C. Wenger, Paul White and W. K. Davidson.-Beginnings:...
Notable people
- Walter T. BaileyWalter T. BaileyWalter Thomas Bailey was an African-American architect from Kewanee, Illinois. He was the first African American graduate with a bachelor of science degree in architectural engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign...
, architect - Neville BrandNeville BrandNeville Brand was an American television and movie actor.-Early life:Neville Brand was born in Illinois. He was born to Leo and Helen Brand as one of seven children. Leo, was an electrician and bridge building steel worker in Detroit, where Neville was raised...
, television and movie actor, decorated World War IIWorld War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
veteran. - Richard EstesRichard EstesRichard Estes is an American artist, best known for his photorealist paintings. The paintings generally consist of reflective, clean, and inanimate city and geometric landscapes. He is regarded as one of the founders of the international photo-realist movement of the late 1960s, with such painters...
, painter - Frederick Dilley Glidden ( pen name Luke ShortLuke ShortWestern frontiersman Luke L. Short was a noted gunfighter, who had worked as a farmer, cowboy, whiskey peddler, army scout, dispatch rider, gambler and saloon keeper at various times during the four decades of his life.- Early life :...
), Western writer most notable for the films Ramrod (1947) and Blood on the Moon (1948). - Bill GoffrierThe EmbarrassmentThe Embarrassment was an American quartet formed in 1979 in Wichita, Kansas, that made several recordings before breaking up in 1983. The band consisted of guitarist Bill Goffrier, lead singer and organist John Nichols, bassist Ron Klaus and drummer Brent Giessmann.-History:Although some people...
, guitarist for The EmbarrassmentThe EmbarrassmentThe Embarrassment was an American quartet formed in 1979 in Wichita, Kansas, that made several recordings before breaking up in 1983. The band consisted of guitarist Bill Goffrier, lead singer and organist John Nichols, bassist Ron Klaus and drummer Brent Giessmann.-History:Although some people...
.http://www.goffrier.com/bio/index.htm - Glenn McDonaldGlenn McDonaldGlenn McDonald is a retired American professional basketball player. He played three seasons for the Boston Celtics and the Milwaukee Bucks before going overseas most notably with the U/Tex Wranglers in the early-80's...
, player for the Boston CelticsBoston CelticsThe Boston Celtics are a National Basketball Association team based in Boston, Massachusetts. They play in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. Founded in 1946, the team is currently owned by Boston Basketball Partners LLC. The Celtics play their home games at the TD Garden, which...
and Milwaukee BucksMilwaukee BucksThe Milwaukee Bucks are a professional basketball team based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. They are part of the Central Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association . The team was founded in 1968 as an expansion team, and currently plays at the Bradley Center....
. - Marjabelle Young StewartMarjabelle Young StewartMarjabelle Young Stewart was an American writer and expert on etiquette.Marjabelle Young Stewart was born in Council Bluffs, Iowa to Marie and Clarence Cullen Bryant . She, and her three sisters lived in an orphanage after her parents divorced, where her youngest sister died of a mastoid infection...
, writer and expert on etiquetteEtiquetteEtiquette is a code of behavior that delineates expectations for social behavior according to contemporary conventional norms within a society, social class, or group...
. - Charles E. Summers, Jr.Charles E. Summers, Jr.Charles E. "Charlie" Summers, Jr. is a Maine politician and the Secretary of State of Maine. He is also a small businessperson and veteran of Iraq War. He was the Republican candidate for United States Congress in Maine's 1st congressional district several times, including a 2008 defeat to Chellie...
, Secretary of State of the State of MaineMaineMaine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
. Raised in Kewanee, graduated from Kewanee High School (1978).
Transportation
The Kewanee Amtrak stationKewanee (Amtrak station)
The Kewanee Amtrak station is a train station in Kewanee, Illinois, United States served by Amtrak, the national railroad passenger system.-External links:*...
serves trains on the on Carl Sandburg and Illinois Zephyr
Illinois Zephyr
The Illinois Zephyr is a 258-mile passenger train operated by Amtrak that runs between Chicago and Quincy, Illinois. The train is a part of the Illinois Service rail network and is partially funded by the Illinois Department of Transportation...
daily. Trains such as the California Zephyr
California Zephyr
The California Zephyr is a long passenger train route operated by Amtrak in the midwestern and western United States.It runs from Chicago, Illinois, in the east to Emeryville, California, in the west, passing through the states of Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, and California...
and Southwest Chief
Southwest Chief
The Southwest Chief is a passenger train operated by Amtrak on a 2256-mile BNSF route through the Midwestern and Southwestern United States. It runs from Chicago, Illinois, to Los Angeles, California, passing through Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and California...
breeze by without stopping.
Miscellaneous information
- Despite its relatively small size, Kewanee maintains two separate school districtSchool districtSchool districts are a form of special-purpose district which serves to operate the local public primary and secondary schools.-United States:...
s, Kewanee district #229 and Wethersfield district #230, reflecting the fact that the city sits in two different townships, Kewanee Township, and Wethersfield Township. The two school districts were formerly Township High School districts. Weathersfield was founded by former residents of Wethersfield, ConnecticutWethersfield, ConnecticutWethersfield is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. Many records from colonial times spell the name Weathersfield, while Native Americans called it Pyquag...
The former Village of Wethersfield eventually merged with the City of Kewanee. Kewanee Wethersfield recently co-oped with a town ten miles away from Kewanee in football, track, softball, track, cross country and golf. - Kewanee is acknowledged as the Hog Capital of the World. This fact was even mentioned in an episode of Law and Order: SVU.
- Every Labor DayLabor DayLabor Day is a United States federal holiday observed on the first Monday in September that celebrates the economic and social contributions of workers.-History:...
weekend, Kewanee holds a parade, flea market and a carnival to celebrate the title "Hog Capital of the World"