See also Athens, Illinois

Athens, Illinois

Athens is a city in Menard County, Illinois, United States. The population was 1,726 at the 2000 census, and 1,778 at a 2009 estimate. It is part of the Springfield, Illinois Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:...

 and Athens (disambiguation)

Athens (disambiguation)

Athens is the capital city of Greece.*Classical Athens, the city in Classical Antiquity*History of AthensAthens may also refer to:* Athens access and identity management, an access and identity management service...

 for more places called "Athens".

New Athens is a village in St. Clair County

St. Clair County, Illinois

St. Clair County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. In 1970, the U.S. Census Bureau placed the mean center of U.S. population in St. Clair County. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 270,056, which is an increase of 5.5% from 256,082 in 2000. Its county seat is...

, 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...

. Based upon common usage, the 'A' is always sounded with a long vowel, rather than a short vowel, by its residents, unlike the most commonly used English pronunciation of the city in Greece

Athens

Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...

.

The population was 1,981 at the 2000 census. New Athens sits on the Kaskaskia River and was originally called Athens. The village was laid out in 1836 and later incorporated in 1866. The name change to New Athens came in 1868 after it was discovered there was already an Athens in another part of the state.

The area is known for the water sports recreation, including annual boat races and fishing derby. It is also the home of the Peabody River King Conservation Area. The Village is the home of New Athens Community Unit School District #60 (NACUSD 60) - New Athens Township High School Yellow Jackets. The school website, http://www.na60.org provides additional resources and references.

Since New Athens is in the Metro East area of St. Louis, it also has a place in the local brewery history. At one point New Athens was home to Mound City Brewery until the 1950s. Baseball is a big sport in the area and the village has produced a number of athletes that have played professionally. One of the favorite sons is Whitey Herzog

Whitey Herzog

Dorrel Norman Elvert "Whitey" Herzog is a former Major League Baseball manager. Born in New Athens, Illinois, he made his debut as a player in 1956 with the Washington Senators. After his playing career ended in 1963, Herzog went on to perform a variety of roles in Major League Baseball, including...

, a former Major League Baseball

Major League Baseball

Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...

 outfielder

Outfielder

Outfielder is a generic term applied to each of the people playing in the three defensive positions in baseball farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder...

 and manager

Manager (baseball)

In baseball, the field manager is an individual who is responsible for matters of team strategy on the field and team leadership. Managers are typically assisted by between one and six assistant coaches, whose responsibilities are specialized...

. Other former major leaguers with New Athens ties include Larry Stahl, Mickey Haefner, Warren Hacker, and Rich Hacker.

New Athens is home to a Roman Catholic church which is named St. Agatha's.

Geography

New Athens is located at 38°19′22"N 89°52′29"W (38.322660, -89.874811).

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 1.8 square miles (4.7 km²), of which, 1.7 square miles (4.4 km²) of it is land and 0.1 square mile (0.258998811 km²) of it (5.98%) is water.

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 1,981 people, 774 households, and 541 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 1,148.3 people per square mile (442.1/km²). There were 819 housing units at an average density of 474.7 per square mile (182.8/km²). The racial makeup of the village was 97.98% White, 0.76% African American, 0.15% Native American, 0.35% Asian, 0.15% Pacific Islander, and 0.61% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.56% of the population.

There were 774 households out of which 33.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.7% 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, 10.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.1% were non-families. 26.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.49 and the average family size was 3.00.

In the village the population was spread out with 23.9% under the age of 18, 9.3% from 18 to 24, 28.9% from 25 to 44, 20.7% from 45 to 64, and 17.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 88.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 83.5 males.

The median income for a household in the village was $39,625, and the median income for a family was $49,236. Males had a median income of $36,307 versus $22,462 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 $17,627. About 6.8% of families and 8.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 10.0% of those under age 18 and 6.7% of those age 65 or over.

Notable people

• Whitey Herzog (St. Louis Cardinals, Kansas City Royals Manager) Rich Hacker (Coach for St. Louis and Toronto) Edwin L. Cockrell Sr. (Silver Medalist, Paralympics Athens, Greece)
• Sturdivant Gang
  Sturdivant Gang
  The Sturdivant Gang was a multi-generational group of counterfeiters whose criminal activities took place over a 50 year period from Colonial Connecticut to the Illinois frontier. Although they did not follow the same frontier settlement pattern as most of the "Ancient Colony of Horse-Thieves,...
  
  , 19th Century counterfeiters

External links

• http://www.newathens-il.gov
• http://www.na60.org
• http://www.city-data.com/city/New-Athens-Illinois.html
• http://illinois.hometownlocator.com/il/st.-clair/new-athens.cfm