For other similarly named locations, see Thebes (disambiguation).

Thebes is a village in Alexander County

Alexander County, Illinois

Alexander County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 8,238, which is a decrease of 14.1% from 9,590 in 2000. Its county seat is Cairo. Alexander County is part of the Cape Girardeau–Jackson, MO-IL Metropolitan Statistical...

, 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 478 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Cape Girardeau

Cape Girardeau, Missouri

Cape Girardeau is a city located in Cape Girardeau and Scott counties in Southeast Missouri in the United States. It is located approximately southeast of St. Louis and north of Memphis. As of the 2010 census, the city's population was 37,941. A college town, it is the home of Southeast Missouri...

–Jackson

Jackson, Missouri

Jackson is a city in Cape Girardeau County, Missouri, United States. The population was 13,758 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Cape Girardeau County. Jackson is named for U.S. President Andrew Jackson. It is a principal city of the Cape Girardeau–Jackson, MO-IL Metropolitan...

, MO

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...

-IL Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Geography

Thebes is located at 37°13′9"N 89°27′25"W (37.219177, -89.456915).

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 2.3 square miles (6 km²), of which, 1.8 square miles (4.7 km²) of it is land and 0.5 square miles (1.3 km²) of it (22.08%) 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 478 people, 171 households, and 129 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 265.6 people per square mile (102.5/km²). There were 213 housing units at an average density of 118.4 per square mile (45.7/km²). The racial makeup of the village was 87.24% White, 10.67% African American, 0.42% Native American, 0.21% Asian, and 1.46% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.21% of the population.

There were 171 households out of which 42.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.1% 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, 17.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.0% were non-families. 21.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.80 and the average family size was 3.31.

In the village the population was spread out with 34.3% under the age of 18, 9.4% from 18 to 24, 25.5% from 25 to 44, 20.1% from 45 to 64, and 10.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 30 years. For every 100 females there were 94.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 85.8 males.

The median income for a household in the village was $20,250, and the median income for a family was $26,786. Males had a median income of $28,750 versus $15,000 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 $11,262. About 29.2% of families and 31.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 41.4% of those under age 18 and 14.5% of those age 65 or over.

History

Thebes, like the city of Cairo, also in Alexander County, is named after the Egyptian city of the same name

Thebes, Egypt

Thebes is the Greek name for a city in Ancient Egypt located about 800 km south of the Mediterranean, on the east bank of the river Nile within the modern city of Luxor. The Theban Necropolis is situated nearby on the west bank of the Nile.-History:...

. This part of southern Illinois is known as Little Egypt

Little Egypt (region)

-Early history:The earliest inhabitants of Illinois were thought to have arrived about 12,000 B.C. They were hunter-gatherers, but developed a primitive system of agriculture. After 1000 AD, their agricultural surpluses enabled them to develop complex, hierarchical societies...

.

Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...

 practiced law here. Legend says that Dred Scott

Dred Scott

Dred Scott , was an African-American slave in the United States who unsuccessfully sued for his freedom and that of his wife and their two daughters in the Dred Scott v...

, a slave whose Supreme Court decision set back black rights by declaring that African-American slaves had no claim to freedom, may have been imprisoned in the courthouse jail.

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...

 at Thebes is in excess of four feet deep, which enabled the town to become a busy steamboat port. Union troops

Union Army

The Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...

 passed through Thebes on their way to attack the South during the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

. Thebes Bridge

Thebes Bridge

The Thebes Bridge is a truss bridge carrying the Union Pacific Railroad across the Mississippi River between Illmo, Missouri and Thebes, Illinois...

 is an important railroad bridge opened for rail traffic in 1905 and still in use today.

In literature, Thebes is the home village of Captain Andy Hawks, his wife Parthenia Ann Hawks and daughter Magnolia in the Edna Ferber

Edna Ferber

Edna Ferber was an American novelist, short story writer and playwright. Her novels were especially popular and included the Pulitzer Prize-winning So Big , Show Boat , and Giant .-Early years:Ferber was born August 15, 1885, in Kalamazoo, Michigan,...

 novel Showboat

Showboat

A showboat, or show boat, was a form of theater that traveled along the waterways of the United States, especially along the Mississippi and Ohio rivers . A showboat was basically a barge that resembled a long, flat-roofed house, and in order to move down the river, it was pushed by a small tugboat...

.