Coal Valley, Illinois

History

The first settlers in Coal Valley were trappers and farmers who came from Wales, England, Ireland, Germany and Sweden. The pioneer settlers of the community are thought to have been William and Charles Bailey who built the first house within the present village limits. It is also believed that they operated a small mine, which could quite possibly be the first discovery of coal in the vicinity.

The Coal Valley Mining Company was formed in 1856. The men who incorporated the company were Holmes Hakes, Charles Buford, S.S. Guyer, Ben Harper and N.B. Buford. They gave the community its name. The booming years for coal mining in Coal Valley was from the 1850s to about the middle of the 1870s. Over the years other mining companies moved in. 1942 saw the end of coal mining in and around this community.

In March 1876, a vote was taken and passed to form the Village of Coal Valley. On April 22, 1876, the first Board of Trustees was made. On April 22, 1876, H.B. Sudlow was chosen president and Harvey Clark was appointed the first Constable.

In May 1892, following a petition signed by twenty-eight citizens of Coal Valley, asking that a town hall be erected. The lots needed for the building site were purchased from Gustave Krapp, Sr. Mr. Johnson of Orion was contracted to erect the building. The hall was built identically to Orion’s town hall. Work began in September and by Thanksgiving the building was up. In January 1893, the hall was officially accepted. The total cost was under $3,000.00.

In April 1900, the Village Board purchased a fire engine and hose cart for the sum of $875.00. In November 1900, the Village Board purchased the land and built a one-story fire station.

In 1929, the construction of Highway 150 was completed through the Village, and in 1933, it was extended as far east as Orion.

In 1939, the Coal Valley High School was built at the cost of $70,000 and that fall forty-six pupils were enrolled. The first members to graduate from the new Coal Valley High School were Ruth Schroeder, Evelyn Martin, Mary Kepple, Florence Robinson, Raymond Johnson, Harlan Raub, Robert Anderson, Sydney Bradford and Francis Creger. The Coal Valley High School was dissolved in 1952 and used as the junior high, and high school students attended the new high school in Moline.

Geography

Coal Valley is located at 41°26′23″N 90°27′21″W (41.439788, -90.455939).

According to the 2010 census, Coal Valley has a total area of 2.76 square miles (7.15 km²), all land.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 3,606 people, 1,373 households, and 1,059 families residing in the village. The population density was 1,260.5 people per square mile (486.8/km²). There were 1,444 housing units at an average density of 504.7 per square mile (194.9/km²). The racial makeup of the village was 97.06% White, 0.69% African American, 0.03% Native American, 0.42% Asian, 0.58% from other races, and 1.22% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.00% of the population.

There were 1,373 households out of which 33.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 64.6% were married couples living together, 9.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 22.8% were non-families. 18.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 6.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.63 and the average family size was 2.97.

In the village, the population was spread out with 24.8% under the age of 18, 9.1% from 18 to 24, 29.1% from 25 to 44, 27.4% from 45 to 64, and 9.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 99.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.7 males.

The median income for a household in the village was $49,228, and the median income for a family was $56,114. Males had a median income of $40,801 versus $23,529 for females. The per capita income for the village was $20,996. About 6.7% of families and 7.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 10.6% of those under age 18 and 15.0% of those age 65 or over.