Mount Carroll, Illinois

History

Mount Carroll began life as a mill town around 1841. In 1843, a referendum moved the county seat from nearby Savanna to Mount Carroll. The town was incorporated in 1855 and became a city in 1867; the first mayor was Nathaniel Halderman, a prominent local businessman and co-founder of the mill.

Shimer College was established in Mt. Carroll in 1853, but mounting debts forced a move to Waukegan in 1979. The campus now is home to several organizations, most notably the Campbell Center for Historic Preservation Studies.

Political scientist Robert Keohane grew up in Mt. Carroll before attending Shimer.

Geography

Mount Carroll is located slightly northwest of the center of Carroll County at 42°5′44″N 89°58′37″W (42.095473, -89.977042). U.S. Route 52 passes through the southern part of the city, leading east 7 miles (11 km) to Lanark and west 10 miles (16 km) to Savanna on the Mississippi River.

According to the 2010 census, Mount Carroll has a total area of 2.02 square miles (5.23 km²), all land.

Arts and culture

Mount Carroll enjoys a remarkable concentration of historically and architecturally significant structures. The bulk of the town's downtown and older residential area are included in the Mount Carroll Historic District, which encompasses 118 acres (48 ha) and was entered into the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. Mount Carroll is also home to the Campbell Center for Historic Preservation Studies, located on the historic former Shimer College campus near the south edge of town.

The Timber Lake Playhouse, the oldest semiprofessional summer stock theater company in Illinois, is located 4 miles (6 km) southeast of Mount Carroll. The Mount Carroll post office contains an oil on canvas mural, Rural Scene - Wakarusa Valley, painted by Irene Bianucci in 1941. Federally commissioned murals were produced from 1934 to 1943 in the United States through the Section of Painting and Sculpture, later called the Section of Fine Arts, of the Treasury Department.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 1,832 people, 765 households, and 501 families residing in the city. The population density was 963.5 people per square mile (372.3/km²). There were 855 housing units at an average density of 449.7 per square mile (173.7/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 98.53% White, 0.16% African American, 0.27% Native American, 0.27% Asian, 0.33% from other races, and 0.44% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.31% of the population.

There were 765 households out of which 29.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.4% were married couples living together, 8.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.5% were non-families. 31.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 17.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.35 and the average family size was 2.94.

In the city, the population was spread out with 24.4% under the age of 18, 7.9% from 18 to 24, 26.0% from 25 to 44, 21.9% from 45 to 64, and 19.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 95.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.7 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $34,861, and the median income for a family was $40,511. Males had a median income of $29,292 versus $22,212 for females. The per capita income for the city was $16,455. About 5.1% of families and 8.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 12.5% of those under age 18 and 4.3% of those age 65 or over.

Notable people

Notable Shimer students in Mount Carroll