Augusta is a village in Hancock County,

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. The population was 587 at the 2010 census, down from 657 at the 2000 census. It is located near

Weinberg-King State Park Weinberg-King State Fish and Wildlife Area is an List of Illinois state parks, Illinois state park on in Schuyler County, Illinois, Schuyler County, Illinois, United States. It is located near Augusta, Illinois. Geology and history Weinberg-K ...

.City data. 2000 census information
Retrieved on May 18, 2007

Geography

Augusta is located in southeastern Hancock County at (40.230946, -90.950741).

Illinois Route 61 Illinois Route 61 (IL 61) is a rural state road in western Illinois that runs north and east from Illinois Route 96 in Ursa to the intersection of U.S. Route 136 west of Tennessee. Illinois route 61 is long. Route description Illinois&n ...

passes through the village, leaving to the west as Main Street and to the north as Center Street; Bowen is to the west, and

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

is to the north. Augusta's Main Street continues east from the center of town as

Illinois Route 101 Illinois Route 101 (IL 101) is a east–west state road that runs from to the intersection of Illinois Route 61 in Augusta east to U.S. Highway 67 one mile (1.6 km) east of Littleton. The highway was officially established in 1 ...

, leading to Weinberg-King State Park and to Littleton. According to the 2010 census, Augusta has a total area of , all land.

History

Augusta was founded in 1832 by Joel Catlin and W.D. Abernathy, who was the village's first

postmaster A postmaster is the head of an individual post office, responsible for all postal activities in a specific post office. When a postmaster is responsible for an entire mail distribution organization (usually sponsored by a national government), ...

. Catlin named Augusta after having a memorable visit to

Augusta, Georgia Augusta ( ), officially Augusta–Richmond County, is a consolidated city-county on the central eastern border of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. The city lies across the Savannah River from South Carolina at the head of its navig ...

. On September 18, 1858, soon-to-be President

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...

visited Augusta, where he gave a speech and stayed at the home of Elder James Stark. Previously, Lincoln's opponent in the historic Lincoln–Douglas debates,

Stephen A. Douglas Stephen Arnold Douglas (April 23, 1813 – June 3, 1861) was an American politician and lawyer from Illinois. A senator, he was one of two nominees of the badly split Democratic Party for president in the 1860 presidential election, which wa ...

, had spoken in Augusta. In 1864, Congressman James Garfield (the future president) spoke in Augusta on behalf of Lincoln. Other notable visitors include

William McKinley William McKinley (January 29, 1843September 14, 1901) was the 25th president of the United States, serving from 1897 until his assassination in 1901. As a politician he led a realignment that made his Republican Party largely dominant in ...

and

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...

in the fall of 1900. Only Roosevelt gave a short speech on his trip through Augusta during the campaign.

Events

Every year in July, Augusta plays host to the Hancock County Fair.

Education

Southeastern High School is located in Augusta.

Demographics

As of the

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...

of 2000, there were 657 people, 296 households, and 179 families residing in the village. The population density was . There were 330 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the village was 99.70%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White o ...

, and 0.30% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...

Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...

of any race were 0.76% of the population. There were 296 households, out of which 23.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.3% were married couples living together, 8.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 39.2% were non-families. 34.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 20.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.22 and the average family size was 2.84. In the village, the population was spread out, with 19.6% under the age of 18, 7.9% from 18 to 24, 25.3% from 25 to 44, 24.5% from 45 to 64, and 22.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43 years. For every 100 females, there were 87.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.2 males. The median income for a household in the village was $29,167, and the median income for a family was $37,813. Males had a median income of $24,926 versus $17,639 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

for the village was $15,237. About 5.9% of families and 9.7% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...

, including 13.3% of those under age 18 and 10.6% of those age 65 or over.

References

{{authority control Villages in Hancock County, Illinois Villages in Illinois Populated places established in 1832 1832 establishments in Illinois