Carlinville is a city in and the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

of Macoupin County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 5,710. It is the home of Blackburn College, a small college affiliated with the

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...

church. The city is the former home of Prairie Farms Dairy.

History

Carlinville is named for Thomas Carlin, seventh

governor of Illinois The governor of Illinois is the head of government of Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its we ...

, who as a member of the state legislature was instrumental in creating Macoupin County. Carlinville has long been a site of Illinois history, and played host to many presidential hopefuls via campaign stops at a time in American history when railway routes produced many visits by politicians. Perhaps the largest and most important hallmark of Carlinville's history is its courthouse, the largest built outside of New York City at the time of its erection. Built in 1870 and designed by famous state capitol building architect Elijah E. Myers, the construction of Carlinville's courthouse produced its candidacy for the location of the state capitol. Locally, it is known as "The Million Dollar Courthouse" due to its cost overruns at the time it was built. In the early 1900s Carlinville became the site of a great many Sears Catalog Homes. An entire neighborhood was constructed of the homes and was funded, in 1918, by Standard Oil of Indiana for its mineworkers in Carlinville, at a cost of approximately one million dollars. In gratitude, Sears, Roebuck named one of its house models the "Carlin". Today 149 of the original 156 homes still exist, the largest single repository of Sears Catalog Homes in the United States. One notable resident of Carlinville was American entomologist Charles Robertson, who carried out what is still the single most intensive study of flower-visiting insects of a single locality (Carlinville), culminating in a 221-page book published in 1928 under the title ''Flowers and Insects''. From among the specimens he collected in the process of doing this study, he named over 100 new species of bees and

wasp A wasp is any insect of the narrow-waisted suborder Apocrita of the order Hymenoptera which is neither a bee nor an ant; this excludes the broad-waisted sawflies (Symphyta), which look somewhat like wasps, but are in a separate suborder ...

s. Scientists in 1970–1972 did a similar survey, and found that most of the bees noted by Robertson were still present. This is presumably due to the existence of bee habitat in hedgerows, on slopes, and in other non-agricultural land in the survey area. Other notable Carlinvillians include nature writer and novelist Mary Hunter Austin, once called "the most intelligent woman in America" by

H.G. Wells Herbert George Wells (21 September 1866 – 13 August 1946) was an English writer, prolific in many genres. He wrote more than fifty novels and dozens of short stories. His non-fiction output included works of social commentary, politics, hist ...

,)) distinguished military personnel, politicians, and others.

Geography

Carlinville is in central Macoupin County. Illinois Routes 4 and 108 pass through the city center, joining as East 1st South Street through the city's east side. Route 4 leads north-northeast to Springfield, the state capital, and south to Staunton, while Route 108 leads east to

Interstate 55 Interstate 55 (I-55) is a major Interstate Highway in the central United States. As with most primary Interstates that end in a five, it is a major cross-country, north–south route, connecting the Gulf of Mexico to the Great Lakes. The ...

and west to Carrollton. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Carlinville has a total area of , all land. Briar Creek passes through the east side of the city, joining Macoupin Creek just south of the city limits. Macoupin Creek is a west-flowing tributary of the

Illinois River The Illinois River () is a principal tributary of the Mississippi River at approximately in length. Located in the U.S. state of Illinois, the river has a drainage basin of . The Illinois River begins with the confluence of the Des Plaines ...

Climate

Demographics

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2000, there were 5,685 people, 2,125 households, and 1,393 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 2,289 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 97.01%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 1.50%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.25% Native American, 0.26% Asian, 0.02%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 0.23% from other races, and 0.74% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 0.76% of the population. There were 2,125 households, of which 31.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.3% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 11.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.4% were non-families. 30.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 15.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.38 and the average family size was 2.96. In the city, the population was spread out, with 23.4% under the age of 18, 12.8% from 18 to 24, 25.1% from 25 to 44, 19.4% from 45 to 64, and 19.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females, there were 89.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.1 males. The median income for a household in the city was $34,259, and the median income for a family was $39,693. Males had a median income of $35,137 versus $21,286 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the city was $16,663. About 9.0% of families and 12.5% 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 ...

, including 15.3% of those under age 18 and 14.6% of those age 65 or over.

Transportation

Illinois Route 4 passes north to south through Carlinville. Interstate 55 passes east of the city. Illinois Route 108 passes through Carlinville connecting Interstate 55 to the east with Kampsville to the west, where it crosses the

on a free, state-operated

ferry A ferry is a boat or ship that transports passengers, and occasionally vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A small passenger ferry with multiple stops, like those in Venice, Italy, is sometimes referred to as a water taxi or water bus ...

. The Carlinville Amtrak station is served directly by five daily trains, offering easy access south to St. Louis and north to Springfield and

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. One train is the '' Texas Eagle'' which connects Chicago to

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

and features sleeping cars, a dining car and a lounge. Freight rail service is provided by the

Union Pacific Railroad The Union Pacific Railroad is a Railroad classes, Class I freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Pacific is the second largest railroad in the United Stat ...

, formerly the Gulf, Mobile and Ohio, the Illinois Central Gulf, the Chicago, Missouri and Western, and the Southern Pacific Chicago - St. Louis Railways. The main line of the GM&O passed through Carlinville. The Illinois Terminal Railroad, an electric interurban to St. Louis from Springfield that once provided both freight and passenger service, passed down the middle of Carlinville's West Street. It was still operating freight trains on West Street to a nearby grain elevator into the 1970s. Its trestle crossing Goat Hollow south of Carlinville burned severing the line, which was then abandoned. A small portion of the line is used by Monterey Coal Co. mine to connect with the former

Chicago and North Western Transportation Company The Chicago and North Western was a Class I railroad in the Midwestern United States. It was also known as the "North Western". The railroad operated more than of track at the turn of the 20th century, and over of track in seven states befor ...

L & M District, serving coal-fired power plants.

Notable people

* Walter Stratton Anderson (1881–1981), U.S. Navy vice admiral * Mary Hunter Austin (1868–1934), writer * Dana J. Boente (1954– ), General Counsel of the FBI and former Acting Attorney General of the United States * William A. Boring (1859–1934), architect * Frank W. Burton (1857–1934), Illinois state legislator and judge * Kelsey Card (1992- ), Olympic discus thrower * Louis P. Daley (1868–1930), Illinois state representative * Vince Demuzio (1941–2004), Illinois state senator and chairman of the Illinois Democratic Party * Palemon Howard Dorsett (1862–1943), horticulturalist * Cornelius J. Doyle (1871–1938), Illinois Secretary of State * David Gore (1823–1911), Illinois state senator and State Auditor * Mark Juergensmeyer (1940– ), religious scholar * Truman H. Landon (1905–1986), U.S. Air Force general * Louis John Lanzerotti (1938- ), research professor of physics,

New Jersey Institute of Technology New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) is a Public university, public research university in Newark, New Jersey, United States, with a graduate-degree-granting satellite campus in Jersey City. Founded in 1881 with the support of local indust ...

* Gustave Loehr (1864–1918), co-founder of

Rotary International Rotary International is one of the largest service organizations in the world. The self-declared mission of Rotary, as stated on its website, is to "provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, goodwill, and p ...

* Peter F. Mack Jr. (1916–1986), congressman from Illinois * William Moise (1922–1980), artist * William L. Mounts (1862–1929), Illinois state legislator, lawyer, and mayor of Carlinville * John M. Palmer (1817–1900), 15th

Governor of Illinois The governor of Illinois is the head of government of Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its we ...

* John McAuley Palmer (1870–1955), U.S. Army general * Charles Robertson (1858–1935), entomologist * Richard Rowett (1830–1887), Civil War officer and horse breeder * W. O. Woods (1873–1951),

Treasurer of the United States The treasurer of the United States is an officer in the United States Department of the Treasury who serves as the custodian and trustee of the federal government's collateral assets and the supervisor of the department's currency and coinage pr ...

References

External links

*
Carlinville Chamber of Commerce
{{Authority control Cities in Macoupin County, Illinois County seats in Illinois Cities in Illinois