Carterville is a city in Williamson 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 ...

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. At the 2020 census, the city's population was 5,848. The city is part of the Carbondale-Marion combined statistical area and has grown considerably as a residential community of Carbondale and

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. The city is located next to

Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge is a 43,890 acre (180 km2) National Wildlife Refuge primarily in southwestern Williamson County, Illinois, Williamson County, but with small extensions into adjacent eastern Jackson County, Illinois, Jac ...

. The Refuge's of land and water contain a wide diversity of flora and fauna.

History

Carterville was founded by George Monroe McNeill and Laban Carter. McNeill married Olive Herrin of Herrin's Prairie and in 1866 they settled on the farm now known as Carterville. Carter came to Williamson County in 1864, purchased of land, and helped organize and secure a post office for Carterville in 1871. The town was named in his honor. McNeill was one of the youngest members of the

Union army During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union (American Civil War), Union of the collective U.S. st ...

during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

. He enlisted at 16 and was with General

William T. Sherman William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

during his March to the Sea.

Geography

According to the 2010 census, the city has a total area of , of which (or 98.30%) is land and (or 1.70%) is water.

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 4,616 people, 1,933 households, and 1,293 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 2,093 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 96.21%

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 on ...

, 1.13%

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, 0.15% Native American, 0.93%

Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

, 0.02%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, 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 the original p ...

, 0.58% from

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, and 0.97% 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 1.13% of the population. There were 1,933 households, out of which 32.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.4% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between t ...

living together, 10.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.1% were non-families. 28.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.39 and the average family size was 2.95. In the city the population was spread out, with 25.2% under the age of 18, 10.0% from 18 to 24, 28.1% from 25 to 44, 23.1% from 45 to 64, and 13.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 93.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.0 males. The median income for a household in the city was $36,969, and the median income for a family was $44,722. Males had a median income of $34,231 versus $24,924 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 city was $18,884. About 9.9% of families and 14.6% 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 15.4% of those under age 18 and 7.1% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Carterville is home to

John A. Logan College John A. Logan College is a public community college in Carterville, Illinois. It is part of the Illinois Community College System. As of 2016, it had a total enrollment of 4,424 students: 1,990 full- and 2,434 part-time.John A. Logan John Alexander Logan (February 9, 1826 – December 26, 1886) was an American soldier and politician. He served in the Mexican–American War and was a general in the Union Army in the American Civil War. He served the state of Illinois as a st ...

. A college of approximately 8,000 students, John A. Logan College was featured in ''

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'' magazine as the nation's fifth best community college and in 2004 was recognized as one of the fastest growing community colleges in the nation. Carterville High School received a silver medal and ranked 94th in Illinois on ''U.S. News & World Report''s 2016 list of the nation's best high schools. CHS was the only public high school in southern Illinois that performed above the state average of 21 on ACT testing. The Carterville Unit 5 Schools' athletic programs have been successful in the past, winning the IHSA State Conference Championship in Class 3A football in 1996 and in Class 2A softball in 2008 and 2016. The Carterville Varsity Cheer squad hold the record for the most wins in IHSA history.http://www.ihsa.org/activity/fb/records/team1-2.htm

Notable people

C. W. Bishop Cecil William "C. W." Bishop (June 29, 1890 – September 21, 1971) was a member of the United States House of Representatives from Illinois. Biography Bishop was born on a farm near West Vienna, Illinois. After attending the public schools and ...

Congressman A Member of Congress (MOC) is a person who has been appointed or elected and inducted into an official body called a congress, typically to represent a particular constituency in a legislature. The term member of parliament (MP) is an equivalen ...

, Carterville city clerk and postmaster *

Mark Gottfried Mark Frederick Gottfried (born January 20, 1964) is an American men's college basketball coach and former player who most recently served as head coach of the Cal State Northridge Matadors Gottfried played one season at Oral Roberts and three se ...

, college basketball coach * George Monroe McNeill, founder *

Rodney Watson Rodney Watson (born July 18, 1960) is an American basketball coach and the former head coach for the Southern Indiana Screaming Eagles men's basketball, University of Southern Indiana. Watson succeeded Rick Herdes, who resigned following a scandal ...

, college basketball coach

References

External links

Carterville Unit No. 5 Schools

John A. Logan College

Carterville, IL Library

Carterville Chamber of Commerce
{{authority control Cities in Williamson County, Illinois Populated places established in 1866 1866 establishments in Illinois Cities in Illinois