Galatia is a village in Saline County,

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 west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

, in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. As of the 2010 census, the village population was 933.

History

Galatia is named for

Albert Gallatin Abraham Alfonse Albert Gallatin (January 29, 1761 – August 12, 1849) was a Genevan-American politician, diplomat, ethnologist, and linguist. Often described as "America's Swiss Founding Father", he was a leading figure in the early years ...

. The village was established as a tobacco farming hub in the mid-1800s. Tobacco grown in the area was hauled to Shawneetown to be shipped along the

Ohio River The Ohio River () is a river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing in a southwesterly direction from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to its river mouth, mouth on the Mississippi Riv ...

. Two coal mines opened near Galatia in the early 1900s, the Harco Mine and the Galatia Colliers Mine.

Geography

Galatia is located at (37.840409, -88.610815). According to the 2010 census, Galatia has a total area of , of which (or 98.53%) is land and (or 1.47%) is water. There are

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal i ...

mines in the vicinity of Galatia which have been used for

climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...

studies.

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 2010, there were 933 people, 420 households, and 262 families residing in the village. The population density was . There were 455 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the village was 98.12%

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 ...

, 0.10%

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 ...

, 0.49% Native American, 0.20% from other races, and 1.09% 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 0.89% of the population. There were 420 households, out of which 26.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.5% 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, 10.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 37.4% were non-families. 35.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 21.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.26 and the average family size was 2.95. In the village, the population was spread out, with 21.0% under the age of 18, 10.7% from 18 to 24, 21.1% from 25 to 44, 20.6% from 45 to 64, and 26.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43 years. For every 100 females, there were 75.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 74.7 males. The median income for a household in the village was $23,750, and the median income for a family was $30,833. Males had a median income of $25,956 versus $16,154 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 village was $12,810. About 12.9% of families and 16.7% 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 ...

, including 25.1% of those under age 18 and 14.1% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Galatia School District is one of four in Saline County. The other three school districts are Eldorado, Harrisburg, and Carrier Mills.

Notable people

* James D. Fowler, law enforcement officer and state legislator, was born in Galatia.'Illinois Blue Book 2001-2002,' Biographical Sketch of Jim Fowler, pg. 130

References

{{authority control Villages in Saline County, Illinois Villages in Illinois