Germantown Hills is a village in Woodford 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 ...

, approximately northeast of Peoria. Germantown Hills is the only incorporated community in Worth Township. As of the 2010

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 ...

, the village had a total population of 3,438.U.S. Census website 2
from the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...

Retrieved 2011-06-19 Largely an agricultural community until its incorporation in 1954, Germantown Hills is now a growing bedroom community in the

Peoria Metropolitan Area The Peoria Metropolitan Statistical Area, as defined by the United States Census Bureau, is an area consisting of six counties in Central Illinois, Central Illinois, anchored by the city of Peoria, Illinois, Peoria. As of the United States Census ...

History

Settlement of the area began as early as November 1831, when

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...

Rev. Zadock Hall began preaching in modern-day Worth Township. Soon after, an iron foundry was opened by settler Philip Klein. By 1837, a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

church was organized by

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

Catholics in the area. In 1850, William Hoshor built a

tavern A tavern is a place of business where people gather to drink alcoholic beverages and be served food such as different types of roast meats and cheese, and (mostly historically) where travelers would receive lodging. An inn is a tavern that h ...

and hotel named the Germantown House, for which the village would be named more than 100 years later. A steam sawmill was built in 1860, and in the 1890s, the Union House was erected as a tavern, grocery store, and saloon.History of Germantown Hills
" from the Village of Germantown Hills Retrieved 2011-06-21 The area remained almost completely agricultural until the incorporation of Oak Grove Park in 1954. The village's founders wished to use the name "Germantown" to reflect Hoshor's Germantown House and the area's large

-American representation, but the name was taken by a

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...

in southern

. Upon its incorporation, the population of Oak Grove Park was 182. In 1967, the name Oak Grove Park was dropped in favor of Germantown Hills. The village's population would rise steadily until the 1980 census, when the annexation of the Whispering Oaks subdivision brought the number to 524. Subsequent development and annexation brought the population to 1195 by 1990. Rampant development, fueled by

suburbanization Suburbanization is a population shift from central urban areas into suburbs, resulting in the formation of (sub)urban sprawl. As a consequence of the movement of households and businesses out of the city centers, low-density, peripheral urba ...

in the

, brought the population to its most-recent count of 3,438.

Geography

Germantown Hills is located at (40.771569, -89.461894). According to the 2010 census, Germantown Hills has a total area of , of which (or 97.2%) is land and (or 2.8%) is water. Illinois State Route 116, a four-lane divided highway, runs through the center of the village and connects it to Peoria, serving as the focal point for development and residences.

Demographics

As of the

of 2010, there were 3,438 people (up from about 2,100 recorded in the 2000 census), 1,175 households, and 975 families residing in the village. The population density was . There were 1,218 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the village was 96.0%

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 ...

, 0.5%

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 ...

, 1.8%

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 ...

, 0.3% from

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, and 1.3% representing 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 represented 1.8% of the population. There were 1,175 households, out of which 45.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 73.1% 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, 6.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 17.0% were non-families. 14.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 3.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.93 and the average family size was 3.26. In the village, the population was spread out, with 33.6% under the age of 20, 4.2% from 20 to 24, 26.9% from 25 to 44, 28.8% from 45 to 64, and 6.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35.8 years. For every 100 females, there were 100.4 males. For every 100 females age 20 and over, there were 95.9 males. According to the 2005-2009

American Community Survey The American Community Survey (ACS) is a demographics survey program conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. It regularly gathers information previously contained only in the long form of the decennial census, such as ancestry, citizenship, educati ...

,American FactFinder
" from the

Retrieved 2011-06-19 the median income for a household in the village was $99,196, and the median income for a family was $105,792. 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 $36,651. About 1.7% of families and 2.2% 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 3.6% of those under age 18 and 4.0% of those age 65 or over.

Education

* Germantown Hills School District 69 comprises two schools: ** Germantown Hills Elementary School is responsible for Kindergarten to Grade 2. In 2008, 314 students were enrolled. ** Germantown Hills Middle School educates students in Grades 3 through 8. The school's 2008 enrollment was 612 In 2008, GHMS was ranked 15 out of the 1357 middle schools in Illinois by results of the Illinois Standards Achievement Test (ISAT). * Metamora Township High School District 122 encompasses Germantown Hills, responsible for Grades 9 through 12. The village's

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

students attend

Metamora Township High School Metamora Township High School (often referred to as MTHS) is a public high school located in Metamora, Illinois, United States, with an enrollment of approximately 1,000 students. The school's athletic teams compete in the Mid-Illini Conference.< ...

in neighboring Metamora.

References

External links

Village of Germantown Hills public Website

Village of Germantown Hills Government Website
{{authority control Villages in Illinois Villages in Woodford County, Illinois Peoria metropolitan area, Illinois Populated places established in 1831