Louisville is a village in Clay County, Illinois, United States, along the

Little Wabash River :''Note: The Little River of northeastern Indiana is also sometimes known as the Little Wabash River.'' The Little Wabash River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed Ma ...

. The population was 1,136 at the 2020 census. It is the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...

of Clay County. The proper pronunciation of "Louisville" in the local dialect of mid-southern American is "Loose-vil" and is phonetically distinct from the southern American pronunciation of "lou-vle"

History

The village was named for the Lewis family of settlers.

Grand Army of the Republic

The

Grand Army of the Republic The Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) was a fraternal organization composed of veterans of the Union Army (United States Army), Union Navy (U.S. Navy), and the Marines who served in the American Civil War. It was founded in 1866 in Decatur, Il ...

had a post known as the Louisville Post, No. 249 with the post name of William J. Stephenson. The post received its charter May 18, 1883.

Geography

Louisville is located near the center of Clay County at (38.771356, -88.506301). U.S. Route 45 passes through the village, leading north to Effingham and south to

Flora Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous) native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms '' gut flora'' or '' skin flora''. E ...

. According to the 2021 census gazetteer files, Louisville has a total area of , all land. The

flows past the east side of the village.

Demographics

As of the 2020 census there were 1,136 people, 527 households, and 252 families residing in the village. The population density was . There were 486 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the village was 93.22%

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 ...

, 0.18%

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 ...

, 0.18% Native American, 0.18%

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 ...

, 2.38% from other races, and 3.87% 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 3.26% of the population. There were 527 households, out of which 31.12% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 35.86% were married couples living together, 11.95% had a female householder with no husband present, and 52.18% were non-families. 47.82% of all households were made up of individuals, and 26.94% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.63 and the average family size was 1.96. The village's age distribution consisted of 18.5% under the age of 18, 3.7% from 18 to 24, 27.9% from 25 to 44, 24.5% from 45 to 64, and 25.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 44.8 years. For every 100 females, there were 109.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.2 males. The median income for a household in the village was $35,298, and the median income for a family was $48,750. Males had a median income of $38,507 versus $22,109 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 $23,773. About 17.5% of families and 21.0% 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 27.5% of those under age 18 and 6.1% of those age 65 or over.

Notable people

Bailey Zimmerman Bailey Zimmerman (born January 27, 2000) is an American country music artist. In 2022, he charted the singles " Fall in Love" and "Rock and a Hard Place". Early life Zimmerman was born in Louisville, Illinois. Prior to making music, he worked in ...

, country artist * Tom Richardson, pinch hitter for the

St. Louis Browns The St. Louis Browns were a Major League Baseball team that originated in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as the Milwaukee Brewers. A charter member of the American League (AL), the Brewers moved to St. Louis, Missouri, after the 1901 season, where they ...

; born in Louisville *

John Riley Tanner John Riley Tanner (April 4, 1844 – May 23, 1901) was the 21st Governor of Illinois, from 1897 until 1901. Tanner was the first governor in the country to be openly neutral in labor disputes, gaining national notoriety for his actions in a s ...

, governor of Illinois January 11, 1897 – January 14, 1901; home and farm in Louisville * Andy Haines Hitting Coach for the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

References

External links

Village of Louisville official website
{{authority control Villages in Clay County, Illinois Villages in Illinois County seats in Illinois