Mount Morris is a village in
Mount Morris Township,
Ogle 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 ...
,
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 ...
. The population was 2,998 at the 2010 census, down from 3,013 in 2000.
Geography
Mount Morris is located at (42.047614, -89.433972).
According to the 2010 census, Mount Morris has a total area of , all land.
The village is crossed from east to west by
Illinois Route 64
Illinois Route 64 (IL 64, Illinois 64) is an east–west state highway in Northern Illinois. Its western terminus is at the Iowa state line, connecting with U.S. Route 52 in Illinois, U.S. Route 52 (US 52) and Iowa Highway 64 via th ...
. Route 64 continues eastward to
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 ...
and westward into
Iowa
Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...
, where it keeps its numeric designation.
History
Mt. Morris is home of the
Illinois Freedom Bell, which is located in the town square. The area that is now the town square used to be the campus of one of Illinois' first institutes of higher learning,
Mount Morris College. It was first a Methodist school and was later affiliated with the
Church of the Brethren
The Church of the Brethren is an Anabaptist Christian denomination in the Schwarzenau Brethren tradition ( "Schwarzenau New Baptists") that was organized in 1708 by Alexander Mack in Schwarzenau, Germany during the Radical Pietist revival. ...
. The college closed due to hard economic times. The village's old Junior High School, while undergoing demolition, caught fire and burned forcing the school district to be merged with the Oregon School District in 1993. On February 12, 2004, the Rahn Elementary School was lost to fire. This resulted in the reorganization of the Oregon School District. The former Oregon city elementary and middle schools were merged into a single elementary school. The Mt. Morris Highschool has since been used as the middle school for the district. The town is also home of a very large group of
lustron homes in IL. These can be located on First street (5 houses), Hannah avenue (3 houses), and Sunset lane (5 houses). The town has a total of 18 lustrons. The houses were built here to meet a shortage of housing for a local printing company.
Recreation
Parks include Dillehay Park, Mounder Park, and Zickuhr Park. Dillehay Park is located in the southeast portion of the village. Zickuhr Park is located in the western part of town, and has one softball diamond, basketball courts, and an array of playground equipment. Mounder Park houses a skating park, a pavilion, and the playground equipment that was donated and relocated by the school after the Rahn Elementary School fire.
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 3,013 people, 1,259 households, and 810 families residing in the village. The population density was . There were 1,337 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the village was 97.15%
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 ...
, 0.17%
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 ...
, 0.20%
Native American, 0.43%
Asian, 0.13%
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 ...
, 1.00% from
other races, and 0.93% 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 2.75% of the population.
There were 1,259 households, out of which 29.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.8% 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, 10.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.6% were non-families. 32.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.28 and the average family size was 2.86.
In the village, the population was spread out, with 23.8% under the age of 18, 7.3% from 18 to 24, 26.5% from 25 to 44, 19.9% from 45 to 64, and 22.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females, there were 90.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.0 males.
The median income for a household in the village was $41,333, and the median income for a family was $51,019. Males had a median income of $39,323 versus $20,840 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 $20,326. About 6.0% of families and 6.9% 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 13.2% of those under age 18 and 5.9% of those age 65 or over.
Notable people
*
Akiane Kramarik, painter; born in Mount Morris
*
Henry C. Newcomer, U.S. Army brigadier general, raised in Mount Morris
*
Nels Potter, pitcher for five
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...
teams; born in Mount Morris
*
Nelson Thomas Potter, Jr., university professor and scholar
* Ralph Waldo Trine, educator and philosopher
*
W. H. L. Wallace, Civil War general; lived in Mount Morris
*
Elaine A. (Roe) Pieper,
U.S. Army Second lieutenant, and one of four Army Nurses to receive the Silver Star in World War II. Resided in Mount Morris
See also
*
Samuel M. Hitt House
*
White Pines Forest State Park
*
White Pines State Park Lodge and Cabins
References
External links
Description of Mount MorrisMt. Morris Public LibraryMt. Morris Fire Protection District
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Villages in Ogle County, Illinois
Rockford metropolitan area, Illinois
Villages in Illinois