Mount Morris is a village in Mount Morris Township, Ogle County,

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. 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

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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

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. 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%

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, 0.17%

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, 0.20% Native American, 0.43% Asian, 0.13%

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, 1.00% from other races, and 0.93% from two or more races.

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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

References

External links

Description of Mount Morris

Mt. Morris Public Library

Mt. Morris Fire Protection District
{{authority control Villages in Ogle County, Illinois Rockford metropolitan area, Illinois Villages in Illinois