Palmyra is a village in Macoupin County,

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...

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. The population was 698 at the 2010 census.

History

The first home in the Palmyra area was a log cabin built in 1835 by William Owens. The town originally was named Newburg, then changed to Cummington and finally was platted as Palmyra in 1855. Palmyra High School was established in 1892. It closed in 1948 as it combined with three other small towns.

Landmarks

Palmyra Opera House

In November 1902, Clarence Grimett bought a half interest in land and a building at the corner of Main and State streets in Palmyra, Illinois, where Joseph Waters later joined him in operating a general store. In about 1905, they built a basement oven, hired a baker, and began selling baked goods. After they opened a second-floor theater for presentation of plays and touring performers, the entire establishment became known as the Palmyra Opera House. After a long history as the center of town activity and many years of ownership by Joyce and Rosco Bettis, the Palmyra Opera House was re-opened as a restaurant in November 1999 by Rick Creasy.

Palmyra Castle

Palmyra Castle is a 9,000 square foot residence in a park-like setting of 40 acres, designed to resemble a German castle.

Geography

Palmyra is located at (39.433980, -89.995424). According to the 2010 census, Palmyra has a total area of , all land.

Demographics

As of the

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 in ...

of 2000, there were 733 people, 334 households, and 223 families residing in the village. The population density was . There were 361 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the village was 98.77%

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 o ...

, 0.41%

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 ...

, 0.41% Native American, 0.14%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of O ...

, and 0.27% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, 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 viceroyalties forme ...

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 0.55% of the population. There were 334 households, of which 23.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.9% were married couples living together, 11.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.2% were non-families. 28.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 18.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.19 and the average family size was 2.63. In the village, the population was spread out, with 20.1% under the age of 18, 7.8% from 18 to 24, 24.0% from 25 to 44, 25.0% from 45 to 64, and 23.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 44 years. For every 100 females, there were 91.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.2 males. The median income for a household in the village was $27,188, and the median income for a family was $36,250. Males had a median income of $29,583 versus $18,667 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 $14,801. About 10.1% of families and 14.7% 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 t ...

, including 19.1% of those under age 18 and 12.1% of those age 65 or over.

Notable people

Richard Grace Colonel Richard Grace (–1691) was an Irish Royalist soldier who fought for Charles I, Charles II and James II. He served in the Royalist Army in Exile during the 1650s. Biography Grace, the younger son of Robert Grace, feudal baron of ...

, justice of the North Dakota Supreme Court * Joe McManus, pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds * Earle Benjamin Searcy, Illinois state legislator

References

External links

* {{authority control Villages in Macoupin County, Illinois Villages in Illinois