Sesser is a city in Franklin 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 ...

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. The population was 1,888 at the 2020 census. The current mayor is C. Jason Ashmore.

History

In summer 1904, when coal was discovered at today's Sesser, the area was a prairie covered with wheat and corn fields. By 1906, the

Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad The Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad was a railroad that operated in the Midwest, Midwestern United States. Commonly referred to as the Burlington Route, the Burlington, CB&Q, or as the Q, it operated extensive trackage in the states of ...

had extended its lines south from Centralia to Sesser, and the new town was named after railroad surveyor John Sesser. The first mine in Sesser, the Keller Mine, was sunk in 1905–1906. In 1906, Sesser was incorporated as a village. It re-incorporated as a city in 1909. Old Ben Coal Mine No. 16, also called Sesser Mine, operated from 1905 to 1923. Subsidence resulting from longwall mining at the Old Ben No. 21 mine, by Old Ben Coal Company, was a concern for some local homeowners in the 1980s. The No. 21 mine, opened in 1952, was idled in 1991. The Sesser Opera House, built in 1914, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Geography

Sesser is located at (38.091251, -89.050608). According to the 2021 census gazetteer files, Sesser has a total area of , of which (or 99.90%) is land and (or 0.10%) is water.

Demographics

As of the 2020 census there were 1,888 people, 689 households, and 485 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 932 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 93.59%

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 ...

, 0.32%

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 ...

, 0.11% Native American, 0.00% Asian, 0.00%

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 ...

, 0.79% from other races, and 5.19% 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 2.60% of the population. There were 689 households, out of which 34.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.81% were married couples living together, 10.30% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.61% were non-families. 25.98% of all households were made up of individuals, and 16.55% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.95 and the average family size was 2.47. The city's age distribution consisted of 25.1% under the age of 18, 7.6% from 18 to 24, 24.8% from 25 to 44, 25.3% from 45 to 64, and 17.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40.8 years. For every 100 females, there were 113.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 104.5 males. The median income for a household in the city was $54,375, and the median income for a family was $66,875. Males had a median income of $42,917 versus $32,875 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 city was $24,785. About 4.7% of families and 5.8% 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 6.9% of those under age 18 and 6.8% of those age 65 or over.

References

External links

Sesser, Illinois
{{authority control Cities in Franklin County, Illinois Populated places in Southern Illinois Cities in Illinois