Winchester is a city in and 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 Scott County,

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

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. The population was 1,593 at the 2010 census. Winchester is part of the

Jacksonville Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...

Micropolitan Statistical Area.

Geography

Winchester is located at (39.630046, -90.455848). According to the 2010 census, Winchester 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 incl ...

of 2000, there were 1,650 people, 727 households, and 460 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 778 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 99.88%

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and 0.12% Native American.

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 0.18% of the population. There were 727 households, out of which 31.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.4% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between t ...

living together, 11.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.6% were non-families. 34.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 19.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.27 and the average family size was 2.92. In the city, the population was spread out, with 25.0% under the age of 18, 6.4% from 18 to 24, 25.5% from 25 to 44, 21.8% from 45 to 64, and 21.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females, there were 85.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 80.8 males. The median income for a household in the city was $30,938, and the median income for a family was $40,592. Males had a median income of $31,410 versus $20,000 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 city was $17,354. About 6.8% of families and 10.4% 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 12.0% of those under age 18 and 7.4% of those age 65 or over.

Notable people

Greene Vardiman Black Greene Vardiman Black (1836–1915) was one of the founders of modern dentistry in the United States. He is also known as the father of operative dentistry. Black was born near Winchester, Illinois on August 3, 1836 to William and Mary Bla ...

, the father of modern dentistry was born near Winchester. His descendants practiced medicine there through the 1960s. *

Stephen Douglas Stephen Arnold Douglas (April 23, 1813 – June 3, 1861) was an American politician and lawyer from Illinois. A senator, he was one of two nominees of the badly split Democratic Party for president in the 1860 presidential election, which was ...

moved to Winchester when he was 20 years old in 1833 to teach school. He had forty students who paid him $3 each per quarter. Douglas taught himself the law after school and soon left Winchester to work as a lawyer. *

George O'Donnell George Dana O'Donnell (May 27, 1929 – December 19, 2012) was a pitcher in Major League Baseball. He played one season with the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 1954 season. Overall, he played professional baseball for thirteen seasons, from 1949 throu ...

, pitcher 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 ...

; born in Winchester *

Clyde Summers Clyde Wilson Summers (November 21, 1918 – October 30, 2010) was an American lawyer and educator who is best known for his work in advocating more democratic procedures in labor unions. He helped write the Labor Management Reporting and Disclosu ...

, labor lawyer and law professor at the

Yale Law School Yale Law School (Yale Law or YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824 and has been ranked as the best law school in the United States by ''U ...

and

University of Pennsylvania Law School The University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School (also known as Penn Law or Penn Carey Law) is the law school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is among the most selective and olde ...

, subject of

In re Summers ''In re Summers'', 325 U.S. 561 (1945), is a 5-to-4 ruling by the United States Supreme Court which held that the First and Fourteenth amendment freedoms of a conscientious objector were not infringed when a state bar association declined to admi ...

Points of interest

References

{{authority control Cities in Scott County, Illinois Cities in Illinois County seats in Illinois Jacksonville, Illinois micropolitan area