Aledo is a
city
A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...
and the
county seat
A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...
of
Mercer County, Illinois
Mercer County is a county in Illinois. According to the 2020 census, it had a population of 15,699. Its county seat is Aledo. Mercer County is included in the Davenport- Moline- Rock Island, IA-IL Metropolitan Statistical Area.
History
Mer ...
, United States. The population was 3,633 at the
2020 census.
History
Aledo was established in the 1850s when the railroad was extended to that point. It was briefly named "DeSoto", after
Hernando de Soto
Hernando de Soto (; ; 1497 – 21 May 1542) was a Spanish explorer and conquistador who was involved in expeditions in Nicaragua and the Yucatan Peninsula. He played an important role in Francisco Pizarro's conquest of the Inca Empire in Peru, ...
, until the discovery of
an identically named village in
Jackson County. Development began in the 1850s, and the oldest surviving buildings date from the following decade.
A post office has been in operation at Aledo since September 24, 1856. In 1857, the county seat was moved to Aledo from
Millersburg after a countywide referendum. Aledo was incorporated on August 15, 1863. In the 1950s, the first
Tastee-Freez
Tastee-Freez is an American franchising, franchised fast-food restaurant specializing in soft serve ice cream. Its corporate headquarters is in Newport Beach, California, and the chain has stores in four states. The first Tastee-Freez was establi ...
in the United States was built in the downtown.
The
Downtown Aledo Historic District was established in 2016, with 75 contributing historic buildings in the downtown area.
Geography
Aledo is located in central Mercer County.
Illinois Route 17
Illinois Route 17 (IL 17) is a rural, arterial east–west state highway that runs east from a former ferry crossing in New Boston, Illinois, New Boston along the banks of the Mississippi RiverIllinois Highway EndsIllinois 17. Retrieved Apri ...
passes through the city center on Third Street, leading east to
Viola
The viola ( , () ) is a string instrument of the violin family, and is usually bowed when played. Violas are slightly larger than violins, and have a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of the ...
and west to
New Boston on the
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...
.
Illinois Route 94
Illinois Route 94 is a north–south state highway in western Illinois. It runs from U.S. Route 24 (US 24) just east of Camp Point to U.S. Route 67 just south of Oak Grove, just south of the Quad Cities area. This is a distance of . ...
follows IL 17 along Southeast Third Street turns south at the city center onto South College Avenue. IL 94 leads south-southwest to
Biggsville and northeast to
U.S. Route 67
U.S. Route 67 is a major north–south U.S. highway which extends for 1,560 miles (2,511 km) in the Central United States. The southern terminus of the route is at the United States-Mexico border in Presidio, Texas, where it continues ...
on the southern outskirts of the
Quad Cities
The Quad Cities is a region of five cities (originally Tri-Cities, later four, see #History, History) in the U.S. states of Iowa and Illinois: Davenport, Iowa, Davenport and Bettendorf, Iowa, Bettendorf (the fifth to be included) in southeaster ...
.
According to the
U.S. Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The U.S. Census Bureau is part of the U ...
, Aledo has a total area of , of which , or 0.51%, are water.
The city sits on high ground that drains north to the
Edwards River, a westward-flowing direct tributary of the Mississippi, and south to Pike Run, a tributary of Pope Creek, which flows to the Mississippi at
Keithsburg.
Climate
Demographics
At the 2010
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 ...
,
there were 3,640 people, 1,568 households and 947 families residing in the city. The racial make-up of the city was 98.5% (3,586)
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 ...
, 0.6% (22)
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 ...
, 0.0% (1)
Native American, 0.3% (12)
Asian, 0.1% (4) from
other races and 0.4% (15) 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 1.2% (45) of the population.
There were 1,568 households, of which 24.5% had children under the age of 18 living in them, 49.0% 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, 3.6% had a male householder with no wife present, 7.8% had a female householder with no husband present and 39.6% were non-families. 35.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 20.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.20 and the average family size was 2.84.
The male population made up 47.5% (1,728), the female population made up 52.5% (1,912). 6.3% (229) of the population were under 5 years, 17.1% (622) from 5 to 19 years, 10.3% (374) from 20 to 29 years, 10.2% (368) from 30 to 39, 12.5% (453) from 40 to 49, 12.9% (472) from 50 to 59;, 12.1% (441) from 60 to 69, 8.2% (296) from 70 to 79 and 10.6% (385) were 80 years and over. The median age was 45.8 years.
The 2009-2013 American Community Survey estimated the
median household income
The median income is the income amount that divides a population into two groups, half having an income above that amount, and half having an income below that amount. It may differ from the mean (or average) income. Both of these are ways of und ...
in 2013 to be $39,424 and the median family income to be $56,546. Full-time, year-round male workers were estimated to have a median income of $44,435 and females $30,357. 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 ...
was $21,373. About 15.0% of families and 18.4% of the population were estimated to be 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 22.1% of those under age 18 and 11.7% of those age 65 or over.
The American Community Survey estimated that in 2013 there were 1,740 civilians 16 years and over employed. Of those, 33.7% were estimated to be employed in educational services, health care or social assistance, 14.3% in manufacturing, 10.0% in construction, 8.4% in retail trade, 6.8% in professional, scientific, management, administrative or waste management services, 6.1% in finance, insurance, real estate, rental and leasing, 4.8% in arts, entertainment, recreation, accommodation or food services and the remaining 15.9% in other trades, including agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting, mining, wholesale trade, transportation and warehousing, utilities, information, public administration and other services.
Notable people
*
Gertrude Abercrombie, surrealist painter
*
Suzy Bogguss
Susan Kay Bogguss (born December 30, 1956) is an American country music singer and songwriter. She began her career in the 1980s as a solo singer. In the 1990s, six of her songs were Top 10 hits, three albums were certified gold, and one album ...
, country and western singer
*
Oscar E. Carlstrom
Oscar E. Carlstrom (July 16, 1878 – March 6, 1948) was an American lawyer.
Early life
Carlstrom was born on a farm near Aledo, Illinois and graduated from New Boston High School.McCann, B. H. (editor). Delegates' Manual of the Fifth Const ...
, Illinois attorney general
*
Herschel L. Carnahan, 30th lieutenant governor of California
*
Dora Doxey
Loren Doxey (October 20, 1858 – June 19, 1912) and Dora Doxey (March 17, 1879 – 1921) were a husband and wife who were charged with murder in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1909, accused of killing a man whom Dora had married in a Bigamy, bigamous rel ...
, tried for murder in 1910 and found not guilty
*
Peaches Graham, Major League Baseball catcher
*
Doris Emrick Lee, artist
*
Frank Lewis Marsh
Frank Lewis Marsh (18 October 1899, Aledo, Illinois – 14 July 1992) was an American Seventh-Day Adventist biologist, educator and young Earth creationist. In 1963 he was one of the ten founding members of the Creation Research Society.
...
, educator and creationist
*
Dewey McDougal
James H. "Dewey" McDougal (September 19, 1871 – April 28, 1935), was a professional baseball player who was a pitcher in the Major Leagues from – for the St. Louis Browns.
McDougal was born in Aledo, Illinois and died in Galesburg, Illinoi ...
, Major League Baseball pitcher
*
Margo Price
Margo Rae Price (born April 15, 1983) is an American country singer-songwriter, producer, and author based in Nashville. ''The Fader'' called her "country's next star." Her debut solo album '' Midwest Farmer's Daughter'' was released on Third Ma ...
, country singer-songwriter
*
Guy C. Scott, chief justice of the Illinois Supreme Court and mayor of Aledo
*
Judson Welliver, presidential speech writer
Education
Aledo was the home to
William & Vashti College
William & Vashti College was a college in Aledo, Illinois from 1908 to 1918.
The school was founded by William Drury, a long time resident of Mercer County, and was named by him in his will as William and Vashti College to commemorate the memor ...
(1908–1917) — the campus/buildings were purchased and used by the Roosevelt Military Academy from 1924 to 1973. The Administration Building was torn down, and the spot was used to construct an assisted living facility. The remaining two buildings (Niles Hall and North Hall) are unused. William & Vashti College was a member of the
Illinois Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
The Interstate Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) was a college athletic conference that existed from 1908 to 1970 in the United States.
At one time the Illinois Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, or IIAC, was a robust league that cla ...
from 1910 to 1917.
The High School Mascot used to be the Aledo Green Dragons. School colors were
Forest Green
Forest green is a green color said to resemble the color of the trees and other plants in a forest.
This web color, when written as computer code in HTML for website color display, is written in the form forestgreen (no space).
The first reco ...
and
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 ...
. The Class of 2006 had 71 students, which is about an average class size.
Mercer County High School offers a variety of course curriculum in the sciences, math, literature, social sciences, and the arts. The school has a
concert band
A concert band, also called a wind band, wind ensemble, wind symphony, wind orchestra, symphonic band, the symphonic winds, or symphonic wind ensemble, is a performing ensemble consisting of members of the woodwind instrument, woodwind, brass ...
,
jazz band
A jazz band (jazz ensemble or jazz combo) is a musical ensemble that plays jazz music. Jazz bands vary in the quantity of its members and the style of jazz that they play but it is common to find a jazz band made up of a rhythm section and a ho ...
,
marching band
A marching band is a group of instrumental musicians who play while marching. Historically they were used in armed forces and many marching bands remain military bands. Others are still associated with military units or emulate a military sty ...
,
concert choir
A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...
, and
swing choir.
The school also offers a variety of athletics including
volleyball
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...
,
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
, both men and women's
golf
Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible.
Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...
, men and women's
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...
,
wrestling
Wrestling is a martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling involves di ...
,
track and field
Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...
,
softball
Softball is a Variations of baseball, variation of baseball, the difference being that it is played with a larger ball, on a smaller field, and with only underhand pitches (where the ball is released while the hand is primarily below the ball) ...
,
baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...
, and
cross country. Some extracurricular activities that students can become involved in are
scholastic bowl
Quiz bowl (quizbowl, scholars' bowl, scholastic bowl, academic bowl, academic team, academic challenge, etc.) is a family of quiz-based competitions that test players on a wide variety of academic subjects. Standardized quiz bowl formats are pl ...
, football, basketball,
pom poms
Pom or POM may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* Pom (comics) (1919–2014), a Belgian comic strip writer and artist
* Baby Pom, a fictional character in the British television programme ''Fimbles''
* Pom, a character in the video game ''Them's F ...
,
cheerleading
Cheerleading is an activity in which the participants (called cheerleaders) cheer for their team as a form of encouragement. It can range from chanting slogans to intense Physical exercise, physical activity. It can be performed to motivate s ...
,
flags
A flag is a piece of fabric (most often rectangular) with distinctive colours and design. It is used as a symbol, a signalling device, or for decoration. The term ''flag'' is also used to refer to the graphic design employed, and flags have ...
,
majorettes, and
musicals
Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movement ...
.
From 1915 to 2009,
Aledo High School competed in boys football. They qualified for the state tournament on 17 occasions since the tournament began in 1974. From 1998 to 2006, Aledo High School has reached the finals of five
IHSA boys' football championship tournaments. Of those five, the school won three times.
Aledo School District #201 and Westmer School District #203 have consolidated since the 2009–2010 school year.
The consolidation was voted upon by both school boards and was on the ballot for the 2008 election. The measure passed by a 76% margin.
The new consolidated district is Mercer County District #404 and the new mascot adopted by popular vote in early 2009 is the Mercer County
Golden Eagles
The golden eagle (''Aquila chrysaetos'') is a bird of prey living in the Northern Hemisphere. It is the most widely distributed species of eagle. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae. They are one of the best-known birds of p ...
. School colors changed to
navy blue
Navy blue is a dark shade of the color blue.
Navy blue got its name from the dark blue (contrasted with naval white) worn by officers in the Royal Navy since 1748 and subsequently adopted by other navies around the world. When this color name, ...
and
vegas gold. The Class of 2010 had over 120 students, well above the usual average.
Culture and media
Aledo hosts two annual festivals, the Rhubarb Fest and Antique Days. The Rhubarb Festival, which is held every June in the city downtown, offers a variety of
rhubarb
Rhubarb is the fleshy, edible stalks ( petioles) of species and hybrids (culinary rhubarb) of ''Rheum'' in the family Polygonaceae, which are cooked and used for food. The plant is a herbaceous perennial that grows from short, thick rhizomes. ...
-related activities, ranging from
rhubarb pie
Rhubarb pie is a pie with a rhubarb filling.
United Kingdom
Rhubarb pie is popular in the United Kingdom, where rhubarb has been cultivated since the 1600s, and the leaf stalks eaten since the 1700s. Besides diced rhubarb, it usually contains ...
sales to free rhubarb seed distributions. The festival additionally offers other crafts and forms of entertainment and music; it has been undertaken every year since 1991. The city of Aledo's Antique Days festivals likewise occur annually in the month of September, and includes a citywide food festival, music from local residents and the high school music departments, and sports competitions among communities in the area.
Aledo has its own radio station,
WRMJ-FM. WRMJ features country music along with live sports, local news and local programming. It broadcasts on a frequency of 102.3 MHz from a tower west of Aledo. The radio station serves most of
Mercer County, and was founded in 1979. Mercer County's weekly newspaper, The ''Times Record'', is based in Aledo and is owned by
Gannett
Gannett Co., Inc. ( ) is an American mass media holding company headquartered in New York City. It is the largest U.S. newspaper publisher as measured by total daily circulation.
It owns the national newspaper ''USA Today'', as well as several ...
.
''
National Communications Magazine'', a publication for radio hobbyists, moved its operations from Ohio to Aledo in 2014 after being acquired by a local resident.
References
External links
*
{{authority control
Cities in Illinois
Cities in Mercer County, Illinois
County seats in Illinois