Alvin is a village in South Ross Township, Vermilion 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 ...

, United States. It is part of the

Danville, Illinois Danville is a city in Vermilion County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. The populations was 29,204 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Danville micropolitan area. History The area that is now Danville was on ...

Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 316 at the 2000 census. The U.S. Post Office uses the name Alvin, however the village is also known by the alternate spelling Alvan (for example, by the U.S. Census Bureau).

History

A settlement was founded in 1872 about a mile south of present-day Alvan, along the

Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad The Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad was a Class I railroad that linked Chicago, Illinois, Chicago to southern Illinois, St. Louis, Missouri, St. Louis, and Evansville, Indiana, Evansville. Founded in 1877, it grew aggressively and staye ...

, and was called Gilbert in honor of the founder, Alvan Gilbert. In 1875, the new Havana, Rantoul and Eastern Railroad (which became the

Illinois Central Railroad The Illinois Central Railroad , sometimes called the Main Line of Mid-America, is a railroad in the Central United States. Its primary routes connected Chicago, Illinois, with New Orleans, New Orleans, Louisiana, and Mobile, Alabama, and thus, ...

) crossed the C&EI north of Gilbert, and the town of Alvan was founded at the intersection. Tradition says that the town's name became Alvin (with an "i" instead of an "a") because the post office misspelled it and refused to correct the error. On March 16, 1942, a tornado struck Alvan and caused much destruction, killing six people. A marker in the town commemorates the tragic event and reads as follows:

Alvin Tornado
Monday, March 16, 1942
11:40 AM
Killed
Billy Smith - Henry O'Farrell
Ruth Viles - George Johnson
Odessa Scott - Goldie Hoover
Donated by
Mel Schriefer
2004
A.E. Hoskins

Geography

Alvan is located on County Road 3 approximately 3.6 miles north of Bismarck and 12 miles north of Danville. The North Fork of the Vermilion River flows past the west side of the community.''Illinois Atlas & Gazetteer'', DeLorme, 6th ed. 2010, p. 55 According to the 2010 census, Alvin has a total area of , all land.

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 316 people, 106 households, and 85 families residing in the village. The population density was . There were 115 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the village was 97.78%

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 ...

, 1.58% Native American, 0.32% Asian, and 0.32% 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 0.63% of the population. There were 106 households, out of which 49.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.4% 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, 14.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 19.8% were non-families. 19.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.98 and the average family size was 3.35. In the village, the population was spread out, with 34.5% under the age of 18, 7.6% from 18 to 24, 29.7% from 25 to 44, 19.6% from 45 to 64, and 8.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 30 years. For every 100 females, there were 92.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.9 males. The median income for a household in the village was $36,000, and the median income for a family was $38,333. Males had a median income of $30,278 versus $18,194 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 $13,773. About 7.0% of families and 8.2% 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 8.2% of those under age 18 and 31.6% of those age 65 or over.

References

External links

{{authority control Villages in Vermilion County, Illinois Populated places established in 1875 1875 establishments in Illinois Villages in Illinois