Bear Creek Township is one of twenty-four

townships A township is a form of human settlement or administrative subdivision. Its exact definition varies among countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, this tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Canad ...

in Hancock 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 ...

USA The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

. As of the 2020 census, its population was 340 and it contained 153 housing units.

Vineyard History

In the 1860s and 1870s, the grapes grown in Bear Creek at the vineyard of Gabriel Morlot were well known in the state. They won first place at the 17th Annual

Illinois State Fair The Illinois State Fair is an annual festival, centering on the theme of agriculture, hosted by the U.S. state of Illinois in the state capital, Springfield, Illinois, Springfield. The state fair has been celebrated almost every year since 18 ...

in 1869 in the categories of "Best Two Bottles of

Catawba Catawba may refer to: *Catawba people, a Native American tribe in the Carolinas *Catawba language, a language in the Catawban languages family *Catawban languages Botany *Catalpa, a genus of trees, based on the name used by the Catawba and other ...

, Product of this State", "Best Two Bottles of Clinton, Product of this State", and "Best Two Bottles of

Concord Concord may refer to: Meaning "agreement" * Harmony, in music * Agreement (linguistics), a change in the form of a word depending on grammatical features of other words Arts and media * ''Concord'' (video game), a defunct 2024 first-person sh ...

, Product of this State", earning three silver medals.

Geography

According to the 2021 census gazetteer files, Bear Creek Township has a total area of , of which (or 99.83%) is land and (or 0.17%) is water.

Cities, towns, villages

* Basco

Cemeteries

The township contains these four cemeteries: Bethel, Graham, South Basco and West Basco. Cozart Cemetery is located south of Elvastan in the middle of a field now farmed by the Geissler Brothers. This cemetery is timed in the 19th century and is also the resting place for Alexander K. Patterson, one of four war veterans buried in Handcock

Demographics

As of the 2020 census there were 340 people, 124 households, and 85 families residing in the township. The population density was . There were 153 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the township was 97.06%

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 ...

, 0.00%

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 ...

, 0.00% 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 ...

, 0.00% from other races, and 2.94% from two or more races.

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or Latino of any race were 1.18% of the population. There were 124 households, out of which 21.00% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 62.90% were married couples living together, 4.03% had a female householder with no spouse present, and 31.45% were non-families. 29.80% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.70% 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 2.68. The township's age distribution consisted of 22.1% under the age of 18, 0.0% from 18 to 24, 19.8% from 25 to 44, 26.4% from 45 to 64, and 31.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 53.7 years. For every 100 females, there were 123.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 130.4 males. The median income for a household in the township was $55,625, and the median income for a family was $56,406. Males had a median income of $37,917 versus $31,875 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 township was $27,624. About 3.5% of families and 5.1% 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 11.7% of those under age 18 and none of those age 65 or over.

School districts

* Hamilton Community Consolidated School District 328 * Southeastern Community Unit School District 337 * Warsaw Community Unit School District 316

Political districts

Illinois's 18th congressional district The 18th congressional district of Illinois covered central and western Illinois, including all of Jacksonville, Illinois, Jacksonville and Quincy, Illinois, Quincy and parts of Bloomington, Illinois, Bloomington, Peoria, Illinois, Peoria, and ...

* State House District 94 * State Senate District 47

References

United States Census Bureau 2008 TIGER/Line Shapefiles
*
United States National Atlas

External links

Township Officials of Illinois
{{authority control Townships in Hancock County, Illinois Townships in Illinois