Chemung, elevation , is an unincorporated

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...

in McHenry 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 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 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. Per the 2020 census, the population was 276.

History

A post office called Chemung was established in 1845, and remained in operation until it was discontinued in 1943. The name Chemung is comes from the word in the

Seneca language Seneca (; in Seneca, , or ) is the language of the Seneca people, one of the Six Nations of the (Iroquois League); it is an Iroquoian language, spoken at the time of contact in the western part of New York. While the name ''Seneca'', attested ...

meaning "big horn" after a large horned fossil was discovered in a nearby river.

Geography

The small, unincorporated town is located approximately 3.14 miles west of downtown

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...

at the junction of

Illinois Route 173 Illinois Route 173 (IL 173) is a east–west state highway that runs from Illinois Route 251 in the Rockford suburb of Machesney Park east to Illinois Route 137 (Sheridan Road) in Zion near the Illinois-Wisconsin border. Illinois Rou ...

, Oak Grove Road (County Highway A-20) and Island Road (the continuation of Oak Grove Road south of Route 173). The town straddles the boundary shared by Chemung Township and Dunham Township. In terms of geographic coordinates, Chemung is located at (42.4152964, -88.6667668) In terms of the

Public Land Survey System The Public Land Survey System (PLSS) is the surveying method developed and used in the United States to plat, or divide, real property for sale and settling. Also known as the Rectangular Survey System, it was created by the Land Ordinance of 17 ...

, Chemung is found in Sections 4 and 5, Township 45 North, Range 5 East; and Sections 32 and 33, Township 46 North, Range 5 East of the Third Principal Meridian. Piscasaw Creek flows along the west side of Chemung in a generally northeast to southwest direction, and a freight branch line of the

Union Pacific Railroad The Union Pacific Railroad is a Railroad classes, Class I freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Pacific is the second largest railroad in the United Stat ...

traverses the town in an east-northeast to west-southwest direction.McHenry County Department of Planning and Development
''McHenry County Base Map''
, 2009-06
McHenry County Division of Transportation
, ''Official Highway Map'', 2008. Chemung is served by the Harvard post office. Chemung has an area of , all land.

Demographics

Chemung first appeared as a

census designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...

in the 2010 U.S. Census.

2020 census

References

{{authority control Census-designated places in Illinois Census-designated places in McHenry County, Illinois Chicago metropolitan area

History

Geography

Demographics

2020 census

See also

References