Eliza is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

and

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 Eliza Township, Mercer County, Illinois, United States. Eliza is north of New Boston. As of the 2020 census it had a population of 25.

History

The Bishop family settled the town around the 1840s. The grandson John Bishop owned almost all of the town, including his own

general store A general merchant store (also known as general merchandise store, general dealer, village shop, or country store) is a rural or small-town store that carries a general line of merchandise. It carries a broad selection of merchandise, someti ...

. He had been manager of the town band since 1914. The town also had a basketball team. Their church was named the Eliza Episcopal Church. By the late 1920s, the town had of farmland along with a general store, drugstore, church, theater, dancehall, pool hall, and a barber shop, among houses and a few community buildings. On November 14, 1929, John Bishop auctioned off almost all the town, save for four houses. His reasons were not officially stated, but could have likely been due to the recent start of the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

in late October. News of the auction was featured in newspapers as far away as

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

, and

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

Geography

Eliza is in northwestern Mercer County, north of New Boston and northwest of Aledo, 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 ...

. It sits on a hilltop that drains east to Irwin Branch, a south-flowing tributary of Eliza Creek, which flows southwest to 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 ...

at New Boston. According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the Eliza CDP has an area of , all land.

Demographics

Eliza 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 2020 United States census.

References

Census-designated places in Mercer County, Illinois Census-designated places in Illinois Unincorporated communities in Mercer County, Illinois Unincorporated communities in Illinois {{MercerCountyIL-geo-stub