Freeman Spur is a village in Williamson and Franklin Counties,

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 ...

. The population was 268 at the 2020 census.

History

Freeman Spur is rooted in several small communities that sprang up in the early 1900s with the opening of the Possum Ridge coal mine. These small communities voted to merge and incorporate as "Freeman Spur" in 1913. The village is named for James R. Freeman, who owned the land upon which the mine was located.

Geography

According to the 2021 census gazetteer files, Freeman Spur has a total area of , of which (or 99.25%) is land and (or 0.75%) is water. The shaft of the Possum Ridge Mine, which opened in 1908, is located at Freeman Spur. In 1912, a

tornado A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with the surface of Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, although the ...

destroyed above-ground structures at the mine.

Demographics

As of the 2020 census there were 268 people, 88 households, and 58 families residing in the village. The population density was . There were 127 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the village was 88.06%

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 ...

, 3.36%

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 ...

, 1.12% from other races, and 7.46% 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 0.75% of the population. There were 88 households, out of which 26.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 43.18% were married couples living together, 9.09% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.09% were non-families. 31.82% of all households were made up of individuals, and 25.00% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.83 and the average family size was 3.06. The village's age distribution consisted of 25.3% under the age of 18, 10.4% from 18 to 24, 17.4% from 25 to 44, 21.6% from 45 to 64, and 25.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41.1 years. For every 100 females, there were 118.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 123.3 males. The median income for a household in the village was $37,750, and the median income for a family was $39,250. Males had a median income of $24,063 versus $13,750 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 $14,086. About 37.9% of families and 44.6% 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 55.9% of those under age 18 and 20.6% of those age 65 or over.

References

{{authority control Villages in Franklin County, Illinois Villages in Williamson County, Illinois Populated places in Southern Illinois Villages in Illinois