Macon is a city in Macon 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 ...

whose population was 1,177 at the 2020 census. It is included in the

Decatur, Illinois Decatur ( ) is the largest city in Macon County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. The city was founded in 1829 and is situated along the Sangamon River and Lake Decatur in Central Illinois. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ...

Metropolitan Statistical Area and lies south of Decatur.

History

The city was named after

Nathaniel Macon Nathaniel Macon (December 17, 1757June 29, 1837) was an American politician who represented North Carolina in both houses of United States Congress, Congress. He was the fifth Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, speaker of the ...

(1758–1837), American politician. It was originally plotted in 1856 on land owned by 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, ...

. Macon was officially incorporated as a city on April 19, 1869.

Geography

Macon is located in southern Macon County at (39.709123, -89.000391). According to the

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

, Macon has a total area of , all land.

Major highways

* U.S. Highway 51 leads north to Decatur, the Macon

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 ...

, and south to Pana.

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 1,213 people, 467 households, and 346 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 491 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 98.85%

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 ...

, 0.25%

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 ...

, 0.33% Asian, and 0.58% 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 0.58% of the population. There were 467 households, out of which 36.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.6% 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, 9.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.9% were non-families. 24.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.51 and the average family size was 2.98. In the city, the population was spread out, with 26.0% under the age of 18, 6.3% from 18 to 24, 27.3% from 25 to 44, 21.4% from 45 to 64, and 19.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females, there were 88.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.4 males. The median income for a household in the city was $40,917, and the median income for a family was $48,583. Males had a median income of $35,333 versus $22,917 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 city was $18,029. About 5.1% of families and 5.8% 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 5.8% of those under age 18 and 9.3% of those age 65 or over.

Sports

High school

On June 4, 1971, the Macon High School baseball team finished in second place at the

Illinois High School Association The Illinois High School Association (IHSA) is an association that regulates competition of interscholastic sports and some interscholastic activities at the high school level for the state of Illinois. It is a charter member of the National F ...

championship tournament. Their unlikely run to the state tournament was documented in Chris Ballard's 2012 book, ''One Shot at Forever: A Small Town, an Unlikely Coach, and a Magical Baseball Season''. Brian Snitker, a member of that team, joined the

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Eas ...

as a player in 1977, was their third base coach, and in 2013 was named the manager of Atlanta's Triple-A Gwinnett Braves. In 2016, the Atlanta Braves named Snitker as their manager. On May 27, 2006, Meridian High School State Champion Rodney Oyler was the first individual IHSA Illinois Boys State Champion in the open 800 meter run at O'Brien Stadium,

Charleston, Illinois Charleston is a city in and the county seat of Coles County, Illinois, United States. The population was 17,286, as of the 2020 census. The city is home to Eastern Illinois University and has close ties with its neighbor, Mattoon, Illinois, Ma ...

. The Meridian Hawks won the 2009 Boys Class 1A

State Basketball Championship.

Auto racing

Macon is the site of Macon Speedway, a 1/5 mile high-banked dirt oval track which has been in operation since 1946. In 2006, the track saw a major decrease in spectator turnouts and the owner was having trouble keeping the track open. In early 2007, Macon speedway was purchased by

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. It is considered to be one of the top ranked motorsports organizations in ...

drivers

Tony Stewart Anthony Wayne Stewart (born May 20, 1971), nicknamed "Smoke", is an American semi-retired professional auto racing driver, and former NASCAR team co-owner of Stewart-Haas Racing. He currently competes in the NHRA Top Fuel class. He is a four-t ...

Ken Schrader Kenneth William Schrader (born May 29, 1955) is an American professional racing driver. He currently races on local dirt and asphalt tracks around the country while also competing part-time in the ARCA Menards Series, driving the No. 11 Ford Motor ...

, and

Kenny Wallace Kenneth Lee Wallace (born August 23, 1963) is an American race car driver and former reporter for '' Fox NASCAR''. He retired from NASCAR in 2015 after driving in the national series since 1988. In a career spanning 25 years in NASCAR, Wallace had ...

. Since their purchase, parts of the track have been remodeled, including new fencing all around and fresh painted grandstands.

Notable people

* Dale Connelly, co-host of Minnesota Public Radio's

Morning Show Breakfast television (Europe and Australia) or morning show (Canada and the United States) is a type of news broadcasting, news or infotainment television programme that broadcasts Live television, live in the morning (typically broadcast pro ...

, is a 1973 graduate of Macon High School * Nelson G. Kraschel, governor of Iowa from 1937 to 1939, was born on a farm near Macon on October 27, 1889 * Brian Snitker, Manager of the

baseball team, former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

player, was a 1973 graduate of Macon High School. * Toby Towson, NCAA Gymnastics Champion, coach and dancer was a 1965 graduate of Macon High School * Art Wilson, (1885–1960), born in Macon, was a major league baseball catcher

References

External links

* {{authority control Cities in Illinois Cities in Macon County, Illinois