Marengo is a city in McHenry County,

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on the

Kishwaukee River The Kishwaukee River, locally known as simply The Kish, is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed May 13, 2011 river in the U.S. state of Illinois.. United States Board on ...

. It lies approximately 60 miles west northwest of

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and approximately 30 miles east of Rockford. Per the 2020 census, the population was 7,568.

Geography

Marengo is located at . The north edge of Marengo is bordered by the

According to the 2010 census, Marengo has a total area of , all land.

Major streets

Grant Highway * Illinois 23

State Street * Illinois 176

Telegraph Street

Climate

History

Marengo was first named Pleasant Grove after a grove of trees near the town site. The present name commemorates the

Battle of Marengo The Battle of Marengo was fought on 14 June 1800 between French forces under the First Consul Napoleon Bonaparte and Austrian forces near the city of Alessandria, in Piedmont, Italy. Near the end of the day, the French overcame General ...

. A post office named Marengo was established in 1844. In the early morning of June 11, 2017, at around 4:50 A.M., a house in the northwest suburbs exploded. The gas explosion set four houses on fire and damaged 50 more, nearly 20 of which were deemed "unlivable." Despite the extensive damage, no fatalities or serious injuries occurred; only two people were reported to have suffered minor injuries.

Government

Marengo is governed by the

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

, John Koziol, and a

city council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough counc ...

of eight

aldermen An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law with similar officials existing in the Netherlands (wethouder) and Belgium (schepen). The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking membe ...

Demographics

2000 Census

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 6,355 people, 2,387 households, and 1,694 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 2,475 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 92.07%

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 ...

, 0.30%

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 ...

, 0.27% Native American, 0.28% Asian, 0.02%

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 ...

, 5.54% of other races, and 1.53% of 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 13.00% of the population. There were 2,387 households, out of which 38.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.9% 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, 10.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.0% were non-families. 24.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.64 and the average family size was 3.17. The population was spread out, with 29.3% under the age of 18, 8.6% from 18 to 24, 31.0% from 25 to 44, 19.2% from 45 to 64, and 12.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females, there were 96.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.3 males. The median income for a household in the city was $50,214, and the median income for a family was $57,209. Males had a median income of $41,298 versus $26,317 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 $22,225. About 3.9% of families and 4.4% 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 5.4% of those under age 18 and 5.5% of those age 65 or over.

Notable people

David Boies David Boies ( ; born March 11, 1941) is an American lawyer and chairman of the law firm Boies, Schiller & Flexner, Boies Schiller Flexner LLP. Boies rose to national prominence for three major cases: leading the U.S. federal government's succes ...

, lawyer and Chairman of Boies, Schiller & Flexner, and lawyer for

Al Gore Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (born March 31, 1948) is an American former politician, businessman, and environmentalist who served as the 45th vice president of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. He previously served as ...

in ''

Bush v. Gore ''Bush v. Gore'', 531 U.S. 98 (2000), was a landmark decision of the Supreme Court of the United States, United States Supreme Court on December 12, 2000, that settled a recount dispute in Florida's 2000 presidential election between George W ...

'' * Jack D. Franks, former Illinois State Representative and McHenry County Board Chairman * Carl Lundgren, pitcher for the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. Th ...

(1902–1909); born in Marengo * Edward D. Shurtleff, Illinois state legislator, jurist; served as mayor of Marengo * Shane Singh, journalist and former Executive Editor of Playboy magazine *

Sherman E. Smalley Sherman E. Smalley (June 25, 1866 – August 21, 1958) was an American jurist and lawyer. Born in Marengo, Illinois, Smalley went to school in Grant County, Wisconsin and to a law school in Detroit, Michigan. He then practiced law in Cuba C ...

, Wisconsin state assemblyman and jurist; born in Marengo *

Carrie Adell Strahorn Carrie Adell Strahorn (January 1, 1854 – 1925) was an American explorer and pioneer. She has been called "The mother of the West" and "The queen of the pioneers". She was one of the first white woman to make a complete tour of Yellowstone Park. ...

, American pioneer, explorer, and author *

Egbert Van Alstyne Egbert Anson Van Alstyne (March 4, 1878 – July 9, 1951) was an American songwriter and pianist. Van Alstyne was the composer of a number of popular and ragtime tunes of the early 20th century. Biography Van Alstyne was born in Marengo, Illi ...

, songwriter * Elizabeth Horton, Creative Director at Chervon North America

Media

''The Marengo-Union Times'' is the newspaper of record in Marengo, IL. It has a circulation of 6,300 and is mailed to every home and business in the greater Marengo and Union, Illinois area.

References

External links

*
''The Marengo-Union Times'' newspaper website
{{Geographic location , Center=Marengo , Northwest= Chemung , North=

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 ...

, Northeast= Hartland , East= Union , Southeast=

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

, South=

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

, Southwest=

Kingston Kingston may refer to: Places * List of places called Kingston, including the six most populated: ** Kingston, Jamaica ** Kingston upon Hull, England ** City of Kingston, Victoria, Australia ** Kingston, Ontario, Canada ** Kingston upon Thames, ...

, West= Garden Prairie Chicago metropolitan area Cities in Illinois Cities in McHenry County, Illinois Populated places established in 1835