Onarga is a village in Onarga Township,

Iroquois County Iroquois County is a county located in the northeast part of the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2020 United States Census, it has a population of 27,077. It is the only county in the United States named Iroquois. The county seat is W ...

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 population was 1,333 at the 2020 census.

Geography

Onarga is located in western Iroquois County at (40.715432, -88.006928).

U.S. Route 45 U.S. Route 45 (US 45) is a major north-south United States highway and a border-to-border route, from Lake Superior to the Gulf of Mexico. A sign at the highway's northern terminus notes the total distance as . US 45 is notable for incorporati ...

passes through the center of the village, leading north to Gilman and south to Buckley.

Interstate 57 Interstate 57 (I-57) is a north–south Interstate Highway that exists in two segments. It runs through Arkansas, Missouri, and Illinois. I-57 parallels the old Illinois Central Railroad for much of its route north of Interstate 55, I-55. T ...

runs along the western border of the village, with access from Exit 280. I-57 leads north to Kankakee and south to

Champaign Champaign ( ) is a city in Champaign County, Illinois, United States. The population was 88,302 at the 2020 census. It is the tenth-most populous municipality in Illinois and the fourth most populous city in the state outside the Chicago metr ...

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

is to the north via I-57. According to the 2021 census gazetteer files, Onarga has a total area of , all land.

Climate

Onarga has a hot-summer humid continental climate ( Dfa) characterized by four distinct seasons. Winters are cold, with frequent snowfall and temperatures occasionally dropping to as low as -10 °F to -20 °F. Average high temperatures from late December through late February typically range from the mid-30s to upper 30s. Spring is generally mild but often marked by rain, wind, and cloudy skies, with high temperatures increasing from the 50s in late March to the 80s by early June. Summers are hot and humid, frequently accompanied by brief but intense thunderstorms. Average summer high temperatures are in the mid to upper 80s, with occasional highs in the lower 90s. Autumns are cooler and drier, with the first frost usually occurring by mid to late October. Onarga's summer conditions are particularly favorable for cultivating corn and soybeans, which dominate the surrounding rural landscape. The area receives an average annual precipitation of 40.44 inches.

History

Onarga was originally laid out in the mid-19th century alongside the development of the railroad from Chicago. Because of its close proximity to Spring Creek, Onarga was one of the first settled areas of Iroquois County. The town grew rapidly had population growth but it leveled off and it now maintains small population. The name Onarga likely comes from an

Iroquois The Iroquois ( ), also known as the Five Nations, and later as the Six Nations from 1722 onwards; alternatively referred to by the Endonym and exonym, endonym Haudenosaunee ( ; ) are an Iroquoian languages, Iroquoian-speaking Confederation#Ind ...

name meaning "a place of rocky hills." Onarga has tree and shrub nurseries that have been in business for over 100 years, earning Onarga the nickname, "The Nursery Capital of the Midwest." Many fields surrounding the town bear rows of trees and bushes rather than corn and soybeans, which are otherwise ubiquitous throughout the region. The prosperous nursery businesses have led to a great amount of ethnic diversity in Onarga, as many Mexican and Mexican-American

migrant worker A migrant worker is a person who Human migration, migrates within a home country or outside it to pursue work. Migrant workers usually do not have an intention to stay permanently in the country or region in which they work. Migrant workers ...

s have chosen to maintain roots in the community. Onarga celebrated its

sesquicentennial An anniversary is the date on which an event took place or an institution was founded. Most countries celebrate national anniversaries, typically called national days. These could be the date of independence of the nation or the adoption o ...

with a nearly week-long festival in the summer of 2004, which included social events and a strong focus on the history of the community. Onarga is the final resting place of Civil War spy and

Pinkerton detective Pinkerton is an American private investigation and security company established around 1850 in the United States by Scottish-born American cooper Allan Pinkerton and Chicago attorney Edward Rucker as the North-Western Police Agency, which late ...

Timothy Webster Timothy Webster (March 12, 1822 – April 29, 1862) was a British-born American lawman and soldier. He served as a Pinkerton (detective agency), Pinkerton agent and American Civil War spies, Union spy, and was the first spy in the American ...

. Onarga was also the location of

Allan Pinkerton Allan Pinkerton (August 21, 1819Mackay (1997), p. 20; August 25 was the date of his baptism, which many sources incorrectly give as his birth date. – July 1, 1884) was a Scottish-American detective, spy, abolitionist, and cooper best known f ...

's weekend estate, The Larches.

Business

Onarga has a golf course, several restaurants, and Lake Arrowhead. The only movie theater in Iroquois County is in Onarga.

Demographics

As of the 2020 census there were 1,333 people, 407 households, and 273 families residing in the village. The population density was . There were 493 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the village was 56.56%

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 ...

, 1.50%

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 ...

, 0.45% Native American, 0.53% 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 ...

, 22.21% from other races, and 18.75% 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 49.66% of the population. There were 407 households, out of which 31.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.37% were married couples living together, 13.27% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.92% were non-families. 28.75% of all households were made up of individuals, and 20.64% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.40 and the average family size was 2.71. The village's age distribution consisted of 26.5% under the age of 18, 10.6% from 18 to 24, 20.2% from 25 to 44, 25.9% from 45 to 64, and 16.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36.6 years. For every 100 females, there were 100.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 80.3 males. The median income for a household in the village was $48,024, and the median income for a family was $54,896. Males had a median income of $31,821 versus $26,563 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 $19,380. About 16.5% of families and 18.0% 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 22.5% of those under age 18 and 19.5% of those age 65 or over.

References

External links

* {{authority control Villages in Iroquois County, Illinois Populated places established in 1854 1854 establishments in Illinois Villages in Illinois