Ramsey is a village in

Fayette County, Illinois Fayette County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. As of the 2020 census, the population was 21,488. Its county seat is Vandalia, the site of the Vandalia State House State Historic Site. Ramsey Lake State Recreation Area is ...

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 911 as of the 2020 census. The village was named after

Alexander Ramsey Alexander Ramsey (September 8, 1815 April 22, 1903) was an American politician, who became the first Minnesota Territorial Governor and later became a U.S. Senator. He served as a Whig and Republican over a variety of offices between the 18 ...

(1815–1903), an American politician, second governor of Minnesota.

Geography

U.S. Route 51 U.S. Route 51 or U.S. Highway 51 (US 51) is a major south–north United States highway that extends from the western suburbs of New Orleans, Louisiana, to within of the Wisconsin–Michigan state line. As most of the United States Numbered Hi ...

passes through the center of town, leading north to Pana and south to Vandalia, 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 ...

. According to the 2021 census gazetteer files, Ramsey has a total area of , of which (or 100.00%) is land and (or 0.00%) is water.

Climate

Demographics

As of the 2020 census there were 911 people, 332 households, and 208 families residing in the village. The population density was . There were 426 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the village was 95.83%

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 ...

, 0.33%

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% 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 ...

, 0.11% from other races, and 3.40% 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 1.10% of the population. There were 332 households, out of which 31.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 38.25% were married couples living together, 17.17% had a female householder with no husband present, and 37.35% were non-families. 24.10% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.24% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.11 and the average family size was 2.62. The village's age distribution consisted of 23.5% under the age of 18, 11.8% from 18 to 24, 23.5% from 25 to 44, 23.8% from 45 to 64, and 17.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38.6 years. For every 100 females, there were 78.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 77.6 males. The median income for a household in the village was $31,875, and the median income for a family was $52,917. Males had a median income of $31,042 versus $23,077 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 $22,526. About 14.9% of families and 19.8% 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 14.9% of those under age 18 and 17.1% of those age 65 or over.

Notable people

Glen Hobbie Glen Frederick Hobbie (April 24, 1936 – August 9, 2013) was an American professional baseball player who pitched in the Major Leagues from 1957 to 1964. A right-hander, he stood tall and weighed . Born in Witt, Illinois, Hobbie attended a ...

, baseball player, resident of Ramsey at the time of his death in 2013 * H. L. Hunt, oil tycoon, inspired the 1980s television series ''

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

'', born near Ramsey *

John Staff Sergeant John Earl Staff (January 14, 1923 – November 25, 1949) was an American soldier. He was one of two known Allied soldiers killed in the line of duty on the border of West Berlin and East German territory between the beginning of the joi ...

, Sergeant of the US Army, shot in Berlin by East German police on November 25, 1949; born in Ramsey *

Tex Williams Sollie Paul "Tex" Williams (August 23, 1917 – October 11, 1985) was an American Western swing musician. He is best known for his talking blues style; his biggest hit was the novelty song, "Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! (That Cigarette)", which held th ...

, country and swing musician ("

Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! (That Cigarette) "Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! (That Cigarette)" is a Western swing novelty song written by Merle Travis and Tex Williams, for Williams and his talking blues style of singing. Travis wrote the bulk of the song. The original Williams version went to number ...

"), born in Ramsey

References

{{Authority control Villages in Fayette County, Illinois Villages in Illinois