River Forest Township is one of 29 townships in

Cook County Cook County is the most populous county in the U.S. state of Illinois and the second-most-populous county in the United States, after Los Angeles County, California. More than 40 percent of all residents of Illinois live within Cook 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 ...

. The population was 11,717 at the 2020 census. River Forest Township is coterminous with the Village of River Forest. It is one of four coterminous townships in

and one of seventeen coterminous townships statewide. Like the village, the township is bounded by Harlem Avenue, North Avenue, Madison Avenue to Lathrop Avenue, to Central Avenue and back to Harlem.

History

The village incorporated in 1880 as part of Proviso Township. Miss Thatcher, a resident at that time, said, "The Village of River Forest was incorporated as a matter of necessity to defeat the saloonkeepers' project to organize and open a liquor sales district, and destroy our village." However, later that year, the village trustees licensed two saloons in the east part of the village to raise funds for running the government. In 1917, the board of education petitioned the village to create a separate township in an effort to increase revenue to fund growing educational requirements. Cost savings were anticipated by avoiding the duplication of certain village and township officers. Taxes for township roads and bridges were eliminated. The plan also made funds raised by taxation immediately available to the community to support community interests. Finally, it was thought that an in-town assessor would provide a more equitable tax assessment. This separation was approved by citizens via a postcard referendum vote held on April 17, 1917.

Geography

According to the 2021 census gazetteer files, River Forest Township has a total area of , of which (or 99.92%) is land and (or 0.08%) is water.

Demographics

As of the 2020 census there were 11,717 people, 4,040 households, and 2,754 families residing in the township. The population density was . There were 4,266 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the township was 72.91%

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 ...

, 7.51%

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 ...

, 0.12% Native American, 8.01% 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 ...

, 2.70% from other races, and 8.75% 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 8.46% of the population. There were 4,040 households, out of which 35.40% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.69% were married couples living together, 4.80% had a female householder with no spouse present, and 31.83% were non-families. 31.80% of all households were made up of individuals, and 15.30% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.47 and the average family size was 3.13. The township's age distribution consisted of 25.4% under the age of 18, 10.5% from 18 to 24, 18.4% from 25 to 44, 28.3% from 45 to 64, and 17.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40.8 years. For every 100 females, there were 95.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.5 males. The median income for a household in the township was $125,288, and the median income for a family was $193,171. Males had a median income of $116,643 versus $57,703 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 township was $79,929. About 1.3% of families and 2.2% 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 3.2% of those under age 18 and 1.9% of those age 65 or over.

References

External links

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City-data.comCook County Official Site
{{authority control Townships in Cook County, Illinois Townships in Illinois 1917 establishments in Illinois