Somer Township is a

township A township is a form of human settlement or administrative subdivision. Its exact definition varies among countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, this tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Canad ...

in Champaign 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 ...

USA 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 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

. As of the 2020 census, its population was 988 and it contained 469 housing units.

History

Somer Township changed its name from Pleasant Hill Township on April 30, 1860.

Geography

Somer is Township 20 North, Range 9 East of the Third Principal Meridian. According to the 2021 census gazetteer files, Somer Township has a total area of , of which (or 99.91%) is land and (or 0.09%) is water.

Unincorporated towns

* Leverett * Wilbur Heights (This list is based on USGS data and may include former settlements.)

Cemeteries

The township contains these cemeteries: Clements (Section 35), Coslet and Yearsley (Section 26). Historic cemeteries (some of these may no longer be visible): Adkins Grave Yard (Section 21), Brownfield (Section 26), Heater (Section 23), Indian burial ground (Section 16), Methodist Church site (Section 27), Rhinehart Grave Yard (Section 34), Somers (Section 27).

Grain Elevators

Leverett elevator (Section 17) was built along the

Illinois Central 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, Louisiana, and Mobile, Alabama, and thus, the Great Lak ...

(which was absorbed by

Canadian National Railway The Canadian National Railway Company () is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States. CN is Canada's largest railway, in terms of both revenue a ...

in 1998). Sharp's Crossing elevator (Section 4) was built on the short–lived Kankakee and Urbana Traction Company interurban line around 1920, and was operated by the Sharp Grain Company."Cathedrals of the Countryside" by Anne Cook. ''The News–Gazette''. Champaign, Illinois, 9 July 2000. pp. E–1, E–5, illus. The wooden elevator on the west side of U.S. Route 45 at County Road 2300 North was destroyed by fire.

Public transit

Champaign–Urbana Mass Transit District The Champaign–Urbana Mass Transit District (colloquially known as the MTD) is a mass transit system that operates in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area in central-eastern Illinois. MTD is headquartered in Urbana, Illinois, Urbana and operat ...

Major highways

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 ...

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 ...

Demographics

As of the 2020 census there were 988 people, 482 households, and 237 families residing in the township. The population density was . There were 469 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the township was 75.81%

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 ...

, 10.12%

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 ...

, 0.81% Native American, 1.42% Asian, 0.20%

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 ...

, 2.13% from other races, and 9.51% 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 4.66% of the population. There were 482 households, out of which 11.80% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 40.46% were married couples living together, 8.71% had a female householder with no spouse present, and 50.83% were non-families. 47.30% of all households were made up of individuals, and 6.80% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 1.83 and the average family size was 2.62. The township's age distribution consisted of 14.5% under the age of 18, 3.9% from 18 to 24, 10.4% from 25 to 44, 41.7% from 45 to 64, and 29.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 52.5 years. For every 100 females, there were 136.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 138.6 males. The median income for a household in the township was $63,229, and the median income for a family was $63,281. Males had a median income of $67,019 versus $31,058 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 $39,315. About 14.8% of families and 16.3% 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 74.2% of those under age 18 and 9.9% of those age 65 or over.

References

United States Census Bureau cartographic boundary files

External links

{{authority control Townships in Champaign County, Illinois Townships in Illinois