Tamms is a village in Tamms Precinct, Alexander 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 ...

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 430 at the 2020 census, down from 632 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Cape Girardeau– Jackson, MO-IL Metropolitan Statistical Area.

History

Tamms was established under the name of Idlewild in 1883. The railroad service ended in the 1970s and therefore the economy declined. Tamms is the location of the Tamms Correctional Center, a super-maximum correctional facility that was operated by the Illinois Department of Corrections and housed the State of Illinois

execution chamber An execution chamber, or death chamber, is a room or chamber in which capital punishment is carried out. Execution chambers are almost always inside the walls of a prison#Security levels, maximum-security prison, although not always at the same p ...

. Illinois abolished the death penalty in 2011. This prison was closed in 2013.

Geography

Tamms is located at (37.240207, -89.264822). According to the 2021 census gazetteer files, Tamms has a total area of , all land.

Demographics

2020 census

''Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos can be of any race.'' As of the 2020 census there were 430 people, 220 households, and 148 families residing in the village. The population density was . There were 238 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the village was 67.91%

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 ...

, 28.60%

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 ...

, 0.93% Native American, and 2.56% 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 1.63% of the population. There were 220 households, out of which 31.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.36% were married couples living together, 10.45% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.73% were non-families. 28.18% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.18% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.63 and the average family size was 2.91. The village's age distribution consisted of 25.2% under the age of 18, 4.0% from 18 to 24, 20.8% from 25 to 44, 34.1% from 45 to 64, and 15.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 45.0 years. For every 100 females, there were 166.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 151.2 males. The median income for a household in the village was $45,227, and the median income for a family was $47,045. Males had a median income of $38,295 versus $39,605 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 $18,068. About 8.8% of families and 17.5% 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 11.3% of those under age 18 and 25.2% of those age 65 or over.

Government and infrastructure

Tamms was the location of the former Tamms Correctional Center, a super-maximum correctional facility operated by the Illinois Department of Corrections which was closed in January 2013. The State of Illinois

was at Tamms. Prior to the January 11, 2003 commutation of death row sentences, male death row inmates were housed in Tamms, Menard, and Pontiac correctional centers. After that date, only Pontiac continued to host the male death row. The death penalty was abolished in Illinois in March 2011.

Education

The school district is the Egyptian School District. In previous eras Tamms Community High School was the public high school.

References

{{Alexander County, Illinois Villages in Alexander County, Illinois 1883 establishments in Illinois Villages in Illinois