| Clarion, Illinois | |
|---|---|
| Unincorporated community | |
  Clarion, Illinois  Clarion, Illinois | |
| Coordinates: 41°30′18″N89°11′31″W / 41.50500°N 89.19194°W Coordinates: 41°30′18″N89°11′31″W / 41.50500°N 89.19194°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Illinois |
| County | Bureau |
| Elevation | 738 ft (225 m) |
| Time zone | Central (CST) (UTC-6) |
| • Summer (DST) | CDT (UTC-5) |
| Area code(s) | 815 & 779 |
| GNIS feature ID | 422554 [1] |
Clarion is an unincorporated community in Bureau County, Illinois, United States. Clarion is located along a railroad line southwest of Mendota.
Bureau County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population was 34,978. Its county seat is Princeton.
Illinois is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It has the 5th largest Gross Domestic Product by state, is the 6th-most populous U.S. state and 25th-largest state in terms of land area. Illinois is often noted as a microcosm of the entire United States. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in northern and central Illinois, and natural resources such as coal, timber, and petroleum in the south, Illinois has a diverse economic base, and is a major transportation hub. Chicagoland, Chicago's metropolitan area, contains over 65% of the state's population. The Port of Chicago connects the state to other global ports around the world from the Great Lakes, via the Saint Lawrence Seaway, to the Atlantic Ocean; as well as the Great Lakes to the Mississippi River, via the Illinois Waterway on the Illinois River. The Mississippi River, the Ohio River, and the Wabash River form parts of the boundaries of Illinois. For decades, Chicago's O'Hare International Airport has been ranked as one of the world's busiest airports. Illinois has long had a reputation as a bellwether both in social and cultural terms and, through the 1980s, in politics.
Mendota is a city in LaSalle County, Illinois, United States, in the state's north-central region. The population was 7,372 at the 2010 census, and was estimated to be 7,204 by July 2015. It is part of the Ottawa-Peru, IL Micropolitan Statistical Area. Mendota is located approximately 70 miles east of Moline and 55 miles south of Rockford. The current mayor is David W. Boelk, an independent elected to a four-year term.
Though Clarion is usually perceived as the area where the grain elevator and Lutheran church are located along U.S. Route 34, that is technically known as the unincorporated area of Wendel. Children who live near the railroad crossing known as Clarion attend La Moille schools.
U.S. Route 34 (US 34) is an east–west United States highway that runs for 1,122 miles (1,806 km) from north-central Colorado to the western suburbs of Chicago. Through Rocky Mountain National Park it is known as the Trail Ridge Road where it reaches elevation 12,183 feet (3,713 m), making it the highest paved through highway in the United States. The highway's western terminus is Granby, Colorado at US 40. Its eastern terminus is in Berwyn, Illinois at Illinois Route 43 and Historic US 66.
Wendel is an unincorporated community in Bureau County, Illinois, United States, located along U.S. Route 34, west of Mendota. Wendel is home to the Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church of Clarion, pastored by Kevin Weeks. It is the location of the Clarion Township building, as well as a handful of houses.
There was once a school house on the southwest corner of the Clarion Blacktop and 2500 N. Avenue. The area is home to several older homesteads and has gently rolling farmland.
