Grand Tower, Illinois

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Grand Tower, Illinois
Grand Tower, Illinois, Front Street.jpg
Front Street
Jackson County Illinois Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Grand Tower Highlighted.svg
Location of Grand Tower in Jackson County, Illinois
Coordinates: 37°37′57″N89°30′07″W / 37.63250°N 89.50194°W / 37.63250; -89.50194 [1]
CountryUnited States
StateIllinois
County Jackson
Township Grand Tower
Area
[2]
  Total
1.25 sq mi (3.24 km2)
  Land1.25 sq mi (3.23 km2)
  Water0.00 sq mi (0.01 km2)
Elevation
[1]
361 ft (110 m)
Population
 (2020)
  Total
479
  Density383.81/sq mi (148.16/km2)
Time zone UTC-6 (CST)
  Summer (DST) UTC-5 (CDT)
ZIP code
62942
Area code 618
FIPS code 17-30770
GNIS feature ID2394955 [1]

Grand Tower is a city in Jackson County, Illinois, United States. The population was 479 at the 2020 census. [3] The town gets its name from Tower Rock, a landmark island in the Mississippi River. [4]

Contents

History

Former names of this town include La Tour ("The Tower"), Jenkins Landing, Cochran's Woodyard Landing, and Evans' Landing. [5] [6]

The earliest inhabitants were a band of river pirates, who settled here after being driven off Spanish soil west of the Mississippi River, near the pirate ambush spot of Tower Rock. This outlaw settlement was destroyed by the United States Army dragoons in 1803. A subsequent settler was a man named Walker, who is the namesake of Walker Hill. [7] [8]

Severe flooding struck the town in 1947. [9]

Geography

Grand Tower is located in southwestern Jackson County and is bordered to the west by the Mississippi River, which forms the Missouri–Illinois boundary. The northern edge of the city borders Shawnee National Forest.

Illinois Route 3 runs through an eastern extension of the city limits, leading north (upriver) 32 miles (51 km) to Chester, where the Chester Bridge crosses the Mississippi, and south 25 miles (40 km) to Illinois Route 146, which crosses the Mississippi to Cape Girardeau, Missouri. There are no other road bridges over the Mississippi closer to Grand Tower.

According to the 2021 census gazetteer files, Grand Tower has a total area of 1.25 square miles (3.24 km2), of which 1.25 square miles (3.24 km2) (or 99.76%) is land and 0.00 square miles (0.00 km2) (or 0.24%) is water. [10]

Grand Tower Natural Gas Pipeline Bridge Grand Tower Pipeline Bridge, view from Illinois highway 166.JPG
Grand Tower Natural Gas Pipeline Bridge

Immediately to the south of the city is a small portion of Perry County, Missouri, which is known as "Grand Tower Island". The island's sole road connection terminates in Grand Tower. [11] The Grand Tower Pipeline Bridge connects a natural gas pipeline across the Mississippi River between Wittenberg, Missouri and Grand Tower.

Economy

The Grand Tower Energy Center is a 478 megawatt combined cycle gas-fired facility which produces power for the region. It is owned by Ameren Energy Generating Company, or Genco. [12]

Grand Tower Energy Center Grand Tower Energy Center, near Grand Tower, Illinois along the Mississippi River.JPG
Grand Tower Energy Center

Community

Devil's Backbone Park sign Grand Tower, Illinois, Devil's Backbone Park sign.jpg
Devil's Backbone Park sign

Shawnee Elementary School, North - Once a public school, now (since 2015) a private residence.

A local post office with zip code 62942 provides mail service. [13] Four churches, the First United Presbyterian Church, the Grand Tower United Methodist Church, First Baptist Church, and Light House Christian Assembly Church offer religious services. [14] A work of levees protects the community from flooding when the Mississippi River water levels rise. [15] The Devil's Backbone Park, named after a limestone ridge which created a natural bottleneck in the Mississippi River, provided easy opportunity for river pirates to attack keelboats and barges. This park provides RV camping, playgrounds, picnic facilities, and a shower house. [16]

Demographics

Historical population
CensusPop.Note
1880 966
1890 624−35.4%
1900 88141.2%
1910 873−0.9%
1920 750−14.1%
1930 95327.1%
1940 1,0439.4%
1950 963−7.7%
1960 847−12.0%
1970 664−21.6%
1980 74812.7%
1990 7753.6%
2000 624−19.5%
2010 605−3.0%
2020 479−20.8%
U.S. Decennial Census [17]

As of the 2020 census [3] there were 479 people, 220 households, and 135 families residing in the city. The population density was 382.89 inhabitants per square mile (147.83/km2). There were 263 housing units at an average density of 210.23 per square mile (81.17/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 94.57% White, 0.21% African American, 0.00% Native American, 0.00% Asian, 0.00% Pacific Islander, 0.63% from other races, and 4.59% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.46% of the population.

There were 220 households, out of which 27.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 42.27% were married couples living together, 10.00% had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.64% were non-families. 21.82% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.09% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.21 and the average family size was 2.68.

The city's age distribution consisted of 22.9% under the age of 18, 13.9% from 18 to 24, 25.7% from 25 to 44, 24.8% from 45 to 64, and 12.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36.3 years. For every 100 females, there were 115.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 112.1 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $48,500, and the median income for a family was $56,250. Males had a median income of $40,781 versus $21,136 for females. The per capita income for the city was $20,423. About 5.2% of families and 13.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 17.4% of those under age 18 and 21.3% of those age 65 or over.

Notable people

References

  1. 1 2 3 U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Grand Tower, Illinois
  2. "2020 U.S. Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved March 15, 2022.
  3. 1 2 "Explore Census Data". data.census.gov. Retrieved June 28, 2022.
  4. Gannett, Henry (1905). The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States. Govt. Print. Off. p. 141.
  5. "Visitors Guide to Grand Tower Jackson County, Illinois" . Retrieved July 15, 2015.
  6. McMillan, Bruce (1994). "Tower Rock: Sentinel of the Mississippi". The Living Museum 56(2):19-21. Retrieved July 15, 2015.
  7. "Visitors Guide to the Mississippi River Museum" . Retrieved July 15, 2015.
  8. "DROUGHT PUTS LEGENDARY ROCK WITHIN REACH". August 14, 1988. Retrieved July 15, 2015.
  9. "The Unluckiest Town in America". Time . July 15, 2015. Retrieved June 20, 2008.
  10. US Census Bureau. "Gazetteer Files". Census.gov. Retrieved June 29, 2022.
  11. DeLorme. Illinois Atlas & Gazetteer. 6th ed. Yarmouth: DeLorme, 2010, 88. ISBN   978-0-89933-321-2.
  12. "Ameren Corporation Receives Approval from Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to Divest Its Merchant Generation Business" (Press release). Retrieved October 14, 2013.
  13. "GRAND TOWER POST OFFICE" . Retrieved July 15, 2015.
  14. "CHURCHES IN GRAND TOWER IL" . Retrieved July 15, 2015.
  15. Murray, Josh (February 15, 2015). "Grand Tower: Living in the shadow of crumbling levees". The Southern.
  16. "Visitors Guide to the Devil's Backbone Park" . Retrieved July 15, 2015.
  17. "Census of Population and Housing". Census.gov. Retrieved June 4, 2015.