Ridgway, Illinois

Ridgway, Illinois
Village
Village of Ridgway
Businesses along Main Street
Location of Ridgway in Gallatin County, Illinois.
Location of Illinois in the United States
Coordinates: 37°47′53″N88°15′38″W / 37.79806°N 88.26056°W / 37.79806; -88.26056
Country	United States
State	Illinois
County	Gallatin
Government
• Mayor	Nancy Kitchens
Area [1]
• Total	0.88 sq mi (2.28 km2)
• Land	0.88 sq mi (2.28 km2)
• Water	0.00 sq mi (0.00 km2)
Elevation [2]	374 ft (114 m)
Population  (2020)
• Total	851
• Density	967.05/sq mi (373.48/km2)
Time zone	UTC-6 (CST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC-5 (CDT)
ZIP Code(s)	62979
Area code	618
FIPS code	17-64018
GNIS ID	2399074 [2]
Wikimedia Commons	Ridgway, Illinois

Ridgway is a village in Gallatin County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 851. As of 2021, Nancy Kitchens was the town mayor. ^[3]

History

Ridgway was established in 1866 as a construction camp along what would become the Springfield and Illinois South Eastern Railway. It was named for the railroad's president, Thomas S. Ridgway. ^[4]

The village, once home to a popcorn plant, is the former self-proclaimed "Popcorn Capital of the World". Popcorn Day continues as part of the Gallatin County Fair and is held the second Saturday in September. ^[5]

The February 2012 tornadoes, which killed seven in the nearby Harrisburg area, destroyed the St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Ridgway. ^[6] The church was rebuilt in 2015 under the name "St. Kateri," in honor of Kateri Tekakwitha. ^[7]

Geography

Ridgway is located in southern Illinois at 37°47′53″N88°15′38″W / 37.79806°N 88.26056°W / 37.79806; -88.26056 (37.798036, -88.260571), ^[8] north of Shawnee National Forest. It is in north-central Gallatin County, 9 miles (14 km) northwest of Shawneetown, the county seat. The village is concentrated along Ridgway Newhaven Road, just east of Illinois Route 1.

According to the 2021 census gazetteer files, Ridgway has a total area of 0.88 square miles (2.28 km²), of which 0.88 square miles (2.28 km²) (or 99.89%) is land and 0.00 square miles (0.00 km²) (or 0.11%) is water. ^[9]

Demographics

Historical population

Census	Pop.	Note	%±
1880	174		—
1890	523		200.6%
1900	839		60.4%
1910	1,054		25.6%
1920	1,102		4.6%
1930	930		−15.6%
1940	1,167		25.5%
1950	1,148		−1.6%
1960	1,055		−8.1%
1970	1,160		10.0%
1980	1,245		7.3%
1990	1,103		−11.4%
2000	928		−15.9%
2010	869		−6.4%
2020	851		−2.1%
U.S. Decennial Census [10]

As of the 2020 census ^[11] there were 851 people, 445 households, and 282 families residing in the village. The population density was 965.95 inhabitants per square mile (372.96/km²). There were 419 housing units at an average density of 475.60 per square mile (183.63/km²). The racial makeup of the village was 93.77% White, 1.41% African American, 0.00% Native American, 0.47% Asian, 0.00% Pacific Islander, 0.71% from other races, and 3.64% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.29% of the population.

There were 445 households, out of which 31.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 34.16% were married couples living together, 13.26% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.63% were non-families. 35.06% of all households were made up of individuals, and 22.70% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.26 and the average family size was 1.87.

The village's age distribution consisted of 16.6% under the age of 18, 8.7% from 18 to 24, 30.4% from 25 to 44, 15.7% from 45 to 64, and 28.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42.3 years. For every 100 females, there were 83.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.9 males.

The median income for a household in the village was $39,575, and the median income for a family was $53,958. Males had a median income of $42,292 versus $26,607 for females. The per capita income for the village was $30,635. About 8.2% of families and 12.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 23.9% of those under age 18 and 7.1% of those age 65 or over.

References

1. "2020 U.S. Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved March 15, 2022.
2. U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Ridgway, Illinois
3. "G001 - Geographic Identifiers - 2010 Census Summary File 1". United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on February 13, 2020. Retrieved December 25, 2015.
4. Edward Callary, Place Names of Illinois (University of Illinois Press, 2010), p. 296.
5. "Still Popping, Ill". tribunedigital-chicagotribune. April 28, 2003. Retrieved May 3, 2016.
6. "Tornadoes Rip Through the Midwest and South," Boston Globe, 1 March 2012.
7. "St. Kateri Taking Shape in Ridgway," Belleville Messenger, 30 July 2015.
8. "US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990". United States Census Bureau. February 12, 2011. Retrieved April 23, 2011.
9. Bureau, US Census. "Gazetteer Files". Census.gov. Retrieved June 29, 2022.
10. "Census of Population and Housing". Census.gov. Retrieved June 4, 2015.
11. "Explore Census Data". data.census.gov. Retrieved June 28, 2022.

Further reading

• 1887. History of Gallatin, Saline, Hamilton, Franklin and Williamson Counties, Illinois. Chicago: Goodspeed Publishing Co.
• Lawler, Lucille. 1968. Gallatin County: Gateway to Illinois. Privately published. 153 pages.
• Lawler, Lucille. 1971. Ridgway, Our Town. Privately published. 43 pages.
• Musgrave, Jon, ed. 2002. Handbook of Old Gallatin County and Southeastern Illinois. Marion, Ill.: IllinoisHistory.com. 464 pages.

External links

• Media related to Ridgway, Illinois at Wikimedia Commons