Galesburg, Illinois | |
|---|---|
 Location of Galesburg in Knox County, Illinois | |
  Galesburg  Galesburg | |
| Coordinates:40°57′08″N90°21′10″W / 40.95222°N 90.35278°W /40.95222; -90.35278[1] | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Illinois |
| County | Knox |
| Township | Galesburg City |
| Founded | 1837 |
| Founded by | George Washington Gale |
| Government | |
| • Type | Council-Manager |
| • Mayor | Peter Schwartzman (G)[2] |
| Area | |
• Total | 17.93 sq mi (46.45 km2) |
| • Land | 17.76 sq mi (45.99 km2) |
| • Water | 0.18 sq mi (0.46 km2) |
| Elevation | 771 ft (235 m) |
| Population (2020) | |
• Total | 30,052 |
| • Density | 1,692.2/sq mi (653.38/km2) |
| Time zone | UTC−6 (CST) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−5 (CDT) |
| ZIP code | 61401 |
| Area code | 309 |
| FIPS code | 17-28326 |
| GNIS feature ID | 2394842[1] |
| Wikimedia Commons | Galesburg, Illinois |
| Website | www |
Galesburg is a city inKnox County, Illinois, United States. The city is 45 miles (72 km) northwest ofPeoria. At the2020 census, its population was 30,052.[4] Galesburg is known as the home ofKnox College, a private four-year liberal arts college, andCarl Sandburg College, a community college named for native-born poetCarl Sandburg.
Galesburg is thecounty seat of Knox County[5] and the principal city of theGalesburg Micropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Knox andWarren counties. A 496-acre (201 ha) section of the city is listed on theNational Register of Historic Places as theGalesburg Historic District.
Galesburg was founded byGeorge Washington Gale, a Presbyterian minister fromNew York state who had formulated the concept of themanual labor college and first implemented it at theOneida Institute nearUtica, New York. In 1836 Gale publicized a subscription- and land purchase-based plan to foundmanual labor colleges in theMississippi River valley.[6] Land was purchased for this purpose inKnox County and in 1837 the first subscribers to the college-founding plan arrived and began to settle what became Galesburg.[7]
Populated from the start by abolitionists, Galesburg was home to one of Illinois's firstanti-slavery societies and a stop on theUnderground Railroad.[8] On October 7, 1858, the city was the site of the fifthLincoln–Douglas debate. Galesburg was also the home ofMary Ann "Mother" Bickerdyke, who provided hospital care forUnion soldiers during theCivil War.
Galesburg is the birthplace of poetCarl Sandburg, artistDorothea Tanning, and formerMajor League Baseball starJim Sundberg. TheIllinois Historic Preservation Agency maintains Sandburg's boyhood home as theCarl Sandburg State Historic Site. It includes the cottage where he was born, a modern museum, the rock under which he and his wife Lilian are buried, and a performance venue.
For much of its history, Galesburg was inextricably tied to therailroad industry. Local businessmen were major backers of the first railroad to connect Illinois's then two biggest cities—Chicago andQuincy—as well as a third leg initially terminating across theMississippi River fromBurlington, Iowa, and eventually connecting to it via bridge and thence onward to the Western frontier. TheChicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad (CB&Q) sited major rail sorting yards here, including the first to usehump sorting. The CB&Q also built a majordepot on South Seminary Street that was controversially torn down and replaced by a much smallerstation in 1983. TheBNSF Railway still uses theyard.
In the late 19th century, when theAtchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway connected its service through to Chicago, it also laid track through Galesburg and builtits own railroad depot. The depot remained in operation until the construction of theCameron Connector southwest of town[9] enabledAmtrak to reroute theSouthwest Chief via the Mendota Subdivision and join theCalifornia Zephyr andIllinois Zephyr at the Burlington Northern depot. A series of mergers eventually united both lines under BNSF's ownership, carrying an average of seven freight trains per hour between them. Since the 2004 closure of theMaytag plant, BNSF is once again Galesburg's largest private employer.
Galesburg was home to the pioneeringbrass era automobile companyWestern, which produced the Gale, named for the town.[10]
Galesburg was home tominor league baseball from 1890 to 1914. TheGalesburg Pavers was the last name of the minor league team based there. Galesburg teams played as members of theEastern Iowa League (1895),Central Interstate League (1890),Illinois-Iowa League (1890),Illinois-Missouri League (1908–1909), andCentral Association (1910–1912, 1914).[citation needed]
Baseball Hall of Fame membersGrover Cleveland Alexander (1909) andSam Rice (1912) played for Galesburg. Rice left the Galesburg team in 1912, when his wife, two children, parents, and two sisters were killed in a tornado. Galesburg teams played at Illinois Field (1908–1912, 1914),Lombard College Field (1908–1912, 1914) and Willard Field atKnox College (1890, 1895).[11][12][13][14]
Lombard College was in Galesburg until 1930, and is now the site of Lombard Middle School.
The Carr Mansion at 560 North Prairie Street was the site of a presidential cabinet meeting held in 1899 by U.S. PresidentWilliam McKinley and U.S. Secretary of StateJohn Hay.
Galesburg is in western Knox County.Interstate 74 runs through the east side of the city, leading southeast 47 miles (76 km) toPeoria and north 36 miles (58 km) toInterstate 80 near theQuad Cities area.
According to the 2021 census gazetteer files, Galesburg has a total area of 17.94 square miles (46.46 km2), of which 17.76 square miles (46.00 km2) (or 99.01%) is land and 0.18 square miles (0.47 km2) (or 0.99%) is water.[15]
| Climate data for Galesburg, Illinois (1991–2020 normals, extremes 1896–present) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °F (°C) | 68 (20) | 71 (22) | 86 (30) | 91 (33) | 96 (36) | 102 (39) | 112 (44) | 102 (39) | 100 (38) | 94 (34) | 79 (26) | 70 (21) | 112 (44) |
| Mean daily maximum °F (°C) | 30.0 (−1.1) | 34.7 (1.5) | 48.0 (8.9) | 61.3 (16.3) | 72.0 (22.2) | 81.2 (27.3) | 84.0 (28.9) | 82.3 (27.9) | 76.2 (24.6) | 63.0 (17.2) | 48.0 (8.9) | 35.4 (1.9) | 59.7 (15.4) |
| Daily mean °F (°C) | 21.9 (−5.6) | 26.0 (−3.3) | 38.0 (3.3) | 50.6 (10.3) | 61.8 (16.6) | 71.6 (22.0) | 74.7 (23.7) | 72.8 (22.7) | 65.5 (18.6) | 52.8 (11.6) | 39.0 (3.9) | 27.8 (−2.3) | 50.2 (10.1) |
| Mean daily minimum °F (°C) | 13.8 (−10.1) | 17.3 (−8.2) | 28.1 (−2.2) | 39.9 (4.4) | 51.7 (10.9) | 62.0 (16.7) | 65.4 (18.6) | 63.4 (17.4) | 54.7 (12.6) | 42.5 (5.8) | 29.9 (−1.2) | 20.2 (−6.6) | 40.7 (4.8) |
| Record low °F (°C) | −27 (−33) | −28 (−33) | −14 (−26) | 9 (−13) | 24 (−4) | 36 (2) | 42 (6) | 41 (5) | 19 (−7) | 17 (−8) | −6 (−21) | −22 (−30) | −28 (−33) |
| Averageprecipitation inches (mm) | 1.69 (43) | 1.87 (47) | 2.39 (61) | 3.83 (97) | 5.27 (134) | 4.58 (116) | 4.04 (103) | 3.89 (99) | 3.85 (98) | 2.82 (72) | 2.60 (66) | 2.14 (54) | 38.97 (990) |
| Average snowfall inches (cm) | 9.0 (23) | 6.6 (17) | 2.3 (5.8) | 0.4 (1.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 1.7 (4.3) | 5.9 (15) | 25.9 (66) |
| Average precipitation days(≥ 0.01 in) | 7.9 | 6.9 | 8.7 | 10.6 | 11.9 | 9.8 | 8.1 | 8.5 | 7.0 | 8.8 | 7.7 | 8.1 | 104.0 |
| Average snowy days(≥ 0.1 in) | 5.0 | 3.5 | 1.5 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.8 | 3.3 | 14.3 |
| Source:NOAA[16][17] | |||||||||||||
| Census | Pop. | Note | %± |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1850 | 323 | — | |
| 1860 | 4,953 | 1,433.4% | |
| 1870 | 10,158 | 105.1% | |
| 1880 | 11,437 | 12.6% | |
| 1890 | 15,264 | 33.5% | |
| 1900 | 18,607 | 21.9% | |
| 1910 | 22,089 | 18.7% | |
| 1920 | 23,834 | 7.9% | |
| 1930 | 28,830 | 21.0% | |
| 1940 | 28,876 | 0.2% | |
| 1950 | 31,425 | 8.8% | |
| 1960 | 37,243 | 18.5% | |
| 1970 | 36,290 | −2.6% | |
| 1980 | 35,305 | −2.7% | |
| 1990 | 33,530 | −5.0% | |
| 2000 | 33,706 | 0.5% | |
| 2010 | 32,195 | −4.5% | |
| 2020 | 30,052 | −6.7% | |
| Decennial US Census | |||
As of the2020 census[18] there were 30,052 people, 12,495 households, and 6,060 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,675.42 inhabitants per square mile (646.88/km2). There were 13,939 housing units at an average density of 777.11 per square mile (300.04/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 72.93%White, 14.36%African American, 0.30%Native American, 1.01%Asian, 0.04%Pacific Islander, 3.36% fromother races, and 8.01% from two or more races.Hispanic orLatino of any race were 8.49% of the population.
There were 12,495 households, out of which 19.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 33.88% were married couples living together, 10.00% had a female householder with no husband present, and 51.50% were non-families. 44.87% of all households were made up of individuals, and 21.34% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.98 and the average family size was 2.10.
The city's age distribution consisted of 17.5% under the age of 18, 12.8% from 18 to 24, 23.3% from 25 to 44, 25% from 45 to 64, and 21.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41.2 years. For every 100 females, there were 107.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 106.9 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $37,322, and the median income for a family was $63,118. Males had a median income of $32,704 versus $25,461 for females. Theper capita income for the city was $22,497. About 11.7% of families and 19.8% of the population were below thepoverty line, including 22.2% of those under age 18 and 11.5% of those age 65 or over.
| Race / Ethnicity(NH = Non-Hispanic) | Pop 2000[19] | Pop 2010[20] | Pop 2020[21] | % 2000 | % 2010 | % 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| White alone (NH) | 27,688 | 25,114 | 21,088 | 82.15% | 78.01% | 70.17% |
| Black or African American alone (NH) | 3,402 | 3,630 | 4,215 | 10.09% | 11.28% | 14.03% |
| Native American orAlaska Native alone (NH) | 64 | 56 | 47 | 0.19% | 0.17% | 0.16% |
| Asian alone (NH) | 345 | 284 | 301 | 1.02% | 0.88% | 1.00% |
| Native Hawaiian orPacific Islander alone (NH) | 8 | 7 | 7 | 0.02% | 0.02% | 0.02% |
| Other race alone (NH) | 25 | 39 | 172 | 0.07% | 0.12% | 0.57% |
| Mixed race or Multiracial (NH) | 486 | 828 | 1,670 | 1.44% | 2.57% | 5.56% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 1,688 | 2,327 | 2,552 | 5.01% | 6.95% | 8.49% |
| Total | 33,706 | 32,195 | 30,052 | 100.00% | 100.00% | 100.00% |
Galesburg is the home of the Railroad Days festival, held on the fourth weekend of June.[22] The festival began in 1977 as an open house to the public from the then Burlington Northern. Burlington Northern gave train car tours of their yards. The city started having street fairs to draw more people to town. In 1981, the Galesburg Railroad Museum was founded and opened during Railroad Days. For a while, the city and the railroad worked together on the celebrations. In 2002, the railroad backed out of the festival and there were no yard tours. In 2003 the city worked with local groups to revamp the festival and the Galesburg Railroad Museum resumed bus tours of the yards. The Galesburg Railroad Museum has continued to provide tours of the yards since then. In 2010, the Galesburg Railroad Museum started offering a VIP tour of the yards, in which a select group of riders are allowed in the Hump Towers and Diesel Shop to see the BNSF at work. During the festival, one of the largestmodel railroad train shows and layouts in theU.S. Midwest happens at the new Galesburg High School Fieldhouse.[22]
On Labor Day weekend, Galesburg hosts theStearman Fly in.[23] Also in September are the Great Cardboard Boat Regatta and the Annual Rubber Duck Race, at Lake Storey.[24][25] On the third weekend of August, a Civil War and pre-1840s rendezvous is held at Lake Storey Park.
Amtrak, the national passenger rail system, provides service from Chicago on four trains daily. It operates theCalifornia Zephyr,Carl Sandburg,Illinois Zephyr, andSouthwest Chief daily fromChicago Union Station toGalesburg station and points west. TheSouthwest Chief and the state-supportedCarl Sandburg andIllinois Zephyr take passengers to Chicago or points west, while theCalifornia Zephyr discharges passengers only on its eastbound run since the other trains provide ample service.
Galesburg Transit provides bus service in the city. There are four routes: Gold Express Loop, Green Central Loop, Red West Loop, and Blue East Loop.[26]BNSF provides rail freight to Galesburg and operates a largehump yard 1.9 miles (3.1 km)[27] south of town.[28]
Galesburg is served byInterstate 74, which runs north toMoline in theQuad Cities region, and southeast toPeoria and beyond. TheChicago–Kansas City Expressway, also known asIllinois Route 110, runs through Galesburg. To the southwest it passes throughMacomb, the home ofWestern Illinois University, and towardQuincy, before crossing intoMissouri. Galesburg served is served by U.S. Routes34 and150. US 34 connects Galesburg toBurlington, Iowa, andChicago. It is afreeway through its entire run in Galesburg and west toMonmouth. It connects to Galesburg through threeinterchanges at West Main Street, North Henderson Street, and North Seminary Street, along with an additional interchange at Interstate 74. US 150 runs through the heart of Galesburg. It enters the city as Grand Avenue from the southeast, runs through downtown as Main Street, and exits the city as North Henderson Street. Galesburg is additionally served by Illinois StateRoute 97,Route 41,Route 164, and Knox County highways 1, 7, 9, 10, 25, 30, 31, and 40.
Galesburg Municipal Airport provides general aviation access, whileQuad City International Airport andGeneral Wayne A. Downing Peoria International Airport provide commercial flights.
Galesburg will be home to theNational Railroad Hall of Fame. Efforts are underway to raise funds for the $30 million (~$44.8 million in 2024) project, which got a major boost in 2006, when Congress passed a bill to charter the establishment. It is hoped that the museum will bring tourism and a financial boost to the community. Construction of the museum began in 2019.[29]
Galesburg has several radio stations and newspapers delivering a mix of local, regional and national news. WGIL-AM, WAAG, WLSR-FM and WKAY-FM are all owned by Galesburg Broadcasting while Prairie Radio Communications owns WAIK-AM. KZZ66 provides Weather Information for NOAA Weather Radio in the Galesburg area.
TheGalesburg Register-Mail is the result of the merger of theGalesburg Republican-Register and theGalesburg Daily Mail in 1927. The two papers trace their roots to the mid-19th century. A daily, it is the city's main newspaper, and was owned by Copley Press until it was sold to Gate House Media in 2007.The Zephyr was started in 1989, was published on Thursdays, and was the only locally owned newspaper until its final edition on December 9, 2010. TheNew Zephyr began publication in 2013. It is published every Friday. TheKnoxville Bulletin is a weekly newspaper established in 2016. It is owned by Limestone Publishing.
Galesburg is part of the Quad Cities television market.
Municipalities and communities ofKnox County, Illinois,United States | ||
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| Footnotes | ‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties | |
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