Greenville, Illinois

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For other places with the same name, see Greenville.

Image:BondCountyCourthouse GreenvilleIL.jpg Greenville is a city in Bond County, Illinois, United States, 46 miles east of St. Louis. The population was 6,955 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Bond County^GR6.

Greenville is home to Greenville College, a private Christian college.

1 Noted People and Events
2 Places of Interest
3 Schools
4 Local Businesses
5 Geography
6 Demographics
7 External links

[edit] Noted People and Events

Greenville is the site of the annual Agape Music Festival, a Christian music festival. It also plays host to the World Powered Parachute Championships.

Greenville is the birthplace of politician Job Adams Cooper. Biochemist Edwin G. Krebs lived here from the age of 6 to 15. Anti-boxing activist Manuel Velazquez retired in Greenville and died in 1994. The Christian band Jars of Clay went to school and formed at Greenville College, which is noted for its Contemporary Christian music program.

[edit] Places of Interest

Greenville is notable for its old-fashioned downtown and many antique shops.

A stone marks the place where Abraham Lincoln made a speech while running for office.

There are many Sears Kit Homes dotted around the town-- houses made from kits bought from the Sears and Roebuck catalog.

Greenville College is home to a museum dedicated to the sculptures of Richard Bock [1], who was an associate of Frank Lloyd Wright.

The Greenville Public Library was established as a Carnegie library and is on the National Register of Historic Places.

The American Farm Heritage Museum, a museum which aims to preserve agricultural history, is being built in Greenville. The museum will feature exhibits of tractors and other farm-related memorabilia and recently held an Outhouse Festival.[2]

On one of his tours across America in his motorhome, sportscaster John Madden stopped in Greenville and enjoyed his time at a truck stop so much that he declared it the "John Madden Hall of Fame." The truck stop has since been torn down.

[edit] Schools

In addition to Greenville College, Greenville is home to Bond County Community Unit #2 High School (also known as Greenville High School), home of the Comets. The high school principal, appointed in 2005, is Kevin Cochrane.

Greenville Junior High, home of the Bluejays, and Greenville Elementary School, home of the Rockets. As of the 2006 school year, Greenville Elementary was selected as a NASA Explorer school.

Country music star Gretchen Wilson is a native of the nearby town of Pocahontas and attended Greenville High School. Students from Pocahontas and Sorento attend high school in Greenville.

[edit] Local Businesses

Notable businesses include Nevco Scoreboards[3], the largest privately held manufacturer of scoreboards in the world[4]. DeMoulin Bros.[5] is one of the world's largest makers of band uniforms; the company's collections were visited by the magician David Copperfield.[6] Other large employers include Carlisle-Syntec[7], Bass-Mollett Publishers, and FCI Greenville, a federal prison.

In October 2006, Kansas-based Alternative Energy Sources Incorporated announced that they would locate an ethanol plant in Greenville. The plant will be built on 100 acres in the John W. Kelsey Business & Technology Park.[8]

Greenville Regional Hospital[9], called Utlaut Memorial Hospital until 2005, has consistently been ranked by Solucient as one of the top 100 best small hospitals in the nation.

The town's media includes "The Best Country in the Country," radio station WGEL, and the Greenville Advocate, a newspaper which is printed twice-weekly.

Greenville Airport and Governor Bond Lake serve the hobbyists in the area.

[edit] Geography

Greenville is located at 38°53′22″N, 89°24′13″W (38.889537, -89.403618)^GR1.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 13.5 km² (5.2 mi²), all land.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 6,955 people, 2,019 households, and 1,280 families residing in the city. The population density was 516.4/km² (1,337.0/mi²). There were 2,171 housing units at an average density of 161.2/km² (417.3/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 82.40% White, 15.44% African American, 0.62% Native American, 0.47% Asian, 0.37% from other races, and 0.69% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.46% of the population.

There were 2,019 households out of which 30.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.7% were married couples living together, 10.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.6% were non-families. 33.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 17.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.28 and the average family size was 2.90.

In the city the population was spread out with 15.9% under the age of 18, 18.1% from 18 to 24, 32.7% from 25 to 44, 18.7% from 45 to 64, and 14.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 143.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 152.5 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $35,650, and the median income for a family was $45,557. Males had a median income of $26,105 versus $20,889 for females. The per capita income for the city was $17,326. About 8.8% of families and 11.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 14.0% of those under age 18 and 9.9% of those age 65 or over.