Godfrey, Illinois
Encyclopedia
Godfrey is a village
Village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...

 in Madison County
Madison County, Illinois
Madison County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. Madison County is part of the Metro-East region of the St. Louis Metro Area. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 269,282, which is an increase of 4.0% from 258,941 in 2000. The county seat is Edwardsville, home to...

, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. The population was 18000 at the 2010 census. Godfrey is located within the Greater St. Louis area, which has a population of 2,812,896.

Geography

Godfrey is located at 38°56′53"N 90°12′10"W (38.948097, -90.202886).

According to the United States Census Bureau
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...

, the village has a total area of 36.2 square miles (93.8 km²), of which 34.5 square miles (89.4 km²) is land and 1.7 square miles (4.4 km²) (4.67%) is water.

The southwestern boundary of the village is a wall of limestone bluffs along the Mississippi River. Approximately 20 miles upstream is the mouth of the Illinois River
Illinois River
The Illinois River is a principal tributary of the Mississippi River, approximately long, in the State of Illinois. The river drains a large section of central Illinois, with a drainage basin of . This river was important among Native Americans and early French traders as the principal water route...

 where it joins the Mississippi. The Missouri River empties into the Mississippi ten miles downstream. Godfrey retains the status of a village. The Village of Godfrey is a mixture of small business, agriculture, and upper middle class housing developments.

History

The village is named for Captain Benjamin Godfrey, a native New Englander, who arrived in the area in 1832. 1838 saw the establishment of the Monticello Female Seminary, later renamed Monticello College. Captain Godfrey, the father of eight daughters, was an advocate of higher education for women and made a large donation of funds and land for the college. Monticello operated as a two year college for women until the campus was sold in 1970 to establish Lewis and Clark Community College. Monticello's final class graduated in 1971. Godfrey is built on an ancient Indian burial ground and hometown of Clayton Madison, for whom the county is named.

Nearby, at the mouth of the Missouri River, is the starting point for the expedition of Lewis and Clark
Lewis and Clark Expedition
The Lewis and Clark Expedition, or ″Corps of Discovery Expedition" was the first transcontinental expedition to the Pacific Coast by the United States. Commissioned by President Thomas Jefferson and led by two Virginia-born veterans of Indian wars in the Ohio Valley, Meriwether Lewis and William...

. According to Money Magazine, in 2009 Godfrey, Illinois was ranked the 32nd most livable village.

Demographics

As of the census
Census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...

of 2000, there were 16,286 people, 6,427 households, and 4,698 families residing in the village. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...

 was 472.3 people per square mile (182.4/km²). There were 6,694 housing units at an average density of 194.1 per square mile (75.0/km²). The racial makeup of the village was 94.06% White, 4.04% African American, 0.31% Native American, 0.65% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.19% from other races
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...

, and 0.74% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.98% of the population.

There were 6,427 households out of which 29.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 62.2% were married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...

 living together, 8.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.9% were non-families. 23.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.46 and the average family size was 2.90.

In the village the population was spread out with 22.6% under the age of 18, 6.3% from 18 to 24, 26.8% from 25 to 44, 26.5% from 45 to 64, and 17.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females there were 95.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.1 males.

The median income for a household in the village was $50,342, and the median income for a family was $57,971. Males had a median income of $43,017 versus $27,870 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...

 for the village was $25,292. About 3.2% of families and 5.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 5.1% of those under age 18 and 2.5% of those age 65 or over.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK