Le Roy, Illinois
Encyclopedia
Le Roy is a city in McLean County
, Illinois
, United States
. The population was 3,560 at the 2010 census.
According to the United States Census Bureau
, the city has a total area of 2.2 square miles (5.7 km²), of which, 2.2 square miles (5.7 km²) of it is land and 0.04 square mile (0.1035995244 km²) of it (0.89%) is water.
LeRoy was the first of eight towns to be laid out within the present boundaries of McLean County during the great Illinois town-founding boom which peaked in the summer of 1836. LeRoy was located on a low mound, on prairie land, where the Bloomington
to Danville
state road crossed the road from Shelbyville
to Chicago
. The chief problem confronting Gridley and Covell was a place called Munroe, which consisted of a single store run by John W. Baddeley (24 June 1794 – 19 February 1871). It was located a mile and a half southwest of the new town. Although generally said to have been laid out in 1834 or 1836, no plat of the town has yet been found. Baddeley had been born in Whitchurch, Shropshire, England, and had come to the United States with his family in 1832. He had quickly entered a thousand acres (4 km²) of land in Empire Township and seemed on his way to becoming a wealthy and important man. Baddeley was offered twenty-seven prime lots in LeRoy if he would move his store to the newly established town. Baddeley agreed. He lost most of his fortune in 1837 but continued to do business in LeRoy for many years.
, which Gridley also co-founded: Center, Cedar, Cherry, Chestnut, East, Elm, Main North, Oak, Pine, Vine, Walnut and West. Unlike Lexington, LeRoy has no South Street.
was completed and new businesses began to develop near the highway exit. Population growth between 1900 and 1950 growth was slow, just under twelve percent. However, by the end of the century the population of LeRoy had more than doubled as the town increasingly became a residential center for both Bloomington-Normal
and Champaign-Urbana.
of 2000, there were 3,332 people, 1,300 households, and 920 families residing in the city. The population density
was 1,500.3 people per square mile (579.5/km²). There were 1,367 housing units at an average density of 615.5 per square mile (237.7/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 99.25% White, 0.06% African American, 0.12% Native American, 0.09% Asian, 0.27% from other races
, and 0.21% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.20% of the population.
There were 1,300 households out of which 36.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.7% were married couples
living together, 8.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.2% were non-families. 25.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.51 and the average family size was 3.03.
In the city the population was spread out with 27.2% under the age of 18, 6.4% from 18 to 24, 31.2% from 25 to 44, 19.7% from 45 to 64, and 15.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 91.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.0 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $45,781, and the median income for a family was $53,986. Males had a median income of $35,784 versus $27,450 for females. The per capita income
for the city was $20,743. About 0.6% of families and 1.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 2.0% of those under age 18 and 3.0% of those age 65 or over.
McLean County, Illinois
McLean County is a county in the U.S. state of Illinois. McLean County is included in the Bloomington–Normal, Illinois Metropolitan Statistical Area. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 169,572, which is an increase of 12.7% from 150,433 in 2000. Its county seat is...
, 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 3,560 at the 2010 census.
Geography
Le Roy is located at 40°20′50"N 88°45′44"W (40.347168, -88.762293).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 city has a total area of 2.2 square miles (5.7 km²), of which, 2.2 square miles (5.7 km²) of it is land and 0.04 square mile (0.1035995244 km²) of it (0.89%) is water.
Founding of LeRoy
LeRoy was laid out on 28 November 1835 by Asahel Gridley (26 April 1810 – 25 January 1881) and Merritt L. Covell (30 January 1808 – 17 September 1847). The founders were Bloomington businessmen. They had served together in the Black Hawk War, Covell as a captain and Gridley as a lieutenant. Because of their brief service both men were popularly called “General.” Both would later serve in the Illinois General Assembly and Gridley would eventually become McLean County’s first millionaire.LeRoy was the first of eight towns to be laid out within the present boundaries of McLean County during the great Illinois town-founding boom which peaked in the summer of 1836. LeRoy was located on a low mound, on prairie land, where the Bloomington
Bloomington, Illinois
Bloomington is a city in McLean County, Illinois, United States and the county seat. It is adjacent to Normal, Illinois, and is the more populous of the two principal municipalities of the Bloomington-Normal metropolitan area...
to Danville
Danville
Danville may refer to:In Canada:*Danville, QuebecIn the United States:*Danville, Alabama*Danville, Arkansas*Danville, California*Danville, Georgia*Danville, Illinois*Danville, Indiana*Danville, Iowa*Danville, Kansas*Danville, Kentucky...
state road crossed the road from Shelbyville
Shelbyville
Shelbyville may refer to:United States* Shelbyville, Illinois* Shelbyville, Indiana* Shelbyville, Kentucky* Shelbyville, Michigan* Shelbyville, Missouri* Shelbyville, Tennessee* Shelbyville, TexasFictional...
to Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
. The chief problem confronting Gridley and Covell was a place called Munroe, which consisted of a single store run by John W. Baddeley (24 June 1794 – 19 February 1871). It was located a mile and a half southwest of the new town. Although generally said to have been laid out in 1834 or 1836, no plat of the town has yet been found. Baddeley had been born in Whitchurch, Shropshire, England, and had come to the United States with his family in 1832. He had quickly entered a thousand acres (4 km²) of land in Empire Township and seemed on his way to becoming a wealthy and important man. Baddeley was offered twenty-seven prime lots in LeRoy if he would move his store to the newly established town. Baddeley agreed. He lost most of his fortune in 1837 but continued to do business in LeRoy for many years.
Original Design of The Town
Like most Central Illinois Towns of the 1830s LeRoy was designed around a central “Public Circle.” The circle at LeRoy featured streets which joined the public area midway along each side and is very similar to squares platted at Mt. Hope, Danvers, and Lexington. Except for some rounding at the corners to ease the flow of traffic, the square today retains its 1835 shape. Gridley and Covell’s “Original Town” contained twenty-five blocks, almost all with eight lots, for a total of 196 lots. Early commercial growth was along Center Street just east of the square and this has continued to be the commercial heart of the town. The original Street names selected for LeRoy are virtually identical to those in the town of LexingtonLexington, Illinois
Lexington is a city in McLean County, Illinois, United States. The population was 2,060 at the 2010 census. There are two theories of its name. One says it was named for the Battle of Lexington, where General Gridley's father fought...
, which Gridley also co-founded: Center, Cedar, Cherry, Chestnut, East, Elm, Main North, Oak, Pine, Vine, Walnut and West. Unlike Lexington, LeRoy has no South Street.
First Advertisement
In November 1835 Gridley and Covell set about selling lots in their new town. They published a lengthy advertisement in the Sangamon Journal which is both the earliest description of LeRoy and a statement of why the two men had selected this location for a town. It begins with the bold heading “TOWN OF LEROY”. The reader is first told that Leroy was located on the north side of Buckle’s Grove on Salt Creek. The crossing of the two roads is noted along with being sixteen miles east of Bloomington. “The site of the town is as beautiful as can well be conceived – situated on the margin of a rolling undulating prairie on an eminence gently descending in every direction and commanding an extensive view of the surrounding country, with an open expanse of prairie scenery on the north and west relieved by occasional groves of timber. No situation can well surpass it for beauty.” They go on to write that LeRoy is “... located in the heart of a rich and flourishing settlement with a large amount of timber of quality inferior to none in the state in its immediate vicinity... it is believed that no interior town possesses superior advantages.” Several excellent mill sites were located nearby. The advertisement concludes, “A further description is deemed unnecessary, as all who wish to make investments will doubtless visit it previous to investing.” Unlike many ads of the period, the date and time of the auction of town lots is not given. Later sources relate that the lots sold well, “the bidding was spirited, and some of them sold at a high price.”Early Development of the Town
The early growth of LeRoy was slow, but the town did better than many other towns laid out in the 1830s. Only three of the eight McLean County towns laid out during the 1830s boom still survive--Danvers, LeRoy, and Lexington. During the fall of 1836, several log cabins were built in the town and Edgar Conkling erected a frame store. Gridley persuaded Hiram Buck to move to LeRoy and establish a hotel; in 1838 Buck became Post Master. In 1836 Conkling and a partner laid out a vast new addition to the town that tripled its size. The first mill, built by Elisha Gibbs on the south side of the town, burned in 1844. Buckles and Farmer responded by building a second mill that also burned. The first large brick commercial building was built for T. J. Barnett in 1858 at a cost of $3,000. By 1850, LeRoy had established itself as the second largest town in the county. It was incorporated as a town in 1853 and as a city 10 August 1874.Railroad Era
After the Civil War, the citizens of LeRoy were convinced that only a railroad could assure the prosperity of the their town and they took the lead in campaigning for what would eventually become the Indianapolis Bloomington and Western. In 1866 a meeting was held in LeRoy to generate support for the railroad. The following year, by a vote of 202 to 6, they voted to tax themselves to help pay for the railroad. Eventually they would subscribe $75,000 in bonds to the railroad. The railroad would pass through the southwest corner of the original town, with the depot located five blocks west of the square in Block 44 of Conkling’s Addition. On 1 May 1870 the first train steamed into town. Disappointment quickly followed. The bonds were promptly hypothecated, that is, used as security to borrow money. In practice this meant that the citizens of LeRoy still had to pay each year, but had no say in the running of the railroad. The new railroad found itself in deep legal and financial trouble. Service was poor and rates exorbitant. Rather than simply complain, the people of LeRoy decided to build their own railroad. The narrow gauge railway was begun in 1876. It ran down the center of Oak Street eastward to Rantoul, in Champaign County, where it joined the Illinois Central. The idea was to bring down freight rates by providing competition for the I.B. & W. Much of the labor was done by local people. Local people called it the “Pumpkin Vine,” a popular folk name for any small railroad, also applied to several railroads in Indiana. The railroad was eventually sold to the Illinois Central and widened to standard gauge. It never carried a great deal of traffic, but was the object of a great deal of local pride.In the Twentieth Century
By 1900, LeRoy had two newspapers, four churches, one hotel, two grain elevators, three doctors, three lawyers, and twenty-five stores. Its population was 1,629. Slowly LeRoy ceased to be a railroad town. Passenger service on the "pumpkin vine" ended in 1931. Passenger service on the railroad between Bloomington and Urbana ended in 1957. The depot in LeRoy was torn down in 1967, and the last train ran in 1980. Soon after that the tracks were torn up. In the early 1970s, Interstate 74Interstate 74 in Illinois
In the U.S. state of Illinois, Interstate 74 is a major northwest-southeast Interstate Highway that runs across the northern portion of the state. It runs from the Iowa state line at the Mississippi River southeast to the Indiana state line east of Danville, Illinois. This is a distance of 220.34...
was completed and new businesses began to develop near the highway exit. Population growth between 1900 and 1950 growth was slow, just under twelve percent. However, by the end of the century the population of LeRoy had more than doubled as the town increasingly became a residential center for both Bloomington-Normal
Bloomington-Normal, Illinois
Bloomington-Normal refers to the twin municipalities of Bloomington and Normal in McLean County, in Central Illinois. The combined population of the two communities in a special census in 2006 was 125,000.-Sports:...
and Champaign-Urbana.
Demographics
As of the censusCensus
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 3,332 people, 1,300 households, and 920 families residing in the city. 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 1,500.3 people per square mile (579.5/km²). There were 1,367 housing units at an average density of 615.5 per square mile (237.7/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 99.25% White, 0.06% African American, 0.12% Native American, 0.09% Asian, 0.27% 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 0.21% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.20% of the population.
There were 1,300 households out of which 36.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.7% 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, 8.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.2% were non-families. 25.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.51 and the average family size was 3.03.
In the city the population was spread out with 27.2% under the age of 18, 6.4% from 18 to 24, 31.2% from 25 to 44, 19.7% from 45 to 64, and 15.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 91.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.0 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $45,781, and the median income for a family was $53,986. Males had a median income of $35,784 versus $27,450 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 city was $20,743. About 0.6% of families and 1.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 2.0% of those under age 18 and 3.0% of those age 65 or over.
External links
- Welcome to LeRoy, Illinois
- Le Roy Community Unit School District 2
- JT & EJ Crumbaugh Memorial Library
- http://www.xmasjim.com LeRoy, Illinois Photos Artifacts and History