Spring Valley, Illinois
Encyclopedia
Spring Valley is a city situated on the Illinois River
in Bureau County, Illinois
. The population was 5,398 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Ottawa
–Streator
Micropolitan Statistical Area.
According to the United States Census Bureau
, the city has a total area of 3.9 square miles (10.1 km²), of which, 3.9 square miles (10.1 km²) of it is land and 0.04 square mile (0.1035995244 km²) of it (0.51%) is water.
of 2000, there were 5,398 people, 2,158 households, and 1,467 families residing in the city. The population density
was 1,389.3 people per square mile (535.8/km²). There were 2,339 housing units at an average density of 602.0 per square mile (232.2/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 95.74% White, 0.76% African American, 0.17% Native American, 0.44% Asian, 1.70% from other races
, and 1.19% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 6.65% of the population.
There were 24,158 households out of which 30.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.4% were married couples living together, 10.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.0% were non-families. 28.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 16.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.43 and the average family size was 2.96.
In the city the population was spread out with 23.4% under the age of 18, 8.3% from 18 to 24, 27.0% from 25 to 44, 22.3% from 45 to 64, and 19.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 91.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.6 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $48,775, and the median income for a family was $50,348. Males had a median income of $56,774.85 versus $12,303.95 for females. The per capita income
for the city was $19,467.67. About 3.2% of families and 6.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 8.9% of those under age 18 and 11.7% of those age 65 or over.
fields of Northern Illinois for the express purpose of mining of coal.
The building of Spring Valley was the enterprise of Henry J. Miller, one of the first settlers of this area, and his son-in-law, Charles J. Devlin. They conceived the idea of establishing a coal metropolis, in the Valley and on the slopes of the bluffs bordering Spring Creek, in the southeastern corner of Bureau County.
They acquired the mineral rights of 5000 acres (20.2 km²) and purchased 500 acres (2 km²) on which to build the town. They secured the financial aid and cooperation of coal and railroad capitalists, E.N. Saunders of St. Paul, Minnesota, a director of the Chicago and North Western railroad, Mr. Taylor of What Cheer, Iowa
, and William L. Scott
of Erie, Pennsylvania
. Scott was a United States Senator from Pennsylvania during the administration of President Grover Cleveland
. Most of these men are remembered in the name of the streets of the town.
Two companies were formed, the Spring Valley Coal Company and the Spring Valley Townsite Co. Backed by the almost unlimited resources of the coal barons, these two companies spent over $2 million in less than four years in the building of the town.
The boring of the mine commenced in 1884 and the town surveyed and platted. Spring Valley did not grow from a crossroads country store or framehouse, it was planned with the hope it would grow to be a large city. Space was set aside for churches, schools and public buildings and broad streets were laid out. St. Paul Street became on of the widest streets in the state and in 1984 made even wider. In the residential section of the city property line, lies 25 feet (7.6 m) from curb and ample room for expansion.
Spring Valley was a boom town, its growth was so rapid that it was called the "Magic City." In less than four years, by 1888, the Chicago North Western railroad had laid a line from DeKalb, Illinois
, four mines had been sunk and the town had 3,000 people. It was brawling, boisterous place and was to remain so, more or less, until completion from the Southern Illinois coal fields forced the mine to close in late 1927. The town had gained a hard name, but had a cultural side too.
By 1888, two years after the incorporation of the town, February 8, 1886, two churches, the Congregational and the Immaculate Conception, had been built, two schools erected, the Immaculate Conception Parochial and the Lincoln Public School, which includes a two-year high school course, a newspaper (the Spring Valley Gazette), and a public library.
This library, an institution for which all towns wait many years, was established by the "Knights of Labor", the Coal Miner's Union in 1885 before the town was a year old, before even a city government was formed. This early interest in education culminated in the establishment of two schools believed to be the first of their kind in the state.
The Hall Township High and Vocational School training in shop, carpentry, printing, drafting, cooking, sewing, typing, shorthand, bookkeeping and banking. This school was constructed in 1914.
's response to the 4 August attack on the black community by displaced Italian miners ultimately revealed his support of fellow immigrants over African Americans. Another riot erupted in 1895 when recent Polish, Lithuanian, Italian, and Belgian immigrants raided the black section of town and burned, looted, and injured 14 blacks. Black victims of the riot took their attackers to court and used their status as citizens to win the case against the new immigrants.
There were numerous springs in the town itself. One in the vicinity of the once Hunter-Doherty Lumber yard was so large and fast-flowing that the Indians had an encampment there. Remains of this encampment were visible in the early days of the town. There was a large spring that flowed from the side of the hill between East St. Paul Street and East Devlin Street, down a gully into Spring Creek. Springs still feed the pond of water at the foot of Number One slag dump on East St. Paul Street. This area is now the "Coal Mine Park" owned by Spring Valley PRIDE. The first drinking water supply was piped from large springs on North Sixth Street.
So, with the springs and valleys, it was easy to conceive the name Spring Valley. There is a record that the Indians called this territory, "The Valley of the Springs."
The fact that Spring Valley is located at the point in the river valley where the high bluffs, which contains the famous stream, are closer together than anywhere else in the grain belt and that there is a minimum flood plain has made this point most attractive for the location of grain elevators. It has become the fulcrum of the grain handling industry of the upper section of the Illinois River
.
Mayor: Cliff Banks, voted in 2009
Ward 1: Dan McFadden, Mike Richetta
Ward 2: Chuck Hansen, Tom Nesti
Ward 3: Michael DeAngelo, Walt Marini
Ward 4: Rick Fusinatto, James 'Uda' Taliano
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...
in Bureau County, Illinois
Bureau County, Illinois
Bureau County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 34,978, which is a decrease of 1.5% from 35,503 in 2000. Its county seat is Princeton. Bureau County is part of the Ottawa–Streator Micropolitan Statistical Area...
. The population was 5,398 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Ottawa
Ottawa, Illinois
Ottawa is a city located at the confluence of the Illinois River and Fox River in LaSalle County, Illinois, USA. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 18,786...
–Streator
Streator, Illinois
Streator is a city in LaSalle and partially in Livingston counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. The city is situated on the Vermilion River approximately southwest of Chicago, Illinois in the prairie and farm land of north-central Illinois. It is the center of the geographic region known as...
Micropolitan Statistical Area.
Geography
Spring Valley is located at 41°19′38"N 89°12′3"W (41.327154, -89.200752).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 3.9 square miles (10.1 km²), of which, 3.9 square miles (10.1 km²) of it is land and 0.04 square mile (0.1035995244 km²) of it (0.51%) is water.
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 5,398 people, 2,158 households, and 1,467 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 1,389.3 people per square mile (535.8/km²). There were 2,339 housing units at an average density of 602.0 per square mile (232.2/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 95.74% White, 0.76% African American, 0.17% Native American, 0.44% Asian, 1.70% 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 1.19% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 6.65% of the population.
There were 24,158 households out of which 30.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.4% were married couples living together, 10.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.0% were non-families. 28.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 16.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.43 and the average family size was 2.96.
In the city the population was spread out with 23.4% under the age of 18, 8.3% from 18 to 24, 27.0% from 25 to 44, 22.3% from 45 to 64, and 19.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 91.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.6 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $48,775, and the median income for a family was $50,348. Males had a median income of $56,774.85 versus $12,303.95 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 $19,467.67. About 3.2% of families and 6.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 8.9% of those under age 18 and 11.7% of those age 65 or over.
History
Spring Valley was founded in 1884 in the heart of the coalCoal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
fields of Northern Illinois for the express purpose of mining of coal.
The building of Spring Valley was the enterprise of Henry J. Miller, one of the first settlers of this area, and his son-in-law, Charles J. Devlin. They conceived the idea of establishing a coal metropolis, in the Valley and on the slopes of the bluffs bordering Spring Creek, in the southeastern corner of Bureau County.
They acquired the mineral rights of 5000 acres (20.2 km²) and purchased 500 acres (2 km²) on which to build the town. They secured the financial aid and cooperation of coal and railroad capitalists, E.N. Saunders of St. Paul, Minnesota, a director of the Chicago and North Western railroad, Mr. Taylor of What Cheer, Iowa
What Cheer, Iowa
What Cheer is a city in Keokuk County, Iowa, United States. The population was 678 at the 2000 census.- The name What Cheer :When the future What Cheer was founded in 1865, it was named Petersburg for Peter Britton, the settlement's founder. This name was rejected by the Post Office, forcing a...
, and William L. Scott
William L. Scott
William Lloyd Scott was a Republican politician from Virginia.Scott was born in Williamsburg, Virginia. He received a law degree from George Washington University, and was employed by the federal government 1934–1961, principally as trial attorney with Department of Justice...
of Erie, Pennsylvania
Erie, Pennsylvania
Erie is a city located in northwestern Pennsylvania in the United States. Named for the lake and the Native American tribe that resided along its southern shore, Erie is the state's fourth-largest city , with a population of 102,000...
. Scott was a United States Senator from Pennsylvania during the administration of President Grover Cleveland
Grover Cleveland
Stephen Grover Cleveland was the 22nd and 24th president of the United States. Cleveland is the only president to serve two non-consecutive terms and therefore is the only individual to be counted twice in the numbering of the presidents...
. Most of these men are remembered in the name of the streets of the town.
Two companies were formed, the Spring Valley Coal Company and the Spring Valley Townsite Co. Backed by the almost unlimited resources of the coal barons, these two companies spent over $2 million in less than four years in the building of the town.
The boring of the mine commenced in 1884 and the town surveyed and platted. Spring Valley did not grow from a crossroads country store or framehouse, it was planned with the hope it would grow to be a large city. Space was set aside for churches, schools and public buildings and broad streets were laid out. St. Paul Street became on of the widest streets in the state and in 1984 made even wider. In the residential section of the city property line, lies 25 feet (7.6 m) from curb and ample room for expansion.
Spring Valley was a boom town, its growth was so rapid that it was called the "Magic City." In less than four years, by 1888, the Chicago North Western railroad had laid a line from DeKalb, Illinois
DeKalb, Illinois
DeKalb is a city in DeKalb County, Illinois, United States. The population was 43,862 at the 2010 census, up from 39,018 at the 2000 census. The city is named after decorated German war hero Johann De Kalb, who died during the American Revolutionary War....
, four mines had been sunk and the town had 3,000 people. It was brawling, boisterous place and was to remain so, more or less, until completion from the Southern Illinois coal fields forced the mine to close in late 1927. The town had gained a hard name, but had a cultural side too.
By 1888, two years after the incorporation of the town, February 8, 1886, two churches, the Congregational and the Immaculate Conception, had been built, two schools erected, the Immaculate Conception Parochial and the Lincoln Public School, which includes a two-year high school course, a newspaper (the Spring Valley Gazette), and a public library.
This library, an institution for which all towns wait many years, was established by the "Knights of Labor", the Coal Miner's Union in 1885 before the town was a year old, before even a city government was formed. This early interest in education culminated in the establishment of two schools believed to be the first of their kind in the state.
The Hall Township High and Vocational School training in shop, carpentry, printing, drafting, cooking, sewing, typing, shorthand, bookkeeping and banking. This school was constructed in 1914.
Ethnicity
Spring Valley like every other coal town came to know almost every nationality in Europe. These people came from LaSalle, Peru, Braidwood, Braceville and all mining camps of Northern Illinois. The English, Scottish, Irish, Welsh, and Cornish from the Coal fields of Great Britain, from Northern France and Belgium. Polish, and Germans, Swedes and Lithuanians from opposite shores of the Baltic Sea, Slavish peasants from Central Europe and immigrants from sunny Italy. Many arriving here attired in their native dress tagged and ticketed from their port of entry. The town also developed a black section known as the "Location." In 1905, the Bureau County Republican Newspaper stated that there were 32 distinct nationalities groups in Spring Valley.Violence
In August 1895 Spring Valley experienced the state's most destructive race riot to date, out of which came major legislation prohibiting companies from bringing in squads of men to replace existing workers. Tension between mine owners and union agitators led to a lockout in 1889. Many Italian immigrants arrived to cross the picket lines but eventually staged their own strike in 1894, encouraging the industry to bring in African Americans from the South. Relations between the two groups rapidly deteriorated, leading to the riot that stunted the growth of the city's African American community. Governor John Peter AltgeldJohn Peter Altgeld
John Peter Altgeld was the 20th Governor of the U.S. state of Illinois from 1893 until 1897. He was the first Democratic governor of that state since the 1850s...
's response to the 4 August attack on the black community by displaced Italian miners ultimately revealed his support of fellow immigrants over African Americans. Another riot erupted in 1895 when recent Polish, Lithuanian, Italian, and Belgian immigrants raided the black section of town and burned, looted, and injured 14 blacks. Black victims of the riot took their attackers to court and used their status as citizens to win the case against the new immigrants.
Name
Spring Valley lies in the valley of Spring Creek. The hills on either side of this valley were, and are to some extent today, laced with springs that still feed Spring Creek.There were numerous springs in the town itself. One in the vicinity of the once Hunter-Doherty Lumber yard was so large and fast-flowing that the Indians had an encampment there. Remains of this encampment were visible in the early days of the town. There was a large spring that flowed from the side of the hill between East St. Paul Street and East Devlin Street, down a gully into Spring Creek. Springs still feed the pond of water at the foot of Number One slag dump on East St. Paul Street. This area is now the "Coal Mine Park" owned by Spring Valley PRIDE. The first drinking water supply was piped from large springs on North Sixth Street.
So, with the springs and valleys, it was easy to conceive the name Spring Valley. There is a record that the Indians called this territory, "The Valley of the Springs."
The fact that Spring Valley is located at the point in the river valley where the high bluffs, which contains the famous stream, are closer together than anywhere else in the grain belt and that there is a minimum flood plain has made this point most attractive for the location of grain elevators. It has become the fulcrum of the grain handling industry of the upper section 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...
.
City government
The city government is aldermanic, with two aldermen to each of four wards, and a mayor, who is elected at large.Mayor: Cliff Banks, voted in 2009
Ward 1: Dan McFadden, Mike Richetta
Ward 2: Chuck Hansen, Tom Nesti
Ward 3: Michael DeAngelo, Walt Marini
Ward 4: Rick Fusinatto, James 'Uda' Taliano
Notable people
- Brian AllardBrian AllardBrian Marshall Allard is a former Major League Baseball pitcher who played for the Texas Rangers and Seattle Mariners . His fastball was 90-95 mph. He also threw a curveball, slider, and changeup...
, Major League pitcher for the Seattle MarinersSeattle MarinersThe Seattle Mariners are a professional baseball team based in Seattle, Washington. Enfranchised in , the Mariners are a member of the Western Division of Major League Baseball's American League. Safeco Field has been the Mariners' home ballpark since July...
and the Texas RangersTexas Rangers (baseball)The Texas Rangers are a professional baseball team in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, based in Arlington, Texas. The Rangers are a member of the Western Division of Major League Baseball's American League, and are the reigning A.L. Western Division and A.L. Champions. Since , the Rangers have... - Chad DurbinChad DurbinChad Griffin Durbin is a Major League Baseball relief pitcher. He has also played with the Detroit Tigers, Kansas City Royals and Cleveland Indians of the American League and the Arizona Diamondbacks and Philadelphia Phillies of the National League...
, Major League relief pitcher for the Cleveland IndiansCleveland IndiansThe Cleveland Indians are a professional baseball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. Since , they have played in Progressive Field. The team's spring training facility is in Goodyear, Arizona... - J.A. Happ, Major League pitcher for the Houston AstrosHouston AstrosThe Houston Astros are a Major League Baseball team located in Houston, Texas. They are a member of the National League Central division. The Astros are expected to join the American League West division in 2013. Since , they have played their home games at Minute Maid Park, known as Enron Field...
. - Billy PapkeBilly PapkeBilly Papke was an American boxer....
, world boxing champion. - Joe KrabbenhoftJoe KrabbenhoftJoseph "Joe" Krabbenhoft is an American professional basketball player.-College career:Krabbenhoft played college basketball at the University of Wisconsin with the Wisconsin Badgers from 2005-09....
, College Basketball Standout at the University of Wisconsin.