Metamora, Illinois

Metamora
Village
Metamora Historic Courthouse, from East Chatham Street
Location of Metamora in Woodford County, Illinois.
Location of Illinois in the United States
Coordinates: 40°47′N 89°22′W / 40.783°N 89.367°W / 40.783; -89.367Coordinates: 40°47′N 89°22′W / 40.783°N 89.367°W / 40.783; -89.367
Country	United States
State	Illinois
County	Woodford
Area [1]
• Total	2.05 sq mi (5.31 km2)
• Land	2.05 sq mi (5.30 km2)
• Water	0.00 sq mi (0.01 km2)
Elevation	816 ft (249 m)
Population  (2010)
• Total	3,636
• Estimate  (2019)[2]	3,699
• Density	1,807.03/sq mi (697.58/km2)
Time zone	UTC-6 (CST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC-5 (CDT)
ZIP Code(s)	61548
Area code(s)	309
FIPS code	17-48606
Wikimedia Commons	Metamora, Illinois
Website	villageofmetamora.com

Metamora is a village in Metamora Township, Woodford County, Illinois, United States. The population was 3,636 at the 2010 census. Metamora is a growing suburb of Peoria and is part of the Peoria, Illinois Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Geography[]

Metamora is located at

40°47′N 89°22′W / 40.783°N 89.367°W / 40.783; -89.367 (40.7911, -89.3624).^[3]

According to the 2010 census, Metamora has a total area of 2.204 square miles (5.71 km²), of which 2.2 square miles (5.70 km²) (or 99.82%) is land and 0.004 square miles (0.01 km²) (or 0.18%) is water.^[4]

Name[]

Metamora was founded as Hanover in 1836. It was named for Hanover, New Hampshire by a consortium of land speculators called the Hanover Company. New post office conventions required towns to have unique names,^[5] forcing the town to differentiate itself from others in Illinois named Hanover. Early post office names included Black Partridge (1836) and Partridge Point (1837). The name of the village was finally changed to Metamora in 1845 based on the character in the popular play Metamora; or, The Last of the Wampanoags.^[6] The village still has a Hanover Street and Partridge Street, reflecting these earlier names. Also, a popular location Black Partridge Park.

History[]

Metamora was settled by Yankee settlers. These were people from New England who were descended from the English Puritans who settled that region in the 1600s. The first group were settlers from Hanover, New Hampshire, organized by a company from Gilmanton, New Hampshire who named the town Hanover. A New England man named John Page scouted the area for the company and decided that this particular tract of land would be a good place for farms. When they arrived the area was a forest, with no roads and no structures. The New Hampshire settlers cleared the forest, constructed roads and built farms as well as a small town to support the farms. Other New England settlers arrived shortly thereafter from the states of Rhode Island, Vermont and Massachusetts.^[7] Metamora was the county seat of Woodford County from 1843 until 1896. The Metamora Courthouse State Historic Site, a courthouse from this period, is preserved as an Illinois state historic site. Future President Abraham Lincoln and future Vice President Adlai E. Stevenson I practiced law there.^{[citation needed]}

Demographics[]

Historical population
Census	Pop.		%±
1860	966		—
1870	762		−21.1%
1880	828		8.7%
1890	758		−8.5%
1900	758		0.0%
1910	694		−8.4%
1920	683		−1.6%
1930	707		3.5%
1940	896		26.7%
1950	1,368		52.7%
1960	1,808		32.2%
1970	2,176		20.4%
1980	2,482		14.1%
1990	2,520		1.5%
2000	2,700		7.1%
2010	3,636		34.7%
2019 (est.)	3,699	[2]	1.7%
U.S. Decennial Census[8]

As of the census^[9] of 2000, there were 2,700 people, 1,050 households, and 743 families residing in the village. The population density was 1,944.4 people per square mile (750.0/km²). There were 1,094 housing units at an average density of 787.9 per square mile (303.9/km²). The racial makeup of the village was 99.07% White, 0.26% African American, 0.19% Native American, 0.00% Asian, 0.07% from other races, and 0.33% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.63% of the population.

There were 1,050 households, out of which 30.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 61.3% were married couples living together, 8.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.2% were non-families. 27.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 17.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.44 and the average family size was 2.97.

In the village, the population was spread out, with 23.8% under the age of 18, 5.6% from 18 to 24, 23.4% from 25 to 44, 22.2% from 45 to 64, and 25.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43 years. For every 100 females, there were 87.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 81.7 males.

The median income for a household in the village was $46,691, and the median income for a family was $56,384. Males had a median income of $40,745 versus $26,505 for females. The per capita income for the village was $20,200. About 1.8% of families and 2.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 3.8% of those under age 18 and 2.0% of those age 65 or over.

Education[]

Metamora has a grade school district, a high school district, and a Catholic grade school.

The village is served by Metamora Community Consolidated School District 1 for Kindergarten through 8th grade and by Metamora Township High School for 9th through 12th.

• Metamora Grade School District 1 serves Kindergarten through Grade 8 in Metamora Township and parts of nearby Worth Township.
• Metamora Township High School District 122 operates one four-year high school serving the village, along with nearby Germantown Hills, and Spring Bay.
• St. Mary's Grade School Grades Kindergarten-8th

Events[]

At the beginning of August, Metamora hosts the annual "Metamora 4x50" race, an ultracycling event in which participants compete by riding a 50-mile loop four times.^[10]

The Redbirds are the local high school team mascot, and students participate in a range of regional sports meets including golf, volleyball, and soccer.^[11]

The Village of Metamora puts on Old Settler’s Days each year around the third week of June. It’s a century-old tradition involving carnival rides, live local music, and plenty of food. The Lincoln-Douglas 5K and 8 Mile Runs are also conducted during the weekend of Old Settler’s Days.

Government[]

Village presidents of Metamora

Years	Name	notes
1859	Samuel J. Crop	[12]
1860	James D. Perry	[12]
1861	J. M. Clark	[12]
1862-1863	Edgar Babcock	[12]
1864-1865	J. M. Clark	[12]
1866-1868	Alfred Bowen	[12]
1868-1872	?	no record available[12]
1872	Henry C. Dent	[12]
1873	John G. Perry	by June President and Trustees had resigned[12]
1873	S. W. Egbert	finished Perry's term[12]
1874	S. S. Page	[12]
1875-1877	A. H. Kinneas	citizens voted to reorganize village under general law[12]
1877	Issac Wikoff	[12]
1878	A. H. Kinneas	[12]
1879	George Painter	[12]
1880	Dr. Z. H. Whitmore	[12]
1881-1882	E. J. Avery	[12]
1883	Garmen Gisk	[12]
1884	Peter Schertz	[12]
1885	James Graham	[12]
1886-1887	E. J. Avery	[12]
1888-1890	J. L. McGuire	[12]
1891-1894	?
1894	Henry Roberts	replaced McGuire after McGuire's resignation[12]
1895	Henry Roberts	[12]
1896	Ed B. Whitmire	resigned[12]
1896	H. Weast	replaced Whitmire[12]
1897-1902	J. C. Irving	[12]
1903-1904	Frank Giehl	[12]
1905-1906	J. C. Irving	[12]
1907-1910	Frank Giehl	[12]
1911-1912	J. I. Knoblauch	[12]
1913-1931	John C. Snyder	[12]
1931-1945	Robert J. Schneider	[12]
1945-1949	Chris E. Wiedman	[12]
1949-1953	Francis Kerrigan	[12]
1953-1957	Chris E. Wiedman	[12]
1957-1961	Francis Kerrigan	[12]
1961-1969	Donald P. Smith	[12]
1969-1989	Robert Harbers Jr.	[12]
1989-1993	Dale Whittington	[12]
1993-1998	James B. Garber	died 1997 while in office[12]
1998	John Bockler	appointed Mayor Pro Tem for Garber's term[12]
1998-2001	Gene Hart	[12]
2001-2005	Matthew O'Shea	Briefly ran for U.S. Senate in 2004.[13][12]
2005-2009	Paul Kouri	[12]
2009-2012	William Belshaw	died 2012 while in office[12]
2012	John Heinz	appointed Mayor Pro Tem for Belshaw's term[12]
2012–Present	Ken Maurer	[12]

Popular culture[]

Metamora, Illinois served as the location for the fictional Edgecreek, Illinois in several independent films from Ten Thirty-One Pictures Entertainment, including The Only Way in 2004.^[14]

Metamora was cited in the 2012 film Lincoln. The President tells his Cabinet a story about the Melissa Goings murder case, which took place there in 1857.

References[]

External links[]

• Village of Metamora - official website
• Historic Illinois (Bradley University)
• Metamora Township High School