Watseka, Illinois

Iroquois County

17-79228

Watseka is a city and county seat of Iroquois County to the east of the U.S. state of Illinois.

Geography

Watseka is located at 40 ° 46'34 " north latitude and 87 ° 44'11 " west longitude. The State of Indiana begin at a distance of 15 kilometers to the east. The next big cities are Chicago ( 100 km north ) and Indianapolis (170 kilometers south-east ). At the southern tip of the north-eastern Lake Michigan, the distance is about 90 kilometers. By Watseka flows of the Iroquois River. U.S. Highway 24 runs through the city, Interstate 57 is located at a distance of 20 kilometers to the west.

History

The name of the city of Watseka, which was founded in 1865, goes back to the name "Watch -e -kee ". This was the name of the wife of the settler Gurdon Saltonstall Hubbard, who belonged to the tribe of Potawatomi. Already in 1866, " Old Iroquois County Courthouse " was built in 1881 and expanded in 1927. Today it can be visited under the name " The Old Country House Museum ".

A dubious fame of the city through spiritual descriptions of the late 19th century, as the Watseka Wonder ( Watseka Wonder) are referred to and include reincarnation thoughts

Demographic data

In the census of 2009 a population of 5375 was determined, which means a decrease of 5.2% compared to 2000. The average age in 2009 was 40.1 years.

Sons and daughters of the town

• Fern Andra (real name: Vernal Edna Andrews ); (1894-1974), actress, director, screenwriter and film producer
• Henry Bacon (1866-1924), architect of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC
• Phyllis Christine Cast * 1960, author