Wood River (Illinois)
Madison County
17-83271
Wood River is a city in Madison County in the southwest of the U.S. state of Illinois. In 2000, Wood River had 11,296 inhabitants.
Wood River is located on the Mississippi River and is part of the Metro - East region called that includes the eastern part of Illinois lying in the metropolitan area of St. Louis in Missouri.
Geography
Wood River is located at 38 ° 51'47 " north latitude and 90 ° 05'19 " west longitude. The city covers an area of 15.5 km ², which consists exclusively of land area.
Wood River is located at the mouth of Wood River in the Mississippi River, which forms the border to Missouri. The city is situated between Alton in the northwest and Hartford in the south.
In the Wood River Illinois State Route 3 meet, the Illinois State Route 111 and the Illinois State Route 143 to each other. East of the city runs the highway-like developed Illinois State Route 255, which is an extension of Interstate 255 and forms the eastern ring road of the metropolitan area of St. Louis.
Wood River is located 30.8 km north-northeast of St. Louis, Illinois ' capital Springfield is located 133 km north of Wood River.
History
In the winter of 1803-1804 Camp DuBois was near the present city of Wood River is the starting point for the Lewis and Clark expedition, which had the later acquisition of land prepared by white settlers. Until then, the country had been largely left to the natives and a few trappers and traders.
While in the 19th century, many cities in the region developed by leaps and bounds, given in the territory of today's railway tracks and individual farm houses the image of human settlement. Only with the establishment of a refinery of Standard Oil in 1907 changed all that many workers of the enterprise settled in the area. In the same year founded A. E. Benbow, a local businessman, the city Benbow City. In the neighborhood of the city of Wood River was founded in 1908 and a town. Their population grew and the city began to dominate the region. In 1917 Benbow City was incorporated into Wood River.
In the 1920s, Wood River was one of the fastest growing cities in the country and there were more workers than houses. Therefore, the Standard Oil Company bought a set prefab from the mail-order catalog from Sears.
Today, Wood River is a well developed city with small companies, shops, schools and churches. Not far from the junction of the Illinois State Routes 3 and 143 today is a replica of Camp DuBois, where is commemorated annually at the time of the French trappers and the Lewis and Clark Expedition.
Demographic data
In the census of 2000 a population of 11,296 was determined. These distributed to 4,725 households in 2,995 families. The population density was 728.1 / km ². There were 5,013 residential buildings, which corresponded to a housing density of 323.1 / km ².
The population consisted in 2000 of 97.6 % White, 0.6 % African American, 0.3% Native Americans, 0.5 % Asian and 0.4 % other. 0.7 % said to be descended from at least two of these groups. 1.2% of the population were Hispanics who belonged to the various of the aforementioned groups.
24.1% were under 18, 10.2 % from 18 to 24, 28.7 % 25-44, 20.1% from 45 to 64 and 16.9 % 65 and older. The average age was 36 years. For every 100 females were statistically 90.3 men in the over 18 -year-olds 86.6.
The average income per household was $ 33,875, the average family income is $ 41,688. Men's income averaged $ 35,097, and for women about $ 24,522. The per capita income amounted to $ 18,098. Around 13.2 % of families and 14.8 % of the total population were below the poverty line income.
Rail transport
Wood River is located on the edge of the railway junction of St. Louis. Due to the location of the Union Pacific Railroad railway line from St. Louis to Chicago leads. Here are the previous sections of the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railway, and the Chicago and Alton Railroad, together with the Kansas City Southern.
The Norfolk Southern uses the previous stretches of Alton and Eastern Railroad and the St. Louis and Alton Railway to St. Louis the Federal yard in Alton and the Wiles yard in Hartford.
The redundant lines of the Illinois Terminal Railroad are closed. Also, the last used by the Gateway Western Railway Marshalling Yard Wood River yard of the Chicago and Alton Railroad is shut down.