Belvidere, Illinois

Belvidere
City
Nickname: Illinois' City of Murals
Country	United States
State	Illinois
County	Boone
Coordinates	42°15′17″N 88°50′39″W
Area	9.1 sq mi (24 km2)
- land	9.1 sq mi (24 km2)
- water	0.1 sq mi (0 km2)
Population	25,585 (2010)
Density	2,295.3 / sq mi (886 / km2)
Founded	1881
Timezone	CST (UTC-6)
- summer (DST)	CDT (UTC-5)
Postal code	61008
Area code	815
Location of Belvidere within Illinois
Wikimedia Commons: Belvidere, Illinois

Belvidere ( /ˈbɛlvɨdɪər/) is a city in Boone County, Illinois, United States. The population was 25,585 as of the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Boone County. Belvidere is part of the Rockford, Illinois Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Geography

Belvidere is located at 42°15′17″N 88°50′39″W (42.254758, -88.844093), and sits at an altitude that is approximately 800 feet (240 m) above sea level. Located in north central Illinois, Belvidere is approximately 75 miles (121 km) northwest of the downtown of Chicago, and approximately 12 miles (19 km) east of Rockford. Belvidere is divided by the Kishwaukee River.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 9.1 square miles (24 km²), of which, 9.1 square miles (24 km²) of it is land and 0.1 square miles (0.26 km²) of it (0.55%) is water. Belvidere is located in north central Illinois and is 75 miles from downtown Chicago on Routes 20, 76 and the Northern Illinois Toll road, with the Kishwaukee River dividing the town. We have an industrial community surrounded by prosperous farms. It is the County Seat with an estimated 2006 county population of over 52,000. Our altitude is 800 feet above sea level, average temperatures are: 73 degrees F in the summer; 24 degrees F in the winter, and the average rainfall is 33.3 inches.

History

The location where Belvidere exists today was first settled in 1834 by a Mr. Whitney, who named the location next to the Kishwaukee River "Elysian Fields". Census figures show 37 residents in that year. Belvidere was originally built on the north side of the river. In 1851, a railroad was built south of the river, the business section followed to the south side of the river, where Belvidere's downtown is now located.

1967 tornado

Main article: 1967 Oak Lawn tornado outbreak

On April 21, 1967, a devastating tornado struck Belvidere. Twenty-four lives were lost in the tornado, many of whom were school children. The F4 tornado struck at the end of the school day of Belvidere High School, while many children including those that attended area grade schools were waiting on school buses outside of the high school. Out of sixteen school buses outside of the high school, twelve were overturned or thrown. The tornado did US$ 22 million in damage, demolished over 100 homes, and injured over 300. In 2007 a statue was erected in front of Belvidere High School in memorial of the lives lost.

1969 Miss America

In 1969 Belvidere native Judith Anne Ford won the Miss America pageant as Miss Illinois. Ford was a Belvidere High School graduate. She was the first Miss America to go to Vietnam as part of a USO tour.

2009 explosion

On December 7, 2009 there was an explosion at the NDK America building. A truck driver from Indiana at the nearby Belvidere Oasis hotel was struck fatally by flying debris. The explosion's shock wave shook ceilings and doors in the area. No cause has been determined as of 2011.

Culture

Pettit Memorial Chapel, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, the Lampert-Wildflower House, and the James Knox Taylor designed Belvidere Post Office are listed on the National Registry of Historic Places. Parks include Spencer Park, Belvidere Municipal Park, and the Boone County Fairgrounds. Belvidere is known as the "City of Murals", for its numerous murals. The Left Behind series fictional character Rayford Steele was born there.

Services

Belvidere used to have two hospitals, St. Joseph Hospital and Highland Hospital, both of which having recently closed, with St. Joseph's closing in 1999. In 2008, SwedishAmerican Hospital opened a hospital, and in 2009, they renovated and reopened the former Highland Hospital, which has the city's only emergency department. Cemeteries include the Belvidere Cemetery (Richard S. Molony's interment site) and St. James Catholic Cemetery. The nearest general aviation airport is Poplar Grove Airport, formerly known as Belvidere Airport. Schools include Belvidere High School, part of the Belvidere Community Unit School District 100.

Business

Chrysler operates the Belvidere Assembly Plant, an auto assembly plant, originally constructed in the mid-1960s. The Belvidere plant manufactured the Dodge Neon until the spring of 2005. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the plant manufactured Chrysler Newports and Plymouth Furys. After a massive restructuring of the Belvidere plant, it is now one of the most modern auto assembly plants in the United States. It produces the Dodge Caliber, Jeep Compass and Jeep Patriot.

Other businesses with facilities or headquarters in Belvidere include:

• Belvedere Co., beauty salon equipment provider
• Carpenter Components of Illinois, part of R & D Thiel, a division of Carpenter Contractors of America
• Dean Foods ice cream factory
• General Mills food distribution facility
• PACTIV Corp., paperboard manufacturer
• Physicians Immediate Care, urgent care provider
• Practice Velocity, electronic medical records company
• Metalith, a division of Infrastructure Defense Technologies, which produces flood and explosion barriers for military and civilian use
• Nihon Dempa Kogyo's US headquarters, NDK America

Notable residents

• Matt Barr, nationally recognized quarterback at Western Illinois University
• Frank Bishop, MLB infielder for the Chicago Browns
• Emory S. Bogardus, American sociologist
• Joe Charboneau, MLB outfielder and DH for the Cleveland Indians
• Judith Ford, Miss America, 1969
• Charles Eugene Fuller, U.S. Congressman
• Amanda Levens, WNBA player
• Fred Schulte, MLB outfielder for the St Louis Browns, Washington Senators and Pittsburgh Pirates

External links

• City of Belvidere website