Mount Prospect, Illinois
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Mount Prospect | |
| Village | |
| Country | United States |
|---|---|
| State | Illinois |
| Region | Cook |
| Coordinates | 42°3′56″N 87°56′10″W / 42.06556°N 87.93611°W |
| Area | 10.2 sq mi (26 km2) |
| - land | 10.2 sq mi (26 km2) |
| Density | 5,513.1 /sq mi (2,129 /km2) |
| Timezone | CST (UTC-6) |
| - summer (DST) | CDT (UTC-5) |
| Postal code | 60056, 60057, 60058 |
| Area code | 847 |
   Location of Mount Prospect within Illinois
|
|
| Wikimedia Commons: Mount Prospect, Illinois | |
Mount Prospect is a village in Elk Grove and Wheeling Townships in Cook County, Illinois, about 22 miles (35 km) northwest of downtown Chicago. As of the 2000 census, the village had a total population of 56,265. In 2009, BusinessWeek magazine ranked Mount Prospect as the best place in the country to raise children.[1]
Contents |
[edit] Geography
Mount Prospect is located at 42°3′56″N 87°56′10″W / 42.06556°N 87.93611°W (42.065427, -87.936217)[2].
According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 10.2 square miles (26.5 km²), of which, 10.2 square miles (26.4 km²) of it is land and 0.04 square miles (0.1 km²) of it (0.39%) is water. At 665 feet above sea level, Mount Prospect is the highest point in Cook County.
[edit] Demographics
As of the census[3] of 2000, there were 56,265 people, 21,585 households, and 15,152 families residing in the village. The population density was 5,513.1 people per square mile (2,127.7/km²). There were 21,952 housing units at an average density of 2,151.0/sq mi (830.1/km²). The racial makeup of the village was 78.13% White, 1.82% African American, 0.20% Native American, 11.18% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 4.14% from other races, and 2.02% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 13.77% of the population.
There were 21,585 households out of which 30.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.7% were married couples living together, 7.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.8% were non-families. 25.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.60 and the average family size was 3.14.
In the village the population was spread out with 23.0% under the age of 18, 8.2% from 18 to 24, 31.3% from 25 to 44, 22.7% from 45 to 64, and 14.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 98.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.4 males.
The median income for a household in the village was $57,165, and the median income for a family was $67,262 (a census survey conducted between 2005 and 2007 estimate the current median incomes to be $65,120 and $81,574, respectively[4]). Males had a median income of $44,585 versus $32,218 for females. The per capita income for the village was $26,464. About 3.1% of families and 4.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 6.2% of those under age 18 and 3.7% of those age 65 or over.
[edit] History
 |
This article needs references that appear in reliable third-party publications. Primary sources or sources affiliated with the subject are generally not sufficient for a Wikipedia article. Please add more appropriate citations from reliable sources. (November 2008) |
Yankee farmers established homesteads in what now is the heart of downtown Mount Prospect after signing a Potawatomi treaty in 1833. New Englanders cleared and farmed the land until 1843. Many of these settlers, however, moved west for larger claims, and were replaced by German immigrants, and the area that would eventually become the first 160 acres of Mount Prospect was purchased in 1848 by Friedrich Busse.
By 1854, the Illinois and Wisconsin Railroad (later renamed the Chicago and North Western) ran through Mount Prospect, but it did not stop there until 1886. As a result, the remaining Yankee families who wanted access to broader markets moved to the neighboring railroad towns of Arlington Heights and Des Plaines. Meanwhile, more German and Irish immigrant families bought up the available homesteads.
In 1871, real estate agent Ezra Carpenter Eggleston built a four-block residential subdivision on farmland south of the railroad. Eggleston named the area "Mount Prospect" because the village sat on the highest point in Cook County.[citation needed] Eggleston went bankrupt, however, as the area failed to prosper until a railroad station was established.
In 1900, the community still fell short of the three hundred people required for incorporation. A group of small businessmen known as the Mount Prospect Improvement Association pushed for official empowerment to solicit funds through taxation. In May, 1917, the village immediately incorporated when a newborn named Norman Pohlman became Mount Prospect's 300th resident.[5]
William Busse, a local storeowner, served as the first president from 1917 to 1929. During this period, Mount Prospect experienced business expansion and population growth that increased the number of residents to 1,225 by 1930. Although the area remained predominately farmland, a small industrial district appeared north of the railroad, which included a creamery, farm machinery retailers, a hardware store, a coal yard, and a general store.[citation needed]
The village's post-World War II population growth was similar to neighboring communities, with an influx of white, middle-class Chicagoans. During the 1950s, the population increased 370% to 18,906, prompting village officials to adopt a council-manager form of government.[citation needed] In this period of growth, the Randhurst Corporation built the largest enclosed and air-conditioned mall in America at the time, with the Randhurst Center opening in 1962. A true relic of the cold war, the mall included a bomb shelter which was designed to hold the entire population of Mount Prospect.[citation needed] The village also attracted new industry and light manufacturing with the addition of the Kensington Center in 1974.
During the late 1970s, village mayor Carolyn Krause contested the Metropolitan Housing Development Corporation's efforts to rezone for the building of multifamily housing for minorities and the elderly. A federal agreement, however, allowed the construction of low-income housing on unincorporated land between Arlington Heights and Mount Prospect. Although village leaders continued to promote some light industry, they maintained Mount Prospect as a residential community made up primarily of middle class white families. Most white collar residents worked for large companies in the area, such as Centel, Mitsubishi Electronics, and Eastman Kodak, or commuted to Chicago. By 1992, the village's chamber of commerce began a downtown revitalization campaign that sought to “keep the small in small town.”[citation needed]
hi
[edit] References
- ^ "The Best Places to Raise Your Kids". Business Week. Business Week. 7 November 2008. http://www.businessweek.com/investor/content/nov2008/pi2008117_238652.htm?chan=rss_topStories_ssi_5. Retrieved 11 November 2008.
- ^ "US Gazetteer files: 2000 and 1990". United States Census Bureau. 2005-05-03. http://www.census.gov/geo/www/gazetteer/gazette.html. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
- ^ "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
- ^ http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/ADPTable?_bm=y&-context=adp&-qr_name=ACS_2007_3YR_G00_DP3YR3&-ds_name=ACS_2007_3YR_G00_&-tree_id=3307&-redoLog=false&-_caller=geoselect&-geo_id=16000US1751089&-format=&-_lang=en
- ^ Mt. Prospect history trivia
[edit] External links
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Mount Prospect, Illinois |
[edit] Maps
- Mount Prospect, Illinois is at coordinates 42°03′56″N 87°56′10″W / 42.065427°N 87.936217°WCoordinates: 42°03′56″N 87°56′10″W / 42.065427°N 87.936217°W
[edit] Government
[edit] See also
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
