Posen, Illinois

Posen, Illinois
County:	Cook
Township:	Bremen
Incorporated:	Village, 1900
President:	Donald W. Schupek
ZIP code(s):	60469
Area code(s):	708
Change from 1990:	up 11.93%
Density:	4,010.5/mi² (1,547.7/km²)
Area:	1.2 mi² (3.1 km²)
Per capita income:	${{{pci}}} (median: ${{{mhi}}})
Home value:	${{{mhv}}} (median: ${{{mnhv}}})
Demographics (2000) White Black Hispanic Asian {{{white}}}% {{{black}}}% {{{hispanic}}}% {{{asian}}}% Islander Native Other {{{islander}}}% {{{native}}}% {{{other}}}%

Posen is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. Posen is the German-language name for the western Polish city of Poznań. The population was 4,730 at the 2000 census.

Geography

Posen is located at 41°37′42″N 87°41′9″W (41.628234, -87.685723).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 1.2 square miles (3.1 km²), all of it land.

History

The area that is now Posen was settled by farmers, mainly of Dutch and German origin, in the second half of the 19th century. In 1893 a Chicago-based real estate firm highered 75 agents in the Polish-speaking areas of Germany to sell land to Poles seeking to emigrate to the United States. Over the next few years the village emerged as a place largely inhabited by factory workers, mainly employed at nearby Harvey, Illinois, who also had room on their lots for gardens. In 1894 the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago established a mission to serve the Polish residents of Posen, which was elevated to parish status as St. Stanislaus the Martyr in 1898. In the 1930s the population of Posen was 98% of Polish origin, and in 1960 only 0.1% of the population was identified in the census as being not white, or 4 of the 4,513 inhabitants. In 1990 Posen, having fallen to 4,226 inhabitants, was still 94.5% white, a large portion of this population being Polish. About 4% of the population identified as being both white and Hispanic, for an overall 7.3% or 310 people identifying as being Hispanic. In 2010 there would be 3,171 residents of Posen identify as Hispanic, represneting the expansion of the Hispanic population to 10 times what it had been 20 years before (or an increase of more than 900% over 10 years). In the same time period the number of African American residents of the village has increased from 60 (or 1.4% of the population) to 1,035. This means that the percentage rate of growth of the African American population of Posen over the last 20 years has been greater than that of the Hispanic population. While as late as 2004 the Encyclopedia of Chicago still referred to Posen as "predominantly Polish American" even then an actual examination of the 2000 census ancestry report would have shown that only a quarter of the population claimed to have Polish ancestry.

Demographics

In 2010 Posen had a population of 5,987. The median age was 31. The racial makeup of the population was 28.1% non-Hispanic white, 17.1% non-Hispanic black, 0.6% Native American, 0.4% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 20.9% reporting some other race and 3.7% reporting two or more races. 53.0% of the population was Hispanic or Latino of any race including the 50.5% of the population that identified as being ethnically Mexican.

2010 estimates of ancestries put the Polish percentage in Posen at around 7% of the population.

According to 2005 census estimates, there were 5,500 people, 1,627 households, and 1,173 families residing in the village. The population density was 4,010.5 people per square mile (1,547.7/km²). There were 1,694 housing units at an average density of 1,436.3 per square mile (554.3/km²). The racial makeup of the village was 78.29% White, 8.73% African American, 0.34% Native American, 0.23% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 9.77% from other races, and 2.58% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 22.98% of the population, including 21.2% of Mexican descent.

The top four non-Hispanic, non-African American ancestries reported in Posen as of the 2000 census were Polish (25.7%), German (22.2%), Irish (17.4%) and Italian (7.8%).

There were 1,627 households out of which 37.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.7% were married couples living together, 13.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.9% were non-families. 22.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.91 and the average family size was 3.47.

In the village the population was spread out with 28.9% under the age of 18, 9.0% from 18 to 24, 32.1% from 25 to 44, 18.4% from 45 to 64, and 11.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females there were 101.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.5 males.

The median income for a household in the village was $49,470, and the median income for a family was $57,727. Males had a median income of $40,417 versus $26,078 for females. The per capita income for the village was $17,323. About 5.0% of families and 7.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 11.3% of those under age 18 and 9.2% of those age 65 or over.

Government

Posen is in Illinois' 1st congressional district.

There are three primary bodies of local government in Posen, the Village of Posen, the Posen Park District, and the Posen Library District.

The Village of Posen operates under a Mayor-Trustee form of government, with an elected Village President, elected Clerk, and six elected Trustees. These elected officials comprise the Village Board. The current members of the board are:(http://www.villageofposen.org) Village President: Donald W.Schupek (Term 2009-2013) Village Clerk: Veronica Grabowski (Term 2009-2013) Trustee: Frank Podbielniak (Term 2009-2013) Trustee: Donald Schnering Jr. (Term 2009-2013) Trustee: David Niemeyer (Term 2009-2013) Trustee: Jeffrey Casillas (Term 2007-2011) Trustee: Richard Klapkowski (Term 2007-2011) Trustee: Charles Spindler (Term 2007-2011)

The Posen Park District was established in 1959 and oversees parks and recreational outlets for Posen. The park district is a General Park District, rather than a Recreation Department, and is independent of the Village Board. The governing body of the Posen Park District is a five member Board of Commissioners, elected at large to overlapping terms of six years. Vacancies in office are filled by appointment by the remaining members of the board until the next General Election, where the remainder of the vacant term comes up for election. The current members of the Board of Commissioners are:(http://www.posenparkdistrict.org)

President: Terrence "TJ" Whitcomb (Elected: 2009, Term expires 2011) Vice President: Mark Murphy (Elected: (Appointed in 2009), Next election: 2011 - Full term) Commissioner: Al Chmielak (Elected: (Appointed in 2010), Next election: 2011 - 4 year vacancy} Commissioner: Rey Lopez (Elected: (Appointed in 2010), Next election: 2011 - 2 year vacancy) Commissioner: Jerry Haran (Elected: (Appointed in 2010), Next election: 2011 - 2 year vacancy)

The Posen Library District was established in 1987, and oversees library services for Posen. The Library District is a General Library District, and is independent of the Village Board. The Posen Library District does not operate its own library, opting to contract with a neighboring library district for services. Currently,the contract agreement is with the Markham Library District. The governing body of the Posen Library District is a seven member Board of Trustees, elected at large to overlapping terms. The current Trustees are:

President: Donald Schnering Jr. Vice President: Patricia Brownlow Treasurer: Valerie Dorsey Secretary: Kathleen Miller Trustee: Raymond Badali Trustee: Michelle Devlin Trustee: Raymond Juarez (http://www.markhamlibrarydistrict.org)