New Athens, Illinois

See also Athens, Illinois and Athens (disambiguation) for more places called "Athens".

New Athens is a village in St. Clair County, Illinois, United States. Based upon common usage, the 'A' is always sounded with a long vowel, rather than a short vowel by its residents, unlike the most commonly used English pronunciation of the city in Greece.

The population was 1,981 at the 2000 census. New Athens sits on the Kaskaskia River and was originally called Athens. The village was laid out in 1836 and later incorporated in 1866. The name change to New Athens came in 1868 after it was discovered there was already an Athens in another part of the state.

The area is known for the water sports recreation, including annual boat races and fishing derby. It is also the home of the Peabody River King Conservation Area. The Village is the home of New Athens Community Unit School District #60 (NACUSD 60) - New Athens Township High School Yellow Jackets. The school website, http://www.na60.org provides additional resources and references.

Since New Athens is in the Metro East area of St. Louis, it also has a place in the local brewery history. At one point New Athens was home to Mound City Brewery until the 1950s. Baseball is a big sport in the area and the village has produced a number of athletes that have played professionally. One of the favorite sons is Whitey Herzog, a former Major League Baseball outfielder and manager. Other former major leaguers with New Athens ties include Larry Stahl, Mickey Haefner, Warren Hacker, and Rich Hacker.

New Athens is home to a Roman Catholic church which is named St. Agatha's.

Geography

New Athens is located at 38°19′22″N 89°52′29″W (38.322660, -89.874811).Template:GR

According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 1.8 square miles (4.8 km²), of which, 1.7 square miles (4.5 km²) of it is land and 0.1 square miles (0.3 km²) of it (5.98%) is water.

Famous people

Whitey Herzog (St. Louis Cardinals, Kansas City Royals Manager) Richard Hacker (St. Louis Cardinals, Pitching Coach) Edwin L. Cockrell Sr. (Silver Medalist, Paralympics Athens, Greece) Edwin L. Cockrell Jr. (Youngest Village Board member in Illinois, age 19)

Demographics

As of the censusTemplate:GR of 2000, there were 1,981 people, 774 households, and 541 families residing in the village. The population density was 1,148.3 people per square mile (442.1/km²). There were 819 housing units at an average density of 474.7/sq mi (182.8/km²). The racial makeup of the village was 97.98% White, 0.76% African American, 0.15% Native American, 0.35% Asian, 0.15% Pacific Islander, and 0.61% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.56% of the population.

There were 774 households out of which 33.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.7% were married couples living together, 10.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.1% were non-families. 26.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.49 and the average family size was 3.00.

In the village the population was spread out with 23.9% under the age of 18, 9.3% from 18 to 24, 28.9% from 25 to 44, 20.7% from 45 to 64, and 17.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 88.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 83.5 males.

The median income for a household in the village was $39,625, and the median income for a family was $49,236. Males had a median income of $36,307 versus $22,462 for females. The per capita income for the village was $17,627. About 6.8% of families and 8.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 10.0% of those under age 18 and 6.7% of those age 65 or over.

External links

• http://www.newathens-il.gov
• http://www.na60.org
• http://www.city-data.com/city/New-Athens-Illinois.html
• http://illinois.hometownlocator.com/il/st.-clair/new-athens.cfm