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Wood River is located on the [[Mississippi River]] approximately {{convert|15|mi|km}} upstream of downtown [[St. Louis, Missouri]], among several contiguous cities and villages that have come to be known as the "Riverbend" area. The current confluence of the Mississippi and the [[Missouri River|Missouri]] rivers is just south of one of these neighboring villages, [[Hartford, Illinois|Hartford]]. Other cities making up the "Riverbend" include [[Alton, Illinois|Alton]], [[East Alton, Illinois|East Alton]], [[Godfrey, Illinois|Godfrey]], [[Roxana, Illinois|Roxana]] and [[Bethalto, Illinois|Bethalto]].
Wood River is located on the [[Mississippi River]] approximately {{convert|15|mi|km}} upstream of downtown [[St. Louis, Missouri]], among several contiguous cities and villages that have come to be known as the "Riverbend" area. The current confluence of the Mississippi and the [[Missouri River|Missouri]] rivers is just south of one of these neighboring villages, [[Hartford, Illinois|Hartford]]. Other cities making up the "Riverbend" include [[Alton, Illinois|Alton]], [[East Alton, Illinois|East Alton]], [[Godfrey, Illinois|Godfrey]], [[Roxana, Illinois|Roxana]] and [[Bethalto, Illinois|Bethalto]].


Wood River is Ghetto.
==History==
{{Unreferenced section|date=April 2010}}
Wood River is most famous for its role as being near the starting point of the [[Lewis and Clark Expedition]] of 1803–04. [[Meriwether Lewis]] declared the mouth of the Dubois River to be the expedition's official point of departure. The Dubois River is today known as the [[Wood River (Illinois)|Wood River]]—or to locals as "Wood River Creek". Their winter camp at [[Camp Dubois]] is now the site of the [[Lewis and Clark State Historic Site]], just off [[Illinois Route 3]] near [[Hartford, Illinois|Hartford]].

Many local businesses, schools, streets and bridges still bear the names Lewis, Clark or both. Wood River has a Lewis & Clark School, neighboring [[Roxana, Illinois|Roxana]] has a Clark Street, Wood River has a Lewis Street, and the bridge over the [[Mississippi River]] at [[Alton, Illinois|Alton]] is the [[Clark Bridge]]. Going further west from the Clark Bridge on [[U.S. Route 67]], a traveler will then cross the [[Missouri River]] on the [[Lewis Bridge (Missouri River)|Lewis Bridge]].

A century after Lewis & Clark's Corps of Discovery left the area, what is now Wood River was largely empty save for a few farmhouses and railroad tracks. That all changed in 1907, when [[Standard Oil]] came to town, building and opening a [[oil refinery|refinery]] in 1908. Workers began to flood into the area to work at the refinery and in 1907, A. E. Benbow, a local entrepreneur, founded '''Benbow City''', a wide open town of saloons, gambling and brothels. The '''City of Wood River''' was incorporated in 1908 and developed around Benbow City. Wood River and East Wood River merged in 1911 and annexed Benbow City in 1917.

In the 1920s, Wood River was one of the fastest growing communities in the country and had more workers than houses. To solve this problem Standard Oil bought and built many [[Sears|Sears, Roebuck and Co.]] catalog homes which can still be seen throughout the community. At the time, Standard Oil employed nearly 90% of the city's workers. In 1925, East Alton Wood River Community High School opened.

The refinery closed in 1981, and the city has proposed to clean up the site and build an office park on the property. The site of the former refinery occupies roughly 20 percent of the city's land area.

In 1926, the city opened what was then the world's largest [[swimming pool]]. However, over the years the age of the large swimming pool began to show. After serving the community for more than six decades, it was replaced by the Wood River Aquatic Center in the late 1980s. It can be found near East Alton Wood River Community High School. The Aquatic Center is a complete water recreation complex located at 670 Whitelaw Avenue. The Aquatic Center Water Complex consists of twin four-story {{convert|320|ft|m|sing=on}} [[water slide]]s that end in a {{convert|4|ft|m|adj=mid|-deep}} pool, a 50-meter lap pool, a separate diving well with one-meter and three-meter diving boards, a wading pool for small children, observation deck, men's and women's locker rooms and concession stand.

While Standard Oil no longer does business in Wood River, its legacy remains. The athletic teams of the local East Alton Wood River Community High School are known as the "Oilers".

A major employer in Wood River remains [[Olin Corporation]] in [[East Alton, Illinois|East Alton]], which is commonly referred to by locals as "the Western". This comes from one of Olin's predecessor companies, the [[Western Cartridge Company]].


== Notable people ==
== Notable people ==

Revision as of 19:25, 29 September 2015

Template:Geobox Wood River is a city in Madison County, Illinois, United States. The population is 10,424 according to the 2013 census estimate.[1]

Geography

Wood River is located at 38°51′47″N 90°5′19″W / 38.86306°N 90.08861°W / 38.86306; -90.08861 (38.863047, -90.088527).[2]

According to the 2010 census, the city has a total area of 7.15 square miles (18.5 km2), of which 6.98 square miles (18.1 km2) (or 97.62%) is land and 0.17 square miles (0.44 km2) (or 2.38%) is water.[3]

Wood River is located on the Mississippi River approximately 15 miles (24 km) upstream of downtown St. Louis, Missouri, among several contiguous cities and villages that have come to be known as the "Riverbend" area. The current confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers is just south of one of these neighboring villages, Hartford. Other cities making up the "Riverbend" include Alton, East Alton, Godfrey, Roxana and Bethalto.

Wood River is Ghetto.

Notable people

Parks

Wood River provides seven major parks with over 300 acres (1.2 km2) of facilities. Belk Park consists of 234 acres (0.95 km2) and is the largest park in the city, located on Rock Hill Road at the eastern edge of the city. In addition to the 18-hole championship golf course, the present facilities include a lake with fishing, picnic areas, a ball field, children's playground equipment, shelters, woodland and open space. Belk Park Golf Course is visited by more than 50,000 golfers each year and is recognized as one of the premier public courses in the Midwest.

Other parks include Brushey Grove Park, Central Park (home to the Aquatic Center and Roundhouse), East End Park, West End Park, the Emerick Sports Complex (formerly known as Sixth Street Park) and the Wood River Soccer and Skate Park.

Demographics

Historical population
CensusPop.Note%±
191084—
19203,4764,038.1%
19308,136134.1%
19408,1970.7%
195010,19024.3%
196011,69414.8%
197013,18612.8%
198012,446−5.6%
199011,490−7.7%
200011,296−1.7%
201010,657−5.7%
2014 (est.)10,355[4]−2.8%
U.S. Decennial Census[5]

As of the census[6] of 2000, there were 11,296 people, 4,725 households, and 2,995 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,865.2 people per square mile (719.7/km²). There were 5,001 housing units at an average density of 825.8 per square mile (318.6/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 97.57% White, 0.63% African American, 0.27% Native American, 0.45% Asian, 0.35% from other races, and 0.73% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.21% of the population.

There were 4,725 households out of which 29.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.2% were married couples living together, 13.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.6% were non-families. 31.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.36 and the average family size was 2.96.

In the city the population was spread out with 24.1% under the age of 18, 10.2% from 18 to 24, 28.7% from 25 to 44, 20.1% from 45 to 64, and 16.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 90.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.6 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $33,875, and the median income for a family was $41,688. Males had a median income of $35,097 versus $24,522 for females. The per capita income for the city was $18,098. About 13.2% of families and 14.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 21.2% of those under age 18 and 10.6% of those age 65 or over.

References

  1. ^ "2013 Census Estimate for the state of Illinois (DP-1): Wood River city, Illinois". U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved August 17, 2014.
  2. ^ "US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990". United States Census Bureau. 2011-02-12. Retrieved 2011-04-23.
  3. ^ "2010 Census U.S. Gazetteer Files for Places – Illinois". United States Census. Retrieved 2012-10-13.
  4. ^ "Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for Incorporated Places: April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2014". Retrieved June 4, 2015.
  5. ^ "Census of Population and Housing". Census.gov. Retrieved June 4, 2015.
  6. ^ "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
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