Peotone, Illinois

Template:Geobox Peotone is a village in Will County, Illinois, United States. The population was 3,385 at the 2000 census. The city is about 43 miles (69 km) south of Chicago. The city is home to the Peotone High School Blue Devils.

Geography

Peotone is located at 41°19′46″N 87°47′42″W (41.329445, -87.795138).Template:GR

According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 1.5 square miles (3.9 km²) all of it is land.

Main roads are Illinois Route 50, Interstate 57, Wilmington-Peotone Road, Rathje Road, and Joliet Road.

Peotone is about 9 miles west of Beecher, 6 miles north of Manteno, 6 miles south of Monee. It is around 20 miles east of Wilmington.

Demographics

As of the censusTemplate:GR of 2000, there were 3,385 people, 1,268 households, and 930 families residing in the village. The population density was 2,232.4 people per square mile (859.8/km²). There were 1,299 housing units at an average density of 856.7 per square mile (330.0/km²). The racial makeup of the village was 97.93% White, 0.27% African American, 0.06% Native American, 0.47% Asian, 0.30% from other races, and 0.97% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.36% of the population.

There were 1,268 households out of which 37.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.1% were married couples living together, 10.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.6% were non-families. 22.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.67 and the average family size was 3.17.

In the village, the population was spread out with 27.9% under the age of 18, 8.0% from 18 to 24, 29.3% from 25 to 44, 23.2% from 45 to 64, and 11.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 93.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.7 males.

The median income for a household in the village was $56,404, and the median income for a family was $61,768. Males had a median income of $47,500 versus $26,636 for females. The per capita income for the village was $23,415. About 0.7% of families and 0.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 0.9% of those under age 18 and 3.5% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Peotone Community Unit School District 207-U is one of the geographically largest districts in the State of Illinois. Elementary schools for students in kindergarten through fourth grade are located in Peotone, Frankfort, and Manhattan, and all fifth grade students attend the Connor Shaw Center in Peotone.

Peotone Junior High School serves grades six through eight, and has been located in the former Peotone High School building since the 2001-2002 school year; the high school continues to utilize some of the outdoor sports facilities at the junior high. Several referendums have been orchestrated to build a new sports complex at the new high school, but have failed; these have also included plans to build on to the existing high school and junior high in order to resolve overcrowding.

In 2000, a new high school was built on the northwest side of Peotone. While the school was designed for a capacity of 600 students, its student enrollment for the 2010-2011 fiscal year was approximately 687. The school mascot of the high school, junior high, and Connor Shaw is the Blue Devil. Wilton Center's mascot is the Roadrunner, Green Garden's mascot is the Griffin, and Peotone Elementary's mascot is the Eagle.

As of 2008, Peotone schools had a total enrollment of 2,107 students in kindergarten through 12th grade. Enrollment since then has gradually increased.

Sports

Peotone has a little league baseball, a small soccer league, and a football program. Every fall, a soccer tournament called OMSA is held with towns from the area participating. The city also sports one semi-professional team, the Peotone Pirates.

Club	Sport	Year Founded	League	Venue	Championships
Peotone Pirates	Baseball	2008	South Side Wooden Bat League	Peotone Park	None
Club	Sport	Year Founded	League	Venue	Championships
Peotone	Soccer	1993	OMSA	Peotone Park District	39

Registered historic places

• Downtown Peotone Historic District
• Peotone Mill

Other places

• Circle K
• Gary's Arcade
• JJC-S
• McDonald's
• Subway
• Tyler's Playground
• Speedway
• Dollar General
• Shell
• Casey's General Store
• Phillips 66
• Charter One
• Heritage FS
• Doc's Drugs
• VIP Pizza
• Margaritavi
• Pizza Stone

Proposed South Suburban Airport

Peotone is the proposed site of a new airport to serve the Chicago area. As is often the case with the construction of airports, the proposal is controversial. In 1967, the Chicago Tribune ran several editorials regarding the need for a third airport in Peotone.

Proponents point out that the existing facilities at O'Hare and Midway airports cannot meet the transportation needs of the Chicago area, and that the development will bring economic prosperity to Chicago Southland, an area deprived of economic development, as well as the rest of the state. Politicians backing plans include former Governor Rod Blagojevich; Representatives Jesse Jackson Jr. and Henry Hyde; Congressman Jerry Weller, the former representative of the district in which the airport would be located; and Will County Executive Larry Walsh. The efforts were also supported by then-state senator Barack Obama.

Opponents to the plan are concerned about the environmental disruption that would be caused by new airport construction and the roads that would be needed to support it. They also point out that Gary/Chicago International Airport in Gary, Indiana already exists, is closer to Chicago than Peotone, and is already undergoing expansion to support heavier use with minimal environmental impact. Politicians opposing the Peotone airport plan include Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley, former Gary Mayor Scott King, Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels, and Representative Pete Visclosky from Indiana.

Jesse Jackson Jr. is the head of a private group looking to take ownership of the proposed airport. A state-backed IDOT plan is more friendly to the citizens of the actual footprint of the proposed airport by giving local control of the airport to county officials.

In science fiction novel "The Boy Who Would Live Forever" (2004), which was the fifth in the Gateway series, Frederik Pohl has a character fly out of "Peotone International Airport". Pohl lives in Palatine, Illinois.

News

• A new building was erected at the Fairgrounds this spring.
• Local Oak Forest band, Ferrari Cake, has released a single titled "Peotone". It was written about memories from their childhood while spending time in Peotone.

External links

• Village of Peotone, Illinois
• Peotone website, privately owned
• Shut This Airport Nightmare Down Website
• Peotone School District