Editing Oregon, Illinois

{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2023}}
{{Infobox settlement
| name               = Oregon
| settlement_type    = [[City (Illinois)|City]]
| image_skyline      = OregonILaop.jpg
| image_caption      = Downtown Oregon, IL
| motto              = Gem of the Rock River Valley
| pushpin_map        = USA Illinois Ogle County#USA Illinois
| pushpin_map_caption = Location within Ogle County
| coordinates        = {{coord|42|00|52.59|N|89|19|57.13|W|display=inline,title}}
| subdivision_type   = Country
| subdivision_name   = [[United States]]
| subdivision_type1  = State
| subdivision_name1  = [[Illinois]]
| subdivision_type2  = County
| subdivision_name2  = [[Ogle County, Illinois|Ogle]]
| subdivision_type3  = Township
| subdivision_name3  = [[Oregon–Nashua Township, Illinois|Oregon-Nashua]]
| established_title  = Founded
| established_date   = 1833
| leader_party       = R
| leader_title       = [[Mayor]]
| leader_name        = Ken Williams
| area_total_sq_mi   = 2.00
| area_land_sq_mi    = 1.93
| area_water_sq_mi   = 0.07
| elevation_footnotes = <ref name="usgs">{{cite web|url={{Gnis3|415165}}|title=USGS detail on Newtown|access-date=2007-10-21}}</ref>
| elevation_ft       = 709
| elevation_max_ft   = 
| elevation_min_ft   = 
| population_footnotes = 
| population_total   = 3604
| population_as_of   = [[2020 United States census|2020]]
| population_density_sq_mi = 1870.26
| timezone1          = [[Central Time Zone|CST]]
| utc_offset1        = −6
| timezone1_DST      = [[Central Time Zone|CDT]]
| utc_offset1_DST    = −5
| postal_code_type   = Postal code
| postal_code        = 61061
| area_code_type     = 
| area_code          = [[Area code 815|815]]
| website            = {{URL|http://cityoforegon.org/}}
| pop_est_as_of      = 
| pop_est_footnotes  = 
| population_est     = 
| unit_pref          = Imperial
| blank_name         = [[Federal Information Processing Standards|FIPS code]]
| blank_info         = 17-56484
| area_footnotes     = <ref name="CenPopGazetteer2020">{{cite web|title=2020 U.S. Gazetteer Files|url=https://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/gazetteer/2020_Gazetteer/2020_gaz_place_17.txt|publisher=United States Census Bureau|accessdate=March 15, 2022}}</ref>
| area_total_km2     = 5.17
| area_land_km2      = 4.99
| area_water_km2     = 0.18
| population_density_km2 = 722.10
| image_flag         =Flag of the City of Oregon IL.jpg
| image_map          = File:Ogle County Illinois Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Oregon Highlighted.svg
| map_caption        = Location of Oregon in Ogle County, Illinois.
}}
'''Oregon''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|ɒr|ɪ|ɡ|ɒ|n}} {{respell|ORR|ig|on}}) is a city in and the [[county seat]] of [[Ogle County, Illinois]], United States.<ref name="GR6">{{cite web|url=http://www.naco.org/Counties/Pages/FindACounty.aspx |access-date=2011-06-07 |title=Find a County |publisher=National Association of Counties |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110531210815/http://www.naco.org/Counties/Pages/FindACounty.aspx |archive-date=May 31, 2011 }}</ref>  The population was 3,721 in 2010.<ref name=2010census>U.S. Census Bureau [https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20151023151502/http://factfinder.census.gov/faces/nav/jsf/pages/index.xhtml Population, Age, Sex, Race, Households]</ref>

==History==
The land Oregon, Illinois was founded on was previously held by the [[Potawatomi]] and [[Ho-Chunk|Winnebago]] Indian tribes. In fact, later, settlers discovered that the area contained a large number of Indian mounds, most {{convert|10-12|ft|m}} in diameter.<ref name=library1/>

Ogle County was a [[New England]] settlement.  The original founders of Oregon and [[Rochelle, Illinois|Rochelle]] consisted entirely of settlers from [[New England]].  These people were "[[Yankee]]s", that is to say they were descended from the [[English American|English]] [[Puritans]] who settled [[New England]] in the 1600s.  They were part of a wave of [[New England]] farmers who headed west into what was then the wilds of the [[Northwest Territory]] during the early 1800s.  Most of them arrived as a result of the completion of the [[Erie Canal]].  When they arrived in what is now Bureau County there to forest and prairie ecosystems, the [[English American|New Englanders]] laid out farms, constructed roads, erected government buildings and established post routes.  They brought with them many of their [[Yankee]] [[New England]] values, such as a passion for education, establishing many schools as well as staunch support for abolitionism.  They were mostly members of the [[Congregationalist Church]] though some were [[Episcopal Church (United States)|Episcopalian]].  Culturally Bureau County, like much of northern [[Illinois]] would be culturally very continuous with early [[New England]] culture, for most of its history.<ref>The History of Ogle County, Illinois: Containing a History of the County, Its Cities, Towns, Etc., a Biographical Directory of Its Citizens, War Record of Its Volunteers in the Late Rebellion, General and Local Statistics, Portraits of Early Settlers and Prominent Men, History of the Northwest, History of Illinois page 326</ref>

The first European to visit the land was pioneer John Phelps. Phelps first visited the area in 1829 and returned in 1833 hoping to find a suitable site to settle.<ref name=library1/> Phelps found a forest and river-fed valley which impressed him enough that he built his cabin there. Other pioneers followed Phelps to this site, and Phelps helped create the first church, school, grocery store, blacksmith shop, and post office in Oregon.<ref name=oregon>[http://www.oregonil.com/about-oregon-/history Oregon History] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120227234127/http://www.oregonil.com/about-oregon-/history |date=2012-02-27 }}", ''City of Oregon'', official site. Retrieved 4 July 2007.</ref> By December 4, 1838, due in large part to the efforts of Phelps and his brothers B.T. Phelps and G.W. Phelps, the land was claimed, subdivided and certified by the Ogle County clerk as Oregon City.<ref name=library1>Behrens, pp. 13-14.</ref> The name Oregon means "River of the West".<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Rees |first1=John, E. |title=Oregon-Its Meaning, Origin and Application |journal=The Quarterly of the Oregon Historical Society |date=1920 |volume=21 |issue=4 |pages=317–331 |jstor=20610168 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/20610168 |access-date=22 February 2021}}</ref>

In 1839, Oregon City was renamed Florence after a visitor compared the scenic beauty of the Rock River to the Italian city of the same name. Florence was used for only about three years when the city opted to revert to its original name, without the word "city," in 1843. By 1847 the town had a [[general store]], [[sawmill]], [[ferry]], 44 [[household]]s and a population of 225.<ref name=library1/> The population continued to grow through the 1850s and 1860s, a fact demonstrated by the increasing number of churches in those decades and the building of a railroad in 1871. Industry followed the railroad and Oregon became home to an oatmeal mill, furniture factory, chair factory, [[flour mill]] and a [[foundry]], Paragon Foundry, which operated until the 1960s.<ref name=library1/>

The city of Oregon was first organized under an act of the [[Illinois General Assembly]] which was approved on April 1, 1869. By the 1870s the town of Oregon and nearby area was home to around 2,000 people.<ref name=library1/> James Gale was elected the city's first [[mayor]] on March 21, 1870, and four other men, Christian Lehman, W.W. Bennett, George M. Dwight and George P. Jacobs, were chosen as [[aldermen]]. On March 29, 1873, the city was reorganized because of an act of the Illinois legislature which allowed the municipalities to incorporate as cities and villages. In 1920, the [[Oregon City Hall]] was constructed on the perimeter of the [[Oregon Commercial Historic District|city's commercial district]] and it has been the center of city government ever since.<ref name=novak1>Novak, pp. 34-35.</ref> The [[Ogle County Courthouse]] was built in 1891 on the corner of Washington Street and Fourth Street ([[Illinois Route 64]] and [[Illinois Route 2]]).

Between 1908 and 1911, on a site just north of the city, sculptor [[Lorado Taft]] erected a 50-foot tall statue he had designed and originally named ''The Eternal Indian''.  Located on a bluff overlooking the [[Rock River (Illinois)|Rock River valley]], the sculpture is now known as the [[Black Hawk Statue]], named after [[Black Hawk (Sauk leader)|Black Hawk]], a chief of the [[Sauk people|Sauk Indian]] tribe that once inhabited the area.

The city of Oregon annexed nearby [[Daysville, Illinois]], in 1993.

==Geography==
According to the 2010 census, Oregon has a total area of {{convert|2.028|sqmi|sqkm|2}}, of which {{convert|1.96|sqmi|sqkm|2}} (or 96.65%) is land and {{convert|0.068|sqmi|sqkm|2}} (or 3.35%) is water.<ref name="census-g001">{{cite web
  |url=http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/DEC/10_SF1/G001/1600000US1756484
  |title=G001 - Geographic Identifiers - 2010 Census Summary File 1
  |access-date=2015-12-27
  |publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]]
  |archive-url=https://archive.today/20200213050658/http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/DEC/10_SF1/G001/1600000US1756484
  |archive-date=2020-02-13
  |url-status=dead
  }}</ref>

==Demographics==
{{US Census population
|1880= 1088
|1890= 1566
|1900= 1577
|1910= 2180
|1920= 2227
|1930= 2376
|1940= 2825
|1950= 3205
|1960= 3732
|1970= 3539
|1980= 3559
|1990= 3891
|2000= 4060
|2010= 3721
|2020= 3604
|footnote=U.S. Decennial Census<ref name="DecennialCensus">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census.html|title=Census of Population and Housing|publisher=Census.gov|access-date=June 4, 2015}}</ref>
}}
As of the [[census]] of 2010, there were 3,721 citizens, 1,630 households, and 941 families residing in the city.<ref name=2010census /> The population density was {{convert|1,998.5|PD/sqmi|PD/km2|sp=us|adj=off}}. There were 1,789 housing units at an average density of {{convert|880.6|/sqmi|/km2|sp=us|adj=off}}. The racial makeup of the city was 95.9% [[White (U.S. Census)|White]], .9% [[African American (U.S. Census)|African American]], 0.1% [[Native American (U.S. Census)|Native American]], 0.8% [[Asian (U.S. Census)|Asian]], 0% [[Pacific Islander (U.S. Census)|Pacific Islander]], 1.2% from [[Race (U.S. Census)|other races]], and 1.1% from two or more races.  [[Hispanic (U.S. Census)|Hispanic]] or [[Latino (U.S. Census)|Latino]] of any race were 4.2% of the population.<ref name=2010census />

There were 1,630 households, out of which 22.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 42.3% were husband-wife families, 10.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 42.3% were nonfamily households.<ref name=2010census /> 36.3% of householders lived alone, 20.1% of which were female and 16.1% male. The average household size was 2.18 and the average family size was 2.83.<ref name=2010census />

In the city, the age distribution of the population shows 79.6% over the age of 18, with 19.6% aged 65 years or older. The median age was 43.5 years.<ref name=2010census />

The median income for a household in the city was $47,971 and the median income for a family was $60,625. Males employed full-time had a median income of $49,958 versus $29,792 for females. The [[per capita income]] for the city was $24,832.<ref name=2010census_IEO>U.S. Census Bureau [https://archive.today/20200212211753/http://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=ACS_11_5YR_DP03 Income, Employment, Occupation]</ref>

11.9% of all residents lived below the poverty level, including 11.6% of families with related children under the age of 18. Of families with a female householder with related children under 18 years and no husband present, 34.4% lived below the poverty line.<ref name=2010census_IEO />

==Culture==
Oregon has a rich history in the arts. As of Feb. 2021, renovations are planned for the historic building known as the Oregon Coliseum, which will create a new museum and cultural center.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Lyga |first1=Breane |title=City Council approves Oregon Coliseum renovations |url=https://wrex.com/2020/03/10/city-council-approves-oregon-coliseum-renovations/ |access-date=22 February 2021 |date=March 10, 2020}}</ref>

The community hosts several major events a year, including the annual Autumn On Parade<ref>{{cite web |title=Autumn On Parade |url=https://cityoforegon.org/autumn-on-parade/ |website=city of oregon |access-date=22 February 2021}}</ref> Candlelight Walk<ref>{{cite web |title=Candlelight Walk |url=http://www.candlelightwalk.org/ |website=Candlelight Walk |access-date=22 February 2021}}</ref> ShamROCK The Town<ref>{{cite web |title=ShamROCKIN' Oregon |url=https://cityoforegon.org/featured-events/shamrockin-oregon-march-13th-2021/ |website=city of oregon |access-date=22 February 2021}}</ref> and more

===The Arts===
In 1898, sculptor [[Lorado Taft]] founded the [[Eagle's Nest Art Colony]] on a bluff overlooking the Rock River, north of Oregon. Taft and his art colony began to exert an influence on the city of Oregon and its culture. The artists who gathered during the summer at Eagle's Nest would leave a mark on the city below them. One result of the colony's location near Oregon was the inclusion of a second story [[art gallery]] in the [[Oregon Public Library]] when it was built in 1908. Art colony members were required to contribute to the local culture by giving art shows, lectures and plays. In 1904, Taft created ''The Blind'' and then began focusing on more monumental works including ''[[The Eternal Indian]]'' located just north of Oregon in Illinois' [[Lowden State Park]]. Several other Taft works are located in and around Oregon, including [[The Soldiers' Monument (Oregon, Illinois)|The Soldiers' Monument]] on the courthouse lawn.<ref name=novak3>Novak, pp. 55-56.</ref>

==Notable people==
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* [[Norene Arnold]], All-American Girls Professional Baseball League player
* [[Neva Burright]], Illinois harness racing driver and first woman to win a [[Grand Circuit]] race
* [[James H. Cartwright]], Illinois Supreme Court justice
* [[Sherman Landers]], 5th place [[Athletics at the 1920 Summer Olympics – Men's triple jump|triple jumper]] for the [[1920 Summer Olympics]] Team
* [[Frank Loomis]], gold medal and world record-setting [[Athletics at the 1920 Summer Olympics – Men's 400 metres hurdles|400m hurdler]] for the [[1920 Summer Olympics]] Team
* [[Frank Orren Lowden]], the 25th Governor of Illinois, kept an estate on the river just outside Oregon
* [[Fred Roat]], third baseman for the [[Pittsburgh Alleghenys]] and [[Chicago Colts]]
* [[Lorado Taft]], sculptor and friend of [[Frank Lloyd Wright]]
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* Alan Cargerman, youngest appointed judge in Illinois' history
-->

==See also==
* [[Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad Depot (Oregon, Illinois)|Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad Depot]]
* [[Chana School]]
* [[Lowden State Park]]
* [[Oregon Public Library]]
* [[Pinehill Inn]]
* [[The Soldiers' Monument (Oregon, Illinois)|The Soldiers' Monument]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Behrens, Marsha, et al. "[https://web.archive.org/web/20080216001638/http://gis.hpa.state.il.us/hargis/PDFs/123428.pdf Oregon Public Library]", ([[PDF]]), National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form, 27 March 2003, HAARGIS Database, ''Illinois Historic Preservation Agency''. Retrieved 4 July 2007.
* Novak, Alice. "[http://gis.hpa.state.il.us/hargis/PDFs/223428.pdf Oregon Commercial Historic District]", ([[PDF]]), National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form, 12 July 2006, HAARGIS Database, ''Illinois Historic Preservation Agency''. Retrieved 4 July 2007.

==External links==
{{Commons category|Oregon, Illinois}}
{{NIE Poster|Oregon (Illinois)|Oregon, Illinois}}
*[http://www.oregonil.com/ Oregon official website]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20040830052341/http://oregon.lib.il.us/ Oregon Public Library website]
*[http://www.ocusd.net/education/district/district.php?sectionid=1 Oregon School District Homepage]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070708020938/http://www.lib.niu.edu/ipo/1998/ihy981218.html Oregon-Mt. Morris School merger]

{{Ogle County, Illinois}}
{{Illinois county seats}}
{{Geographic Location
|Center=Oregon
|East=[[Chana, Illinois|Chana]]
|Northeast=[[Stillman Valley]]
|North=[[Byron, Illinois|Byron]]
|Northwest=[[Mount Morris, Illinois|Mount Morris]]}}
{{authority control}}

[[Category:Oregon, Illinois| ]]
[[Category:Cities in Ogle County, Illinois]]
[[Category:Cities in Illinois]]
[[Category:County seats in Illinois]]
[[Category:Populated places established in 1833]]
[[Category:Rockford metropolitan area, Illinois]]
[[Category:1833 establishments in Illinois]]