Editing Steger, Illinois

{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2024}}
{{Infobox settlement
| name = Steger, Illinois
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| settlement_type = [[List of towns and villages in Illinois|Village]]
| image_skyline = 
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| image_flag = 
| image_seal = Steger Logo.png
| seal_type = logo
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| image_map = File:Cook County Illinois Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Steger Highlighted.svg
| mapsize = 
| map_alt = 
| map_caption = Location of Steger in Cook County, Illinois.
| image_map1 = Illinois in United States (US48).svg
| mapsize1 = 
| map_alt1 = 
| map_caption1 = Location of Illinois in the United States
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| coordinates = {{coord|41|28|20|N|87|37|04|W|display=inline,title}}
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| grid_name = 
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| subdivision_type = Country
| subdivision_name = United States
| subdivision_type1 = State
| subdivision_name1 = Illinois
| subdivision_type2 = Counties
| subdivision_name2 = [[Will County, Illinois|Will]], [[Cook County, Illinois|Cook]]
| subdivision_type3 = Townships
| subdivision_name3 = [[Bloom Township, Cook County, Illinois|Bloom (Cook)]], [[Crete Township, Will County, Illinois|Crete (Will)]]
| subdivision_type4 = 
| subdivision_name4 = 
| established_title = Founded
| established_date = 1896
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| leader_title = Mayor
| leader_name = 
| leader_title1 = Village President/Mayor
| leader_name1 = William Joyce
| total_type = 
| unit_pref = Imperial
| 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 = 8.82
| area_total_sq_mi = 3.40
| area_land_km2 = 8.82
| area_land_sq_mi = 3.40
| area_water_km2 = 0.00
| area_water_sq_mi = 0.00
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| elevation_footnotes = 
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| elevation_ft = 702
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| population_as_of = [[2020 United States census|2020]]
| population_footnotes = 
| population_total = 9584
| pop_est_as_of = 
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| population_density_km2 = 1087.08
| population_density_sq_mi = 2815.51
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| timezone1 = [[North American Central Time Zone|CST]]
| utc_offset1 = -6
| timezone1_DST = [[North American Central Time Zone|CDT]]
| utc_offset1_DST = -5
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| postal_code_type = [[ZIP code|ZIP Code(s)]]
| postal_code = 60475
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| area_code = [[Area code 708|708]]
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| blank_name = [[Federal Information Processing Standards|FIPS code]]
| blank_info = 17-72520
| blank1_name = 
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| blank_name_sec2 = 
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| blank1_name_sec2 = 
| blank1_info_sec2 = 
| blank2_name_sec2 = Wikimedia Commons
| blank2_info_sec2 = Steger, Illinois
| website = {{URL|http://villageofsteger.org/}}
| footnotes = 
}}
                   
'''Steger''' is a village in [[Cook County, Illinois|Cook County]] and [[Will County, Illinois]], United States.<ref>{{cite book|last=McClellan|first=Larry A.|title=The Encyclopedia of Chicago|year=2004|publisher=The Chicago Historical Society|location=Chicago|isbn=0226310159|pages=783}}</ref> It is {{convert|35|mi}} south of [[Chicago]] and had a population of 9,584 at the [[2020 United States census|2020 census]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Steger village, Illinois|url=https://data.census.gov/cedsci/profile?g=1600000US1772520|website=[[United States Census Bureau]]|accessdate=February 23, 2021}}</ref>

== History ==
The settlement was founded in 1891 by [[Chicago]] real estate interests<ref>{{cite journal |title= Classified advertisement FOR SALE - AT COLUMBIA HEIGHTS|journal=The Chicago Daily Tribune|date=October 15, 1891|pages=19}}</ref> and initially named Columbia Heights in honor of the 1893 [[World's Columbian Exposition]] which the City of Chicago had been preparing to host since 1889.<ref>{{cite book|last=Appelbaum|first=Stanley|title=The Chicago World's Fair of 1893: A Photographic Record|year=1980|publisher=Dover Publications, Inc.|location=New York|isbn=048623990X|pages=[https://archive.org/details/chicagoworldsfai00appe/page/1 1]|url=https://archive.org/details/chicagoworldsfai00appe/page/1}}</ref>

John Valentine Steger built a piano factory there on a parcel of land south of [[Chicago Heights, Illinois|Chicago Heights]] that was sited immediately west of the [[Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad]] tracks and bordered by the tracks, Vincennes Avenue (now [[Illinois Route 1|Chicago Road]]) and 33rd and 34th Streets.<ref>{{cite journal |title= Among Architects and Builders - The Usual Quantity of Projects for Apartments and Flats|journal=The Chicago Daily Tribune|date=December 6, 1891|pages=28}}</ref>  By 1904, the factory covered {{convert|23|acre|ha|abbr=on}} and had a capacity of sixteen thousand pianos per year.<ref>{{cite journal |title= PIANO MAGNATE'S GUESTS AT AN ALL-NIGHT FEAST - Chicago Heights Club Entertains in Honor of John V. Steger's Fiftieth Birthday|journal=The (Chicago) Inter Ocean|date=March 25, 1904|pages=1}}</ref>

Steger was incorporated in 1896 with 324 residents, at which time John Steger agreed to pay $400 toward incorporation costs with the understanding that the town would change its name to Steger, and he subsequently served two terms as the village's board president. He avoided the issues that had plagued [[George Pullman]] in his [[Pullman, Chicago|"model town"]] by encouraging private home ownership and commerce.<ref>{{cite book|last=Stevenson|first=William Wallace|title=Past and Present of Will County|year=1907|publisher=[[S. J. Clarke Publishing Company]]|location=Chicago|pages=236}}</ref>  By 1920, Steger was called the "piano capital of the world",<ref>{{cite book|last=Grossman|first=James R., Ann Durkin Keating and Janice L. Reiff |title=The Encyclopedia of Chicago|year=2004|publisher=The University of Chicago Press|location=Chicago|isbn=0226310159|pages=783}}</ref> producing more than a hundred pianos a day. After demand diminished for pianos, the plant closed in 1928.<ref>{{cite journal |title= Steger Residents Will Seek New Source of Steam Supply|journal=The Chicago Heights Star|date=August 10, 1928|pages=1}}</ref>

==Geography==
According to the 2010 census, Steger has a total area of {{convert|3.45|sqmi|sqkm|2}}, all land.<ref name="census-g001">{{cite web
  |url=http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/DEC/10_SF1/G001/1600000US1772520
  |title=G001 - Geographic Identifiers - 2010 Census Summary File 1
  |access-date=December 25, 2015
  |publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]]
  |archive-url=https://archive.today/20200213045200/http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/DEC/10_SF1/G001/1600000US1772520
  |archive-date=February 13, 2020
  |url-status=dead
  }}</ref>

==Demographics==
{{US Census population
|align=left
|1900= 712
|1910= 2161
|1920= 2304
|1930= 2985
|1940= 3369
|1950= 4358
|1960= 6432
|1970= 8104
|1980= 9269
|1990= 8584
|2000= 9682
|2010= 9570
|2020= 9584
|align-fn=center
|footnote=U.S. Decennial Census<ref name="DecennialCensus">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census/decade.html|title=Decennial Census of Population and Housing by Decades|publisher=[[US Census Bureau]]|access-date=}}</ref><br> 2010<ref name=2010CensusP2/> 2020<ref name=2020CensusP2/>
}}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|+Steger village, Illinois – Racial and ethnic composition<br><small>{{nobold|''Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos may be of any race.''}}</small>
!Race / Ethnicity <small>(''NH = Non-Hispanic'')</small>
!Pop 2000<ref name=2000CensusP004>{{Cite web|title=P004 Hispanic or Latino, and Not Hispanic or Latino by Race – 2000: DEC Summary File 1 – Steger village, Illinois|url=https://data.census.gov/table/DECENNIALSF12000.P004?g=1600000US1772520|website=[[United States Census Bureau]]}}</ref>
!Pop 2010<ref name=2010CensusP2>{{Cite web|title=P2 Hispanic or Latino, and Not Hispanic or Latino by Race – 2010: DEC Redistricting Data (PL 94-171) – Steger village, Illinois|url=https://data.census.gov/cedsci/table?q=p2&g=1600000US1772520&tid=DECENNIALPL2010.P2|website=[[United States Census Bureau]]}}</ref>
!{{partial|Pop 2020}}<ref name=2020CensusP2>{{Cite web|title=P2 Hispanic or Latino, and Not Hispanic or Latino by Race – 2020: DEC Redistricting Data (PL 94-171) – Steger village, Illinois|url=https://data.census.gov/cedsci/table?q=p2&g=1600000US1772520&tid=DECENNIALPL2020.P2|website=[[United States Census Bureau]]}}</ref>
!% 2000
!% 2010
!{{partial|% 2020}}
|-
|[[Non-Hispanic or Latino whites|White]] alone (NH)
|8,053
|6,103
|style='background: #ffffe6; |4,536
|83.17%
|63.77%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |47.33%
|-
|[[Non-Hispanic or Latino African Americans|Black or African American]] alone (NH)
|606
|1,818
|style='background: #ffffe6; |2,481
|6.26%
|19.00%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |25.89%
|-
|[[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]] or [[Alaska Native]] alone (NH)
|28
|8
|style='background: #ffffe6; |12
|0.29%
|0.08%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.13%
|-
|[[Asian Americans|Asian]] alone (NH)
|46
|96
|style='background: #ffffe6; |74
|0.48%
|1.00%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.77%
|-
|[[Native Hawaiian]] or [[Pacific Islander Americans|Pacific Islander]] alone (NH)
|6
|0
|style='background: #ffffe6; |2
|0.06%
|0.00%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.02%
|-
|[[Race and ethnicity in the United States census|Other race]] alone (NH)
|16
|7
|style='background: #ffffe6; |56
|0.17%
|0.07%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.58%
|-
|[[Multiracial Americans|Mixed race or Multiracial]] (NH)
|146
|181
|style='background: #ffffe6; |388
|1.51%
|1.89%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |4.05%
|-
|[[Hispanic and Latino Americans|Hispanic or Latino]]
|781
|1,357
|style='background: #ffffe6; |2,035
|8.07%
|14.18%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |21.23%
|-
|'''Total'''
|'''9,682'''
|'''9,570'''
|style='background: #ffffe6; |'''9,584'''
|'''100.00%'''
|'''100.00%'''
|style='background: #ffffe6; |'''100.00%'''
|}

{{clear|left}}
[[File:Chicago and Eastern Illinois 265 (GP35) passing the Steger, IL Depot on November 26, 1965 (27482523861).jpg|thumb|Steger depot, 1965]]

As of the [[2020 United States census|2020 census]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Explore Census Data |url=https://data.census.gov/cedsci/profile?g=1600000US1772520 |access-date=June 28, 2022 |website=data.census.gov}}</ref> there were 9,584 people, 4,014 households, and 2,351 families residing in the village. The population density was {{Convert|2,815.51|PD/sqmi|PD/km2}}. There were 4,293 housing units at an average density of {{Convert|1,261.16|/sqmi|/km2}}. The racial makeup of the village was 51.93% [[White (U.S. Census)|White]], 26.46% [[African American (U.S. Census)|African American]], 0.53% [[Native American (U.S. Census)|Native American]], 0.81% [[Asian (U.S. Census)|Asian]], 0.03% [[Pacific Islander (U.S. Census)|Pacific Islander]], 9.46% from [[Race (United States Census)|other races]], and 10.77% from two or more races. [[Hispanic (U.S. Census)|Hispanic]] or [[Latino (U.S. Census)|Latino]] of any race were 21.23% of the population.

There were 4,014 households, out of which 29.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 39.21% were married couples living together, 13.23% had a female householder with no husband present, and 41.43% were non-families. 34.98% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.75% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.07 and the average family size was 2.31.

The village's age distribution consisted of 22.1% under the age of 18, 9.7% from 18 to 24, 24% from 25 to 44, 26.3% from 45 to 64, and 17.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41.5 years. For every 100 females, there were 117.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 112.1 males.

The median income for a household in the village was $49,492, and the median income for a family was $67,639. Males had a median income of $48,100 versus $29,272 for females. The [[per capita income]] for the village was $26,564. About 8.4% of families and 12.9% of the population were below the [[poverty line]], including 18.0% of those under age 18 and 5.0% of those age 65 or over.

==Parks and recreation==
[[File:Steger Fire Department c 1920.jpg|thumb|Steger Fire Department, circa 1920]]

Steger has two main parks: Harold Hecht (Fireman's) Park and Veteran's Park.<ref>{{cite book|last=Storey  |first=Edward H|title=A Park and Recreation Plan for the Village of Steger, Illinois|year=1961|publisher=Recreation and Parks Field Service - The University of Illinois|location=Urbana|pages=21–2}}</ref>

==Government==
Steger is divided between two congressional districts. The area in Cook County is in [[Illinois's 2nd congressional district]], while the area in Will County is in the [[Illinois' 11th congressional district|11th district]].

==Transportation==
[[Pace (transit)|Pace]] provides bus service on Route 358 connecting Steger to downtown Chicago Heights and other destinations.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rtachicago.org/uploads/files/general/RTA-System-Map.pdf|title=RTA System Map|access-date=January 28, 2024}}</ref>
Steger is a planned stop on Metra's SouthEast Service, which has been unserved by commuter rail since 1935.

==Notable people==
* [[Terry Boers]], sports columnist and talk show host
* [[Luke Butkus]], assistant coach for NFL's [[Jacksonville Jaguars]] and [[University of Illinois]]
* [[Flora Ciarlo]], Illinois state legislator
* [[Mike Downey (columnist)|Mike Downey]], Los Angeles and Chicago newspaper columnist
* [[Debbie Halvorson]], former United States Congresswoman
* [[John Holecek]], linebacker for NFL's [[Buffalo Bills]] and [[San Diego Chargers]]

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Steger, Illinois}}
*{{official website|http://www.villageofsteger.org/}}

{{Cook County, Illinois}}
{{Will County, Illinois}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Villages in Cook County, Illinois]]
[[Category:Villages in Will County, Illinois]]
[[Category:Chicago metropolitan area]]
[[Category:Populated places established in 1896]]
[[Category:1896 establishments in Illinois]]
[[Category:Majority-minority cities and towns in Cook County, Illinois]]
[[Category:Majority-minority cities and towns in Will County, Illinois]]
[[Category:Villages in Illinois]]