Lacon, Illinois

Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox settlement Lacon is a city in, and the county seat of,<ref name="GR6">Template:Cite web</ref> Marshall County, Illinois, United States. It is part of the Peoria Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 1,878 at the 2020 census,<ref name="Census 2020"/> down from 1,937 in 2010.

History

Lacon was named after Laconia, a region of Greece.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Lacon was established in 1831 and is the oldest town in Marshall, Putnam, Bureau, and Stark counties.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=":0">Template:Cite book</ref> On August 6, 1831, it was laid out as the town of Columbia.<ref name=":0" /> The town grew in population after the Black Hawk War.<ref name=":0" />

A Temperance Society was formed July 28, 1836.<ref name=":0" /> A Presbyterian Church organized in 1837.<ref name=":0" /> A post-office was established in 1837.<ref name=":0" /> A newspaper called The Lacon Herald published in December 1837.<ref name=":0" /> The name changed from Columbia to Lacon on January 19, 1837.<ref name=":0" /> The town expanded with a purchase of an addition on July 3, 1837.<ref name=":0" />

The Marshall County Courthouse was built in 1840 and a county jail in 1844.<ref name=":0" /> On June 27, 1842, President Martin Van Buren paid a brief visit to the town.<ref name=":0" />

Lacon was the site of the lynching of F. W. Stewart in 1898.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Geography

Lacon in September 2018

Lacon in September 2018
The Lacon Bridge across the Illinois River, technically a continuous truss bridge

The Lacon Bridge across the Illinois River, technically a continuous truss bridge

Lacon is located in central Marshall County at Template:Coord.<ref name="GR1">Template:Cite web</ref> It is situated on the east shoreline of the Illinois River.

Illinois Route 17 passes through the city center as Ferry Street, leading west across the Illinois River on the Lacon Bridge into Sparland. Route 17 leads east Template:Convert to Wenona and west Template:Convert to Wyoming. Illinois Route 26 also runs through the center of Lacon, following Prairie Street. It leads northeast up the Illinois River valley Template:Convert to Hennepin and south along the river Template:Convert to East Peoria.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Lacon has a total area of Template:Convert, of which Template:Convert are land and Template:Convert, or 2.5%, are water.<ref name="CenPopGazetteer2022"/>

Climate

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Demographics

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File:Lacon-street-scene-153.jpg

Residential street in winter

As of the census<ref name="GR2">Template:Cite web</ref> of 2000, there were 1,979 people, 797 households, and 540 families residing in the city. The population density was Template:Convert. There were 852 housing units at an average density of Template:Convert. The racial makeup of the city was 80.09% White, 7.10% African American, 0.10% Native American, 0.20% Asian, 0.10% from other races, and 0.40% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 12.91% of the population.

There were 797 households, out of which 28.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.6% were married couples living together, 7.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.2% were non-families. 28.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 15.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.35 and the average family size was 2.87.

In the city, the population was spread out, with 21.7% under the age of 18, 7.0% from 18 to 24, 25.4% from 25 to 44, 21.9% from 45 to 64, and 24.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females, there were 88.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 83.6 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $40,203, and the median income for a family was $47,670. Males had a median income of $36,250 versus $20,694 for females. The per capita income for the city was $18,309. About 3.6% of families and 5.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 6.2% of those under age 18 and 5.2% of those age 65 or over.