Geography
Waukegan is located at 42°22′21″N,
87°51′41″W
(42.372471, -87.861521)GR1.
Waukegan is on the shore of Lake
Michigan, about 10 miles south of the border with Wisconsin
and 40 miles north of Chicago,
at an elevation of about 669 feet above sea level.
According to the United
States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 59.8 km²
(23.1 mi²).
59.6 km² (23.0 mi²) of it is land and 0.2 km² (0.1 mi²) of it
(0.35%) is water.
Waukegan is commonly referred to as the midpoint between Chicago
and Milwaukee,
although it is still a part of Chicagoland.
Demographics
As of the censusGR2
of 2000, there were 87,901 people, 27,787 households, and 19,450
families residing in the city. The population
density was 1,475.0/km² (3,819.8/mi²). There were 29,243
housing units at an average density of 490.7/km² (1,270.8/mi²).
The racial makeup of the city was 50.14% White,
19.21% African
American, 0.54% Native
American, 3.58% Asian,
0.06% Pacific
Islander, 22.96% from other
races, and 3.50% from two or more races. Hispanic
or Latino
of any race were 44.82% of the population.
There were 27,787 households out of which 40.4% had children
under the age of 18 living with them, 49.5% were married
couples living together, 14.6% had a female householder with
no husband present, and 30.0% were non-families. 24.2% of all
households were made up of individuals and 7.5% had someone living
alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size
was 3.09 and the average family size was 3.68.
In the city the population was spread out with 30.2% under the
age of 18, 12.1% from 18 to 24, 33.4% from 25 to 44, 16.4% from 45
to 64, and 7.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age
was 29 years. For every 100 females there were 103.1 males. For
every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 103.2 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $42,335, and
the median income for a family was $47,341. Males had a median
income of $30,556 versus $25,632 for females. The per
capita income for the city was $17,368. About 10.7% of
families and 13.9% of the population were below the poverty
line, including 18.1% of those under age 18 and 8.0% of those
age 65 or over.
History
Waukegan, first visited by Pere
Marquette in 1673, is one of the oldest communities in
Illinois. The city started as a French trading post and Potawatomi
Indian settlement known as "Little Fort". Records dating
back to 1829 tell of a treaty signed by the Potawatomis in which
they ceded all of their land in this area to the Federal
Government.
Little Fort became the County Seat of Government in 1841 by
virture of its population, replacing Libertyville.
Between 1844 and 1846, the town's population grew from 150 to 750
people. In 1849 when the town was incorporated, the population had
risen to 2,500.
Proud of the growth of their community and no longer wanting to
be characterized as "little", on March 31, 1849 the
residents of Little Fort changed the name of their town to
Waukegan, the Potawatomi word for "fort" or
"trading post".
Early settlers were initially attracted to Waukegan as a port
city and shipped produce and grain from Lake and McHenry County
farms to Chicago. The creation of the Illinois
Parallel Railroad (now the Chicago & Northwestern) in 1855
stimulated interest in Waukegan as a manufacturing center. The
town continued to grow and diversify, and Waukegan was
incorporated as a city on February 23, 1859, with an area of 5.62
square miles.
Notable people
Waukegan is considered the hometown of comedian
Jack
Benny (1894-1974), though he was born in Chicago;
a Waukegan
middle school is named for him, and a statue of him stands in
the downtown. Waukegan is the birthplace of writer Ray
Bradbury (born 1920), whose great-grandfather was mayor of the
city in 1882. The Waukegan of the 1920s appears as "Green
Town" in several of Bradbury's fictional works, particularly Dandelion
Wine. Ray Bradbury Park, named in the author's honor,
includes the bridge over the ravine featured in that novel. [1]
A science
fiction writer of a later generation, Kim
Stanley Robinson, was born in Waukegan in 1952. |
