Channahon, Illinois
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Channahon is a village located in Will County, Illinois. As of the 2000 census, the village had a total population of 7,344.
Its name meaning "Meeting of the Waters" in the language of the area's original Potawatomi inhabitants, Channahon is located at the confluence of the Des Plaines and Kankakee rivers, where they form the Illinois River. The Illinois and Michigan Canal (including several locks) runs through most of the village, where it is fed by the water of the DuPage River. Later in the 19th century, the Santa Fe Railroad was laid through the eastern portions of the city. In the late 1920s, U.S. Highway 6 came through Channahon; Interstates 80 and 55 followed in the 1960s (although I-80 runs approximately two miles to the north of the village limits).
There are several local legends surrounding Channahon. The first is that the indians settled in the area because of the 'safety' from tornadoes. The legend was that since Channahon was at a lower elevation than all of the surrounding towns, the tornadoes would 'fly over' the area. The second is that US6 running through the center of town was built over the site of an old Potawatomi horse race track. Third, is that Abraham Lincoln spent the night in a house near the intersection of US6 & Bluff Road. The fourth surrounds some Indian Mounds on the far south side of town. A settler decided to build near Potawatomi burial mounds on the river. The Potawatomi tried in vain to drive him from the land. Late one night, the settler noticed a rival indian tribe coming across the river to attack the Potawatomis. He alerted the Potawatomi tribe & helped drive off the invaders. As a reward for saving their village, the tribe granted his family the right to continue living near the burial mounds and the land could never be sold, only given to another family that was worthy of guarding the grounds. The burial mounds are said to contain the remains of the chief mounted on his horse.
Its abundance of transportation links makes its historically small size somewhat of a puzzle. One possible explanation is that, although the area has been settled by whites since the 1830s, the village did not formally incorporate until 1897, and disincorporated fifteen years later (to avoid liability in an early automobile accident). It did not reincorporate until 1963. While Channahon has a concentration of businesses along US6, it has no real downtown, and throughout the first three quarters of the 20th century it was primarily a working-class bedroom community for neighboring Joliet.
Serious development finally began in the 1970s, as the village's proximity to two trunk line interstates and white flight from Joliet resulted in both industrial growth (a Mobil oil refinery, two petrochemicals plants, a gigantic soybean oil production facility, and numerous support businesses for the freight hauling industry) and residential development. The village also saw an influx of population from eastern Kentucky in the wake of the closure of many of that area's coal mines. Beginning in the 1990s, development in Channahon took on a more middle-class bent, with subdivisions sprouting in the former gravel quarrying and dairy farming areas near the I&M Canal in the village's western areas, and a widely acclaimed public golf course opening in the hilly southeastern area of the village near I-55. A major natural gas pipeline to the Chicago area from Canada had its southern terminus built in Channahon in 2000, bringing even more jobs and desperately needed tax revenue (Channahonians are noted for their aversion to taxation) to the now fast-growing village.
Geographic Data
Channahon is located at 41°26'17" North, 88°12'59" West (41.438156, -88.216520)Template:GR. According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 20.4 km² (7.9 mi²). 18.7 km² (7.2 mi²) of it is land and 1.7 km² (0.7 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 8.50% water.
Demographics
As of the censusTemplate:GR of 2000, there are 7,344 people, 2,279 households, and 1,989 families residing in the village. The population density is 393.3/km² (1,019.0/mi²). There are 2,346 housing units at an average density of 125.6/km² (325.5/mi²). The racial makeup of the village is 97.22% White, 0.42% African American, 0.11% Native American, 0.27% Asian, none Pacific Islander, 0.95% from other races, and 1.02% from two or more races. 3.64% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There are 2,279 households out of which 50.8% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 78.6% are married couples living together, 5.4% have a female householder with no husband present, and 12.7% are non-families. 10.0% of all households are made up of individuals and 2.8% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 3.22 and the average family size is 3.47.
In the village the population is spread out with 32.8% under the age of 18, 7.2% from 18 to 24, 33.8% from 25 to 44, 20.9% from 45 to 64, and 5.3% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 34 years. For every 100 females there are 105.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 102.7 males.
The median income for a household in the village is $71,991, and the median income for a family is $74,481. Males have a median income of $52,479 versus $31,692 for females. The per capita income for the village is $22,867. 1.7% of the population and 1.8% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 1.7% of those under the age of 18 and 3.8% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.