River Grove, Illinois

River Grove, Illinois
Village
Official name: Village of River Grove
Motto: "Village of Friendly Neighbors"
Country	United States
Coordinates	41°55′33″N 87°50′24″W / 41.92583°N 87.84000°WCoordinates: 41°55′33″N 87°50′24″W / 41.92583°N 87.84000°W
Area	2.39 sq mi (6 km^2)
- land	2.39 sq mi (6 km^2)
- water	0.00 sq mi (0 km^2)
Population	10,227 (2010)
Density	4,279.1/km^2 (11,083/sq mi)
Timezone	CST (UTC-6)
- summer (DST)	CDT (UTC-5)
Postal code	60171
Area code	708
Location in Cook County and the state of Illinois.
Location of Illinois in the United States
Wikimedia Commons: River Grove, Illinois
Website: vorg.us

River Grove is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 10,227 at the 2010 census.^[1]

Geography

River Grove is located at 41°55′33″N 87°50′24″W / 41.92583°N 87.84000°W (41.925830, -87.840135).^[2] According to the 2010 census, River Grove has a total area of 2.39 square miles (6.19 km²), all land.^[3]

History

Just like nearby Elmwood Park and Oak Park are named after their historic elm and oak trees, River Grove gets its two-part name first from the community's shallow muddy plains river, and second from the majestic groves of American ash trees lining shore of the (Aux) Des Planes River "Bottomland". Credit goes to the village's early German and Nordic settlers who, already holding a great reverence for the "Mystic Ash" through old world traditions, felt that they were home again among the familiar groves of ash trees, "just like the ones they left behind". Up until the modern day extinction event of the American ash tree species 2006–2018, River Grove was the home to Cook County's second-oldest Green Ash with an estimated age of 240 in the "Old growth" Lafrombose Woods, along with several other living examples of locally evolved White, Green, Black and Blue Ash types 110–160 years of age scattered around the village. Because the invasive Asian Emerald Ash Borer kills off young trees long before they reach seeding age of 10, scientists theorize that the "Fraxinus/ash" species will no longer be able to germinate continued generations by 2018 within the local woods, or only 12 years after EAB was first discovered in River Grove.^[4][4]

Demographics

Historical population
Census	Pop.		%±
1890	287		—
1900	333		16.0%
1910	418		25.5%
1920	464		11.0%
1930	2,741		490.7%
1940	3,301		20.4%
1950	4,839		46.6%
1960	8,464		74.9%
1970	11,465		35.5%
1980	10,368		−9.6%
1990	9,961		−3.9%
2000	10,668		7.1%
2010	10,227		−4.1%
Est. 2015	10,219	[5]	−0.1%
U.S. Decennial Census[6]

As of the census^[7] of 2000, there were 10,668 people, 4,404 households, and 2,765 families residing in the village. The population density was 4,470.4 people per square mile (1,723.4/km²). There were 4,502 housing units at an average density of 1,886.5 per square mile (727.3/km²). The racial makeup of the village was 92.26% White, 0.63% African American, 0.92% Native American, 2.03% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 3.65% from other races, and 1.37% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 9.78% of the population.

There were 4,404 households out of which 28.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.2% were married couples living together, 11.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 37.2% were non-families. 31.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.41 and the average family size was 3.08.

In the village the population was spread out with 21.3% under the age of 18, 9.5% from 18 to 24, 30.7% from 25 to 44, 22.4% from 45 to 64, and 16.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 93.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.2 males.

The median income for a household in the village was $40,050, and the median income for a family was $48,022. Males had a median income of $37,279 versus $26,781 for females. The per capita income for the village was $20,390. About 5.4% of families and 5.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 8.6% of those under age 18 and 6.6% of those age 65 or over.

Businesses

The hot dog stand Gene's & Jude's is located on Grand Avenue and Des Plaines River Road, specializing in a variation of Chicago-style hot dogs. In 2011, in a competition of 64 stands across the country, it was chosen by the magazine Every Day with Rachael Ray and the food blog Serious Eats as the best hot dog in America.^[8]

Follett, a multi-national book services company, is based in River Grove.

Transportation

River Grove has a station on Metra's North Central Service and Milwaukee District/West Line, which provide daily rail service from Chicago Union Station to Antioch and Elgin, respectively.

Education

• Triton College, site of the Cernan Earth and Space Center planetarium
• Saint Cyprian Elementary School
• River Grove Elementary School
• Rhodes Elementary School
• Bethlehem Lutheran Elementary School
• Guerin College Preparatory High School

References

1. "Profile of General Population and Housing Characteristics: 2010 Demographic Profile Data (DP-1): River Grove village, Illinois". U.S. Census Bureau, American Factfinder. Retrieved March 19, 2013.
2. "US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990". United States Census Bureau. 2011-02-12. Retrieved 2011-04-23.
3. "G001 - Geographic Identifiers - 2010 Census Summary File 1". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved 2015-12-25.
4. "The making of River Grove" (PDF).
5. "Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for Incorporated Places: April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2015". Retrieved July 2, 2016.
6. "Census of Population and Housing". Census.gov. Retrieved June 4, 2015.
7. "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
8. "The Stew". Chicago Tribune. 2011-02-02. Retrieved 2011-02-05.

External links

• Village of River Grove official website