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Decatur is the largest city and the county seat of Macon County in the U.S. state of Illinois. The city, known as "The Soybean Capital of the World" was founded in 1836 and is located in Central Illinois along the Sangamon River and Lake Decatur. In 2000, its population was 81,860.
With its central Illinois location it forms the center of the Decatur, Illinois Metropolitan Statistical Area, (population 125,000) which includes surrounding towns of Argenta, Bement, Bethany, Blue Mound, Cerro Gordo, Clinton, Dalton City, Elwin, Findlay, Forsyth, Harristown, Illiopolis, Kirksville, La Place, Macon, Maroa, Monticello, Moweaqua, Mt. Auburn, Mt. Zion, Niantic, Oakley, Oreana, Stonington, Sullivan, and Warrensburg.
This town is named after War of 1812 naval hero Stephen Decatur, Jr.
Decatur has many tree-lined streets, older restored homes, and historic residential districts and restored downtown commercial areas. In the transition from a manufacturing to a service economy, Decatur has experienced some population shifting outward in the area as decentralization has led much of the area's new homebuilding activity to the surrounding areas.
The city symbol is the Transfer House, an early 20th century Victorian structure originally located in the center of town where the city's mass transit lines met. The Transfer House was moved in 1963 to save it from destruction as roads were being built for the increasing automobile traffic.
Decatur was awarded the All-America City Award in 1960.
The city's motto is "Decatur, We Like it Here". The old motto was "The Pride of the Prairie". "The Soybean Capital of the World" is the unofficial motto.
Geography
Decatur is located at (39.851636, -88.944228).
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 118.8 km² (45.9 mi²). 107.6 km² (41.6 mi²) of it is land and 11.2 km² (4.3 mi²) of it (9.42%) is water.
Lakes include Lake Decatur, formed in 1923 by the damming of the Sangamon River
History
Decatur was the first home in Illinois of Abraham Lincoln, who settled just west of Decatur with his family in 1831.
On May 9-10, 1860 the Illinois Republican State Convention was held in Decatur. At this convention Lincoln received his first endorsement for president of the United States.
Post No. 1 of the Grand Army of the Republic was founded by Civil War veterans in Decatur on April 6, 1866.
The Edward P. Irving House, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and built in 1911, is located at #2 Millikin Place, Decatur.
Infrastructure
Education
Decatur is the location of private Millikin University (enrollment 2600), founded by James Millikin, and public Richland Community College (enrollment 7600).
Industry
Decatur is well known for its industrial, agricultural processing and manufacturing strengths, with vast production facilities for Caterpillar, Archer Daniels Midland, and Tate & Lyle (previously A. E. Staley). The corporate world headquarters for ADM, the leading agricultural processor and ethanol producer is in Decatur. A large former Firestone factory awaits a new occupant.
Parks
Local Macon County park resources include Lake Decatur, Lincoln Trail Homestead State Memorial, Rock Springs Conservation Area, and Spitler Woods State Natural Area.
Sports
Decatur was the original home of the Chicago Bears, from 1919-1920. The football team was known as the Decatur Staleys and played at Staley Field, both named after the local food product manufacturer.
From 1900-1974 Decatur was the home of The Commodore minor league baseball team, playing at Fans Field.
Starting in 2007, Decatur has hosted the Rodney T. Miller Lakeside Triathlon. This sprint-distance triathlon is presently scheduled the first weekend each July.
Transportation
Decatur's Municipal Airport is served by 6 daily commercial flights to and from Chicago Midway Airport. Mesa Airlines and American Airlines include Decatur on their routes. The airport facility has hosted notable visitors Presidents John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan, Vice-President Dan Quayle and Soviet Leader Mikhail Gorbachev (at the invitation of his longtime friend, Dwayne Andreas, former CEO of Archer Daniels Midland).
Interstate 72, U.S. Route 51, U.S. Route 36, Illinois Route 48, Illinois Route 105, and Illinois Route 121 are key highway links for the area as well.
A bus trolley system operates in the downtown and college campus areas.
Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 81,860 people, 34,086 households, and 21,099 families residing in the city. The population density was 760.5/km² (1,969.7/mi²). There were 37,239 housing units at an average density of 346.0/km² (896.0/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 77.59% White, 19.47% African American, 0.17% Native American, 0.66% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.43% from other races, and 1.65% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.19% of the population.
There were 34,086 households out of which 27.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.1% were married couples living together, 14.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.1% were non-families. 32.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.30 and the average family size was 2.90.
In the city the population was spread out with 24.0% under the age of 18, 11.1% from 18 to 24, 26.0% from 25 to 44, 22.5% from 45 to 64, and 16.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 87.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 83.9 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $33,111, and the median income for a family was $42,379. Males had a median income of $36,920 versus $22,359 for females. The per capita income for the city was $19,009. About 12.1% of families and 16.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 25.1% of those under age 18 and 9.0% of those age 65 or over.
Sister cities
Decatur is a sister city to Tokorozawa, Saitama, Japan, and to Seevetal, Lower Saxony, Germany.
Partial list of mayors
whos crown was later taken by the awsome lamas.
Invented In Decatur
In Music
In Movies
Media
Print Newspapers
Herald & Review – Daily
Decatur Tribune - Weekly
AM Radio
FM Radio
Television
Controversies
The ADM Price-Fixing Case
In early November, 1992, the high-ranking Archer Daniels Midland Co. (ADM) executive Mark Whitacre confessed to a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agent that ADM executives-including Whitacre himself-had routinely met with competitors to fix the price of lysine, a food additive.
The lysine conspirators, including ADM, ultimately settled federal charges for more than $100 million. ADM also paid hundreds of millions of dollars to plaintiffs/customers that it stole from during the price-fixing schemes. Furthermore, several Asian and European lysine and citric acid producers, that conspired to fix prices with ADM, paid criminal fines in the tens of millions of dollars to the U.S. government. Several executives, including the Vice Chairman of ADM, did federal prison time.
The investigation and prosecution of ADM and some of its executives has been reported to be one of the "best documented corporate crimes in American history".
Firestone Tire Controversy
In May 2000, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) contacted Firestone Tire about the high incidence of tire failure on Ford Explorers, Mercury Mountaineers, and Mazda Navajos fitted with Firestone tires. Investigators found that several models of 15" Firestone tires (ATX, ATX II, and Wilderness AT) had very high failure rates, especially those made at Firestone's Decatur plant. This was one of the leading factors to the closing of the Decatur plant.
Jesse Jackson Protest
In November 1999, Decatur was brought into the national news when the Rev. Jesse Jackson and the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition protested the expulsion and treatment of several African American students who had been involved in a serious fight. Jackson was arrested and detained briefly; however, charges were later dropped.
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