Monmouth, Illinois

The town established in 1831 was originally going to be called Kosciusko (the name was drawn out of a hat), but the founders of the town feared that it would be difficult to spell and pronounce. The name 'Monmouth' was put forward by a resident who had lived in Monmouth County, New Jersey.[5]

In 1841, Latter Day Saint movement founder Joseph Smith appeared before Judge Stephen A. Douglas in an extradition hearing held at Monmouth's Warren County courthouse. The hearing, which was to determine whether Smith should be returned to Missouri to face murder charges, resulted in freedom for the defendant, as it was determined that his arrest had been invalid. Attorney Orville Browning, who would assume Douglas's Senate seat following his death, represented Smith.

Gunfighter Wyatt Earp was born in Monmouth. For many years, the town watertower boasted that Monmouth was the "Home of Wyatt Earp." Controversial Civil War general Eleazer A. Paine practiced law there for many years. Abner C. Harding, Civil War General and Republican Congressman, lived in Monmouth and is buried in Monmouth Cemetery.[6] Ronald Reagan lived in Monmouth for a while as a child when his father worked as a shoe salesman at the Colwell Department Store and mass murderer Richard Speck lived in Monmouth briefly as a child, and again in the spring of 1966.

Monmouth College, a private liberal arts college affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), was founded in Monmouth in 1853 by Cedar Creek & South Henderson Presbyterian Churches. With James Cochran Porter & Robert Ross Founding in 1852 Monmouth Academy. The Rev. David Alexander Wallace serving as the first President 1856–1878. It is the second-largest employer in the city. Pi Beta Phi, the first national secret college society of women to be modeled after the Greek-letter fraternities of men, was founded on its campus in 1867. Just three years later in 1870, Kappa Kappa Gamma, international fraternity for women, was founded on its campus.[7]

Monmouth was home to minor league baseball from 1890–1913. The Monmouth Browns and Monmouth Maple Cities (1890) played as members of the Central Association (1910–1913), Illinois-Missouri League (1908–1909), Central Interstate League (1889) and Illinois-Iowa League (1890). Monmouth teams played at 11th Street Park.[8][9]

Monmouth was once home to one of the most unusually named high school sports organizations, the Zippers. Originally known as The Maroons, the Zipper nickname came about in the late 1930s when the school had a fast basketball team that would "Zip" up and down the court. Earl Bennett, a sports writer nicknamed them "The Zippers" and the name stuck. The school went with the "Zipper" nickname until the 2005–06 school year when Monmouth consolidated with Roseville and the new Monmouth-Roseville High School adopted the nickname "The Titans".

Monmouth was the home for Western Stoneware, known for its "Maple Leaf" imprint and for producing "Sleepy Eye" collectible ceramics, which are recognizable by the blue-on-white bas-relief Indian profile. Western Stoneware closed in June 2006. Three former employees of Western Stoneware now operate the facility under the name "WS", Inc and have leased the building and logo from the city of Monmouth.[10]

On April 25, 2020, 3 out of 1,700 employees working at the city's local Smithfield Foods meat packaging plant were reported to have been infected with COVID-19 during the 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic resulting in a shutdown.[11]

Monmouth is located at 40°54′42″N 90°38′40″W (40.911531, -90.644579).[12] Monmouth is located in Western Illinois where US Route 34, US Route 67, Illinois Route 164, and now the new Chicago to Kansas City Expressway (Illinois Route 110) intersect.

According to the 2010 census, Monmouth has a total area of 4.231 square miles (10.96 km²), of which 4.21 square miles (10.90 km²) (or 99.5%) is land and 0.021 square miles (0.05 km²) (or 0.5%) is water.[13]

As of the census[15] of 2000, there were 9,841 people, 3,688 households, and 2,323 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,442.3 people per square mile (942.8/km²). There were 3,986 housing units at an average density of 989.2 per square mile (381.9/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 92.72% White, 2.80% African American, 0.23% Native American, 0.47% Asian, 0.19% Pacific Islander, 1.91% from other races, and 1.67% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4.35% of the population.

There were 3,688 households out of which 29.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.7% were married couples living together, 11.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 37.0% were non-families. 32.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.37 and the average family size was 2.99.

In the city the population was spread out with 23.0% under the age of 18, 17.1% from 18 to 24, 24.1% from 25 to 44, 20.3% from 45 to 64, and 15.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females, there were 88.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 85.3 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $33,641, and the median income for a family was $41,004. Males had a median income of $30,006 versus $20,144 for females. The per capita income for the city was $15,839. About 8.0% of families and 11.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 14.5% of those under age 18 and 6.1% of those age 65 or over.

• Ken Blackman - Former NFL football player for the Cincinnati Bengals and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Played college football at Illinois. Grew up in Monmouth.
• Clarence F. Buck - Illinois state senator, farmer, postmaster, and newspaper editor
• Montgomery Case - esteemed bridge builder
• Charles Dryden - early 20th Century sportswriter in Baseball Hall of Fame
• Wyatt Earp - legendary lawman of the American West; born in Monmouth
• Loie Fuller - pioneer of modern dance
• Gladys Gale - singer and actress
• Ralph Greenleaf - world pocket billiards champion in Hall of Fame
• Regis Groff, the second African-American elected to the Colorado Senate, lived in Monmouth as a child.[16][17]
• J. P. Machado - offensive guard for the New York Jets from 1999-2003
• Mike Miller (basketball, born 1964) - Interim Head coach for the New York Knicks 2019–present
• Loren E. Murphy - Chief Justice of the Illinois Supreme Court and mayor of Monmouth
• Eleazer A. Paine - Civil War general, lived in Monmouth
• Ronald Reagan, 40th President of the United States, lived in Monmouth as a child.[18]
• James Montgomery Rice, Illinois Congressman, helped establish United States National Guard
• Lawrence H. Stice, Illinois state representative and businessman, lived in Monmouth[19]
• John Twomey - manualist
• J. Mayo Williams - pro football player, music producer in Blues Hall of Fame; grew up in Monmouth
• Alex Tanney - Pro Football player attended Monmouth College from 2007 through 2011.
• William Nicol - magician and entertainer known by the stage name "The Great Nicola"

• List of photographs of Abraham Lincoln

• Homepage
• "Monmouth (Illinois)" . Encyclopædia Britannica. 18 (11th ed.). 1911. p. 727.

Media related to Monmouth, Illinois at Wikimedia Commons