Baldwin Locomotive Works
The Baldwin Locomotive Works was an American manufacturer of railroad locomotives from 1825 to 1956. Located in Philadelphia, it moved to nearby Eddystone, Pennsylvania, in the early 20th century; the company was for decades the world's largest producer of steam locomotives, but struggled to compete as demand switched to diesel locomotives. Baldwin produced the last of its 70,000-plus locomotives in 1956 and went out of business in 1972; the company has no relation to the E. M. Baldwin and Sons locomotive builder of Australia; the Baldwin Locomotive Works had a humble beginning. Matthias W. Baldwin, the founder, was a jeweller and whitesmith, who, in 1825, formed a partnership with a machinist, engaged in the manufacture of bookbinders' tools and cylinders for calico printing. Baldwin designed and constructed for his own use a small stationary engine, the workmanship of, so excellent and its efficiency so great that he was solicited to build others like it for various parties, thus led to turn his attention to steam engineering.
The original engine was in use and powered many departments of the works for well over 60 years, is on display at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC. In 1831, at the request of the Philadelphia Museum, Baldwin built a miniature locomotive for exhibition, such a success that he received that year an order from a railway company for a locomotive to run on a short line to the suburbs of Philadelphia; the Camden and Amboy Railroad Company had shortly before imported a locomotive from England, stored in Bordentown, New Jersey. It had not yet been assembled by Isaac Dripps, he made notes of the principal dimensions. Aided by these figures, he commenced his task; the difficulties attending the execution of this first order were such that they are not understood by present-day mechanics. Modern machine tools did not exist, it was under such circumstances that his first locomotive, christened Old Ironsides, was completed and tried on the Philadelphia and Norristown Railroad on November 23, 1832.
It was at once put in active service, did duty for over 20 years. It was a four-wheeled engine; the wheels were of heavy cast iron hubs, with wooden spokes and rims, wrought iron tires, the frame was made of wood placed outside the wheels. It had a 30 inches diameter boiler. Top speed was 28 mph. Baldwin struggled to survive the Panic of 1837. Production fell from 40 locomotives in 1837 to just nine in 1840 and the company was in debt; as part of the survival strategy, Matthias Baldwin took on two partners, George Vail and George Hufty. Although the partnerships proved short-lived, they helped Baldwin pull through the economic hard times. Zerah Colburn was one of many engineers. Between 1854 and 1861, when Colburn went to work more or less permanently in London, the journalist was in frequent touch with M. W. Baldwin, as recorded in Zerah Colburn: The Spirit of Darkness. Colburn was full of praise for the quality of Baldwin's work. In the 1850s, railroad building became a national obsession, with many new carriers starting up in the Midwest and South.
While this helped drive up demand for Baldwin products, it increased competition as more companies entered the locomotive production field. Still, Baldwin had trouble keeping pace with orders and in the early 1850s began paying workers piece-rate pay. Taking advantage of human nature, this increased incentives and productivity. By 1857, the company employed 600 men, but another economic downturn, this time the Panic of 1857, cut into business again. Output fell by 50 percent in 1858; the Civil War at first appeared disastrous for Baldwin. According to John K. Brown in The Baldwin Locomotive Works, 1831-1915: A Study in American Industrial Practice, at the start of the conflict Baldwin had a great dependence on Southern railways as its primary market. In 1860, nearly 80 percent of Baldwin's output went to carriers in states that would soon secede from the Union; as a result, Baldwin's production in 1861 fell more than 50 percent compared to the previous year. However, the loss in Southern sales was counterbalanced by purchases by the U.
S. Military Railroads and the Pennsylvania Railroad, which saw its traffic soar, as Baldwin produced more than 100 engines for carriers during the 1861–1865 war. By the time Matthias Baldwin died in 1866, his company was vying with Rogers Locomotive and Machine Works for the top spot among locomotive producers. By 1870 Baldwin had taken the lead and a decade it was producing 2½ times as many engines as its nearest competitor, according to the U. S. Manufacturing Census. In 1897 the Baldwin Locomotive Works was presented as one of the examples of successful shop management in a series of articles by Horace Lucian Arnold; the article described the Piece Rate System used in the shop management. Burton commented, that "in the Baldwin Locomotive Works... piecework rates are altered... Some rates have remained unchanged for the past twenty years, a workman is there more esteemed when
Chicago and North Western Transportation Company
The Chicago and North Western Transportation Company was a Class I railroad in the Midwestern United States. It was known as the North Western; the railroad operated more than 5,000 miles of track as of the turn of the 20th century, over 12,000 miles of track in seven states before retrenchment in the late 1970s. Until 1972, when the employees purchased the company, it was named the Chicago and North Western Railway; the C&NW became one of the longest railroads in the United States as a result of mergers with other railroads, such as the Chicago Great Western Railway, Minneapolis and St. Louis Railway and others. By 1995, track sales and abandonment had reduced the total mileage to about 5,000; the majority of the abandoned and sold lines were trafficked branches in Iowa, Minnesota, South Dakota and Wisconsin. Large line sales, such as those that resulted in the Dakota and Eastern Railroad, further helped reduce the railroad to a mainline core with several regional feeders and branches. Union Pacific integrated it with its own operation.
The Chicago and North Western Railway was chartered on June 7, 1859, five days after it purchased the assets of the bankrupt Chicago, St. Paul and Fond du Lac Railroad. On February 15, 1865, it merged with the Galena and Chicago Union Railroad, chartered on January 16, 1836. Since the Galena & Chicago Union started operating in December 1848, the Fond du Lac railroad started in March 1855, the Galena and Chicago Union Railroad is considered to be the origin of the North Western railroad system; the Winona and St. Peter Railroad was added to the network in 1867. After nine years in bankruptcy, the C. & N. W. was reorganized in 1944. It had turned to diesel power, established a huge diesel shop in Chicago, its Proviso Freight Yard, 12 miles west of the city center in suburban Cook County was constructed between 1926 and 1929 and remained the largest such in the world, with 224 miles of trackage and a capacity of more than 20,000 cars. Potatoes from the west were a main crop loading of the C. & N. W. and its potato sheds in Chicago were the nation's largest.
It carried western sugar beets and huge amounts of corn and wheat. This road, like other lines depending on crop movements, was adversely affected by government agricultural credit policies which sealed a lot of products on the farms where they were produced. Although it stood sixteenth in operating revenue in 1938, it was eighth in passenger revenue among American railroads, it served Chicago commuters. The North Western had owned a majority of the stock of the Chicago, St. Paul and Omaha Railway since 1882. On January 1, 1957, it leased the company, merged it into the North Western in 1972; the Omaha Road's main line extended from an interchange with the North Western at Elroy, Wisconsin, to the Twin Cities, south to Sioux City and finally to Omaha, Nebraska. The North Western acquired several important short railroads during its years, it finalized acquisition of the Litchfield and Madison Railway on January 1, 1958. The Litchfield and Madison railroad was a 44-mile bridge road from East St. Louis to Litchfield, Illinois.
On July 30, 1968, the North Western acquired two former interurbans — the 36-mile Des Moines and Central Iowa Railway, the 110-mile Fort Dodge, Des Moines and Southern Railway. The DM&CI gave access to the Firestone plant in Des Moines and the FDDM&S provided access to gypsum mills in Fort Dodge, Iowa. On November 1, 1960, the North Western acquired the rail properties of the 1,500-mile Minneapolis and St. Louis Railway. In spite of its name, it ran only from Minnesota, to Peoria, Illinois; this acquisition provided traffic and modern rolling stock, eliminated competition. On July 1, 1968, the 1,500 mi Chicago Great Western Railway merged with the North Western; this railroad extended between Oelwein, Iowa. From there lines went to the Twin Cities, Omaha and Kansas City, Missouri. A connection from Hayfield, Minnesota, to Clarion, provided a Twin Cities to Omaha main line; the Chicago Great Western duplicated the North Western's routes from Chicago to the Twin Cities and Omaha, but went the long way.
This merger further eliminated competition. After abandoning a plan to merge with the Milwaukee Road in 1970, Benjamin W. Heineman, who headed the CNW and parent Northwest Industries since 1956, arranged the sale of the railroad to its employees in 1972; the words "Employee Owned" were part of the company logo in the ensuing period. The railroad was renamed from Chicago and North Western Railway to Chicago and North Western Transportation Company; the railroad's reporting marks remained the same. After the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad ceased operating on March 31, 1980, the North Western won a bidding war with the Soo Line Railroad to purchase the 600-mile "Spine Line" between the Twin Cities and Kansas City, via Des Moines, Iowa; the Interstate Commerce Commission approved North Western's bid of $93 million on June 20, 1983. The line was well-engineered, but because of deferred maintenance on the part of the bankrupt Rock Island, it required a major rehabilitation in 1984; the company began to abandon the Oelwein to Kansas City section of its former Chicago
Belvidere, Illinois
Belvidere is a city in Boone County, United States. The population was 25,585 as of the 2010 census, it is the county seat of Boone County. Belvidere is part of Illinois Metropolitan Statistical Area. Belvidere is located at 42°15′17″N 88°50′39″W, sits at an altitude, 800 feet above sea level. Located in north central Illinois, Belvidere is 75 miles northwest of the downtown of Chicago, 12 miles east of Rockford. Belvidere is divided by the Kishwaukee River. According to the 2010 census, Belvidere has a total area of 12.312 square miles, of which 12.08 square miles is land and 0.232 square miles is water. Belvidere is located in north central Illinois and is 75 miles from downtown Chicago on Routes 20, 76 and the Northern Illinois Toll road, with the Kishwaukee River dividing the town. Belvidere is an industrial community surrounded by prosperous farms, it is the County Seat with an estimated 2006 county population of over 52,000. The altitude is 800 feet above sea level, average temperatures are: 73 degrees F in the summer.
As of the census of 2000, there were 20,820 people, 7,531 households, 5,324 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,295.3 people per square mile. There were 7,970 housing units at an average density of 878.6 per square mile. The racial makeup of the city was 64.53% White, 1.15% African American, 0.37% Native American, 0.45% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 11.57% from other races, 1.92% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 26.07% of the population. There were 7,531 households out of which 38.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.9% were married couples living together, 11.9% had a female householder with no husband present, 29.3% were non-families. 24.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.2% had someone living alone, 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.73 and the average family size was 3.26. In the city the population was spread out with 29.7% under the age of 18, 8.8% from 18 to 24, 31.2% from 25 to 44, 18.1% from 45 to 64, 12.2% who were 65 years of age or older.
The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females, there were 97.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.7 males. The median income for a household in the city was $42,529, the median income for a family was $50,601. Males had a median income of $37,116 versus $24,454 for females; the per capita income for the city was $17,804. About 7.8% of families and 10.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 12.0% of those under age 18 and 8.0% of those age 65 or over. The location where Belvidere exists today was first settled in 1835 by Simon P. Doty and Mr. Whitney, who named the location next to the Kishwaukee River "Elysian Fields"; the present name is after the Schloss Belvedere in Germany. Belvidere was built on the north side of the river. In 1851, a railroad was built south of the river, the business section followed to the south side of the river, where Belvidere's downtown is now located. Belvidere was home to the National Sewing Machine Company from 1886 until the 1940s.
On April 21, 1967, a devastating tornado struck Belvidere. Twenty-four lives were lost in the tornado; the F4 tornado struck at the end of the school day of Belvidere High School, while many children including those that attended area grade schools were waiting on school buses outside the high school. Out of sixteen school buses outside the high school, twelve were thrown; the tornado did $22 million in damage, demolished over 100 homes, injured 500 people. In 2007 a statue was erected in front of Belvidere High School in memorial of the lives lost. On December 7, 2009 there was an explosion at the NDK America building. A truck driver from Indiana at the nearby Illinois Tollway Commission-owned Belvidere Oasis was killed by flying debris; the explosion's shock wave shook doors in the area. The cause was found to be corrosion of the iron pressure vessels used in NDK's quartz crystallization process by high pressure sodium hydroxide inside the vessels, causing a catastrophic failure. Pettit Memorial Chapel, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, the Lampert-Wildflower House, the James Knox Taylor designed Belvidere Post Office are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Parks include Spencer Park, Belvidere Municipal Park, the Boone County Fairgrounds. Belvidere is known for its numerous murals; the Left Behind series fictional character Rayford Steele was born there. Belvidere used to have two hospitals, St. Joseph Hospital and Highland Hospital, both of which having closed, with St. Joseph's closing in 1999. In 2008, SwedishAmerican Hospital opened a hospital, in 2009, they renovated and reopened the former Highland Hospital, which has the city's only emergency department. Cemeteries include St. James Catholic Cemetery; the nearest general aviation airport is Poplar Grove Airport known as Belvidere Airport. Schools include Belvidere High School, Belvidere North High School, Belvidere Endeaver High School, Belvidere South Middle School, Belvidere Central Middle School, Kishwaukee Elementary School, Lincoln Elementary School, Perry Elementary School, Meehan Elementary School, Caledonia Elementary School, Seth Whitman Elementary, one academy, Washington Academy which are all part of the Belvidere Community Unit School District 100
Ridott, Illinois
Ridott is a village in Stephenson County, United States. As of the 2010 census, the village population was 164, up from 158 in 2000. Called Cochranville, Ridott was renamed in 1863 after Ridott Township. A post office was established as Cochranville in 1860, renamed Ridott in 1861. Ridott is located at 42°17′50″N 89°28′36″W. According to the 2010 census, Ridott has a total area of all land; as of the census of 2000, there were 159 people, 62 households, 47 families residing in the village. The population density was 1,518.9 people per square mile. There were 68 housing units at an average density of 649.6 per square mile. The racial makeup of the village was 100.00% White. There were 62 households out of which 35.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 71.0% were married couples living together, 4.8% had a female householder with no husband present, 22.6% were non-families. 17.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.7% had someone living alone, 65 years of age or older.
The average household size was 2.56 and the average family size was 2.94. In the village, the population was spread out with 25.8% under the age of 18, 4.4% from 18 to 24, 32.1% from 25 to 44, 24.5% from 45 to 64, 13.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females, there were 114.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 103.4 males. The median income for a household in the village was $41,875, the median income for a family was $46,042. Males had a median income of $29,750 versus $19,583 for females; the per capita income for the village was $16,846. None of the families and 2.9% of the population were living below the poverty line, including no under eighteens and 12.9% of those over 64. Stephenson County
Chicago
Chicago the City of Chicago, is the most populous city in Illinois, as well as the third most populous city in the United States. With an estimated population of 2,716,450, it is the most populous city in the Midwest. Chicago is the principal city of the Chicago metropolitan area referred to as Chicagoland, the county seat of Cook County, the second most populous county in the United States; the metropolitan area, at nearly 10 million people, is the third-largest in the United States, the fourth largest in North America and the third largest metropolitan area in the world by land area. Located on the shores of freshwater Lake Michigan, Chicago was incorporated as a city in 1837 near a portage between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River watershed and grew in the mid-nineteenth century. After the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, which destroyed several square miles and left more than 100,000 homeless, the city made a concerted effort to rebuild; the construction boom accelerated population growth throughout the following decades, by 1900 Chicago was the fifth largest city in the world.
Chicago made noted contributions to urban planning and zoning standards, including new construction styles, the development of the City Beautiful Movement, the steel-framed skyscraper. Chicago is an international hub for finance, commerce, technology, telecommunications, transportation, it is the site of the creation of the first standardized futures contracts at the Chicago Board of Trade, which today is the largest and most diverse derivatives market gobally, generating 20% of all volume in commodities and financial futures. O'Hare International Airport is the one of the busiest airports in the world, the region has the largest number of U. S. highways and greatest amount of railroad freight. In 2012, Chicago was listed as an alpha global city by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network, it ranked seventh in the entire world in the 2017 Global Cities Index; the Chicago area has one of the highest gross domestic products in the world, generating $680 billion in 2017. In addition, the city has one of the world's most diversified and balanced economies, not being dependent on any one industry, with no single industry employing more than 14% of the workforce.
Chicago's 58 million domestic and international visitors in 2018, made it the second most visited city in the nation, behind New York City's approximate 65 million visitors. The city ranked first place in the 2018 Time Out City Life Index, a global quality of life survey of 15,000 people in 32 cities. Landmarks in the city include Millennium Park, Navy Pier, the Magnificent Mile, the Art Institute of Chicago, Museum Campus, the Willis Tower, Grant Park, the Museum of Science and Industry, Lincoln Park Zoo. Chicago's culture includes the visual arts, film, comedy and music jazz, soul, hip-hop and electronic dance music including house music. Of the area's many colleges and universities, the University of Chicago, Northwestern University, the University of Illinois at Chicago are classified as "highest research" doctoral universities. Chicago has professional sports teams in each of the major professional leagues, including two Major League Baseball teams; the name "Chicago" is derived from a French rendering of the indigenous Miami-Illinois word shikaakwa for a wild relative of the onion, known to botanists as Allium tricoccum and known more as ramps.
The first known reference to the site of the current city of Chicago as "Checagou" was by Robert de LaSalle around 1679 in a memoir. Henri Joutel, in his journal of 1688, noted that the eponymous wild "garlic" grew abundantly in the area. According to his diary of late September 1687:...when we arrived at the said place called "Chicagou" which, according to what we were able to learn of it, has taken this name because of the quantity of garlic which grows in the forests in this region. The city has had several nicknames throughout its history such as the Windy City, Chi-Town, Second City, the City of the Big Shoulders, which refers to the city's numerous skyscrapers and high-rises. In the mid-18th century, the area was inhabited by a Native American tribe known as the Potawatomi, who had taken the place of the Miami and Sauk and Fox peoples; the first known non-indigenous permanent settler in Chicago was Jean Baptiste Point du Sable. Du Sable arrived in the 1780s, he is known as the "Founder of Chicago".
In 1795, following the Northwest Indian War, an area, to be part of Chicago was turned over to the United States for a military post by native tribes in accordance with the Treaty of Greenville. In 1803, the United States Army built Fort Dearborn, destroyed in 1812 in the Battle of Fort Dearborn and rebuilt; the Ottawa and Potawatomi tribes had ceded additional land to the United States in the 1816 Treaty of St. Louis; the Potawatomi were forcibly removed from their land after the Treaty of Chicago in 1833. On August 12, 1833, the Town of Chicago was organized with a population of about 200. Within seven years it grew to more than 4,000 people. On June 15, 1835, the first public land sales began with Edmund Dick Taylor as U. S. Receiver of Public Monies; the City of Chicago was incorporated on Saturday, March 4, 1837, for several decades was the world's fastest-growing city. As the site of the Chicago Portage, the city became an important transportation hub between the eastern and western United States.
Chicago's first railway and Chicago Union Railroad, the Illi
Elgin, Illinois
Elgin is a city in Cook and Kane counties in the northern part of the U. S. state of Illinois. Located 35 mi northwest of Chicago, it lies along the Fox River; as of 2017, the city had an estimated population of 112,456, making it the eighth-largest city in Illinois. The Indian Removal Act of 1830 and the Black Hawk Indian War of 1832 led to the expulsion of the Native Americans who had settlements and burial mounds in the area, set the stage for the founding of Elgin. Thousands of militiamen and soldiers of Gen. Winfield Scott's army marched through the Fox River valley during the war, accounts of the area's fertile soils and flowing springs soon filtered east. In New York, James T. Gifford and his brother Hezekiah Gifford heard tales of this area ripe for settlement, travelled west. Looking for a site on the stagecoach route from Chicago to Galena, they settled on a spot where the Fox River could be bridged. In April 1835, they established the city, naming it after the Scottish tune "Elgin".
Early Elgin achieved fame for the butter and dairy goods it sold to the city of Chicago. Gail Borden established a condensed milk factory here in 1866, the local library was named in his honor; the dairy industry became less important with the arrival of the Elgin Watch Company. The watch factory employed three generations of Elginites from the late 19th to the mid 20th century, when it was the largest producer of fine watches in the United States and the operator of the largest watchmaking complex in the world. Today, the clocks at Chicago's Union Station still bear the Elgin name. Elgin has a long tradition of invention. Elgin is home to the Elgin Academy, the oldest coeducational, non-sectarian college preparatory school west of the Allegheny Mountains. Elgin High School boasts five Navy admirals, a Nobel Prize winner, a Pulitzer Prize winner, a Tony Award winner, two Academy Award–winning producers, Olympic athletes and a General Motors CEO among its alumni. Elgin resident John Murphy invented the motorized streetsweeper in 1914 and formed the Elgin Sweeper Corporation.
Pioneering African-American chemist Lloyd Hall was an Elgin native, as was the legendary marketer and car stereo pioneer Earl "Madman" Muntz and Max Adler, founder of the Adler Planetarium in Chicago, America's first planetarium. Local historian E. C. Alft has written an ongoing newspaper column about Elgin's history. Elgin is located at 42°2′18″N 88°19′22″W. According to the 2010 census, Elgin has a total area of 37.704 square miles, of which 37.16 square miles is land and 0.544 square miles is water. On March 28, 1920, Elgin was struck by several tornadoes along the Fox River that caused significant damage to Chicago and several western suburbs. Four people were killed and several businesses and homes were destroyed, including the Opera House and Grant Theater; as of the census of 2010, there were 108,188 people, 37,848 households. The population density was 2,911.2 people per square mile. There were 37,848 housing units at an average density of 1,306.5 per square mile. The racial makeup of the city was 65.9% White, 7.4% African American, 1.40% Native American, 5.4% Asian, 16.3% from other races, 3.6% from two or more races.
Hispanic or Latino of any race were 43.6% of the population. A significant portion of Elgin's Asian population was of Laotian origin. There were 35,094 households out of which 38% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.6% were married couples living together, 13.3% had a female householder with no husband present, 28.0% were non-families. 19.4% of all households were made up of individuals 65 years and older, 7.1% had someone living alone, 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.03 and the average family size was 3.56. In the city, the population was spread out with 23.4% under the age of 18, 10.7% from 18 to 24, 33.6% from 25 to 44, 18.2% from 45 to 64, 8.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32.5 years. 50.2% of the population was female. The median income for a household in the city was $56,337, the median income for a family was $68,740. Males had a median income of $39,581 versus $28,488 for females; the per capita income for the city was $21,478.
About 6.4% of families and 8.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 11.6% of those under age 18 and 4.7% of those age 65 or over. In 2013, Elgin ranked number one in the Chicago metropolitan area in new home starts, while ranking second in new home closings. Elgin's downtown has been the center of city renovations and new developments. New townhouses, condo towers, loft spaces, art galleries have opened in the last decade. In October 2003 the Gail Borden Public Library moved into a new $30 million, 139,980 square foot, 460,000 volume-capacity building. In August 2009 the city opened the first satellite branch; the 10,000 square foot Rakow Branch, situated on Elgin's West Side, was LEED registered, was designed to be expandable up to 30,000 square feet. Elgin opened the 185,000 sq. ft. Centre of Elgin recreation facility across the street from the library. In 2009, Gail Borden was one of five libraries to receive the National Medal for Museum and Library Service issued by the Institute of Museum and Library Service in Washington DC.
In 2014, Elgin completed the Central Business District Streetscape Improvement Project and the Riverside Drive Promenade. In the 1990s, Elgin became one of the few cities in northern Illinois to host a riverboat casino; the Grand Victoria Casino generated controversy, but went on to be a significant source of income for the city
Huntley, Illinois
Huntley is a village in McHenry and Kane counties, United States. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 24,291, as of 2017 the estimated population was 27,207, it is a part of the Chicago metropolitan area. Huntley is in the southern part of McHenry County and the northern part of Kane County, 48 miles northwest of the Chicago Loop. Neighboring communities are Lake in the Hills to the northeast, Algonquin to the east, Gilberts to the southeast, Pingree Grove to the south, Hampshire to the southwest. Undeveloped rural land is to the northwest. According to the 2010 census, Huntley has a total area of 14.102 square miles, of which 14.07 square miles are land and 0.032 square miles are water. As of the census of 2000, there were 5,730 people, 2,324 households, 1,756 families residing in the village; the population density was 489.1 inhabitants per square mile. There were 2,501 housing units at an average density of 213.5 per square mile. The racial makeup of the village was 94.94% White, 0.44% African American, 0.17% Native American, 2.13% Asian, 0.00% Pacific Islander, 1.26% from other races, 1.06% from two or more races.
4.28 % of the population were Latino of any race. There were 2,324 households out of which 31.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 67.3% were married couples living together, 5.9% had a female householder with no husband present, 24.4% were non-families. 20.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.9% had someone living alone, 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.47 and the average family size was 2.85. In the village, the population was spread out with 23.3% under the age of 18, 6.1% from 18 to 24, 31.3% from 25 to 44, 22.0% from 45 to 64, 17.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females, there were 95.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.8 males. The median income for a household in the village was $60,456, the median income for a family was $65,433. Males had a median income of $44,524 versus $30,363 for females; the per capita income for the village was $27,451. 2.8% of the population and 1.9% of families were below the poverty line.
2.2% of those under the age of 18 and 1.9% of those 65 and older were living below the poverty line. Huntley is governed as a village with an elected village president and a six-member board of trustees. Trustees are elected at-large to four-year staggered terms; the village president is Chuck Sass. The village is served by Consolidated School District 158. Headquartered in Huntley, the administration offices have since moved to a new campus in Algonquin; the village used to be served by an elementary school and a high school located in town, but the growing district has since discontinued use of those buildings, has since built five elementary schools, two middle schools, a high school on three different campuses districtwide. Only one campus is within village limits; the Harmony Road Campus in the western part of the village contains Huntley High School and Leggee Elementary School. The other two campuses, which serve parts of Huntley are located in nearby Algonquin and Lake in the Hills; the Huntley Area Public Library district serves all of Huntley as well as portions of Lake in the Hills and Algonquin.
The library used to be housed in a small 1,000 or 2,000 sq ft building at Algonquin Road and Church Street. In 1999, the former building was closed and a new 15,000 sq ft building constructed on Ruth Road, just north of Main Street; the district's community college needs are served by McHenry County College, located in Crystal Lake, about a 15 to 20 minute drive to the northeast. The village is located along the "Golden Corridor" of Interstate 90/Northwest Tollway, it has direct access to I-90 via a full interchange at Illinois Route 47. Conversion of the interchange from an eastbound interchange to a full interchange was completed in November 2013. Illinois Route 47 serves as the chief north-south artery in Huntley. Handling over 20,000 vehicles a day, Route 47 was expanded from two to five lanes in 2011. Portions of Route 47 between Kreutzer Road and I-90 are six lanes. Route 47 connects to Woodstock to Pingree Grove and Elburn to the south. Algonquin Road and Main Street/Huntley-Dundee Road act as the village's primary east-west routes.
Algonquin Road is a four-lane divided highway that connects Route 47 to other suburbs to the east like Algonquin and Lake in the Hills. Main Street connects to Marengo and Harmony roads on the west, while Huntley-Dundee Road connects to the Carpentersville-Dundee area to the east. Other important streets in the village include Ruth Road, Reed Road, Kreutzer Road, Haligus Road, Del Webb Boulevard, Church Street. Reed and Kreutzer are local east-west roads, while Haligus and Church are local north-south streets. Del Webb Boulevard is the primary collector road in the Sun City neighborhood; the village is located along a branch of the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad, thus many of the village's industries are near the railroad for convenient access to Elgin, Rockford and the rest of the continent. Turkey Testicle Festival: held the day before Thanksgiving at Parkside Pub spreading into the streets of downtown Huntley. Northwest Herald – daily newspaper based in Crystal Lake which serves the greater McHenry County area.
Northwest Herald MyHometown – Northwest Herald's Huntley MyHometown homepage. Daily Herald – daily newspaper based in Arlington Heights. McHenry & Kane Huntley Farmside – weekly newspaper edited i
