Albion, Illinois

Albion is a city in and the county seat of Edwards County, Illinois, United States. The population was 1,988 at the 2010 census. The city was named "Albion" after an ancient and poetic reference to the island of Great Britain.

Geography
Albion is located south of the center of Edwards County at  (38.377300, -88.061028).  In it, Illinois Route 130 and Illinois Route 15 meet. Route 130 leads north  to Olney and south  to Grayville, while Route 15 leads east  to Mount Carmel and west  to Fairfield.

According to the 2010 census, Albion has a total area of , of which  (or 97.91%) is land and  (or 2.09%) is water.

A 3.8-magnitude earthquake occurred seven and a half miles outside of the city on September 19, 2017.

Climate

History
Albion was laid out in 1818 as a utopian community, and given the name Albion, a literary name for England.

In 1821, the county seat of Edwards County was moved from Palmyra to Albion. However, residents of Mount Carmel felt their town should be the county seat. Four companies of militia marched from Mount Carmel towards Albion to seize the county documents stored in the courthouse. The situation was eventually resolved in 1824 by separating Wabash County from Edwards County at Bonpas Creek. The resulting counties remain two of the smallest in Illinois.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 1,933 people, 861 households, and 538 families residing in the city.  The population density was 903.8 people per square mile (348.8/km²).  There were 957 housing units at an average density of 447.5 per square mile (172.7/km²).  The racial makeup of the city was 98.71% White, 0.16% African American, 0.10% Native American, 0.57% Asian, 0.21% from other races, and 0.26% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.57% of the population.

There were 861 households out of which 26.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.5% were married couples living together, 9.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 37.4% were non-families. 34.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 19.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.  The average household size was 2.20 and the average family size was 2.82.

In the city, the population was spread out with 21.6% under the age of 18, 7.3% from 18 to 24, 24.0% from 25 to 44, 22.8% from 45 to 64, and 24.3% who were 65 years of age or older.  The median age was 43 years. For every 100 females, there were 83.7 males.  For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 80.3 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $29,476, and the median income for a family was $36,917. Males had a median income of $26,182 versus $17,375 for females. The per capita income for the city was $14,747.  About 8.6% of families and 12.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 19.0% of those under age 18 and 9.3% of those age 65 or over.

Notable people 

 Harold Huntley Bassett, U.S. Air Force major general
 Morris Birkbeck, first Illinois Secretary of State, one of Albion's founders
 Louis Lincoln Emmerson, served as Secretary of State of Illinois and Governor of Illinois
 Benjamin Orange Flower, Journalist
 Edward Fordham Flower, English brewer
 Harold A. Garman, U.S. Army medic and Medal of Honor recipient in World War II
 Guy U. Hardy, former congressman from Colorado
 Jeff Keener, former pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals
 H. H. Kohlsaat, publisher and confidante of five U.S. presidents
 George Frederick Pentecost, prominent clergyman, evangelist and co-worker with revivalist D.L. Moody
 William Pickering, fifth governor of Washington Territory
 Bruce Mendenhall, convicted murderer and alleged serial killer

References

Further reading
A History of Edwards County, Illinois, Volume One (1980), Library of Congress Card number 80-70649
Charles Boewe, Prairie Albion: An English Settlement in Pioneer Illinois, Southern Illinois University Press, Carbondale, c. 1962

External links
Albion Chamber of Commerce

Category:Cities in Illinois
Category:Cities in Edwards County, Illinois
Category:County seats in Illinois
Category:Populated places established in 1816
Category:1816 establishments in Illinois Territory