KANKAKEE, ILLINOIS

'Kankakee' is a city in Kankakee County, Illinois, in the United States. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 27,491. It is the county seat of Kankakee County. It is included in the Combined Statistical Area for Chicago. Library service is provided by the Kankakee Public Library.

Contents

Geography

Demographics

Rail Transportation

High Schools

Trivia

Notable people from Kankakee

References

External links

Geography

Kankakee is located at (41.116982, -87.863866).
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 33.0 km² (12.8 mi²). 31.8 km² (12.3 mi²) of it is land and 1.2 km² (0.5 mi²) of it (3.76%) is water.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 27,491 people, 10,020 households and 6,272 families residing within the city. The population density was 865.1/km² (2,239.8/mi²). There were 10,965 housing units at an average density of 345.0/km² (893.4/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 50.92% White, 41.07% African American, 0.27% Native American, 0.32% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 5.50% from other races, and 1.90% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 9.25% of the population.
There were 10,020 households out of which 34.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 36.4% were married couples living together, 21.2% have a female householder with no
husband present, and 37.4% were non-families. 31.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.60 and the average family size was 3.28.
In the city the population was spread out with 29.5% under the age of 18, 9.7% from 18 to 24, 28.7% from 25 to 44, 18.7% from 45 to 64, and 13.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females there were 91.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.2 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $30,469, and the median income for a family was $36,428. Males had a median income of $30,894 versus $22,928 for females. The per capita income for the city was $15,479. About 18.1% of families and 21.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 29.3% of those under age 18 and 11.7% of those age 65 or over.

Rail Transportation

Amtrak, the national passenger rail service, provides service to Kankakee. Amtrak Train 59, the southbound City of New Orleans, is scheduled to depart Kankakee at 9:23pm daily with service to Champaign-Urbana, Mattoon, Effingham, Centralia, Carbondale, Fulton, Newbern-Dyersburg, Memphis, Greenwood, Yazoo City, Jackson, Hazlehurst, Brookhaven, McComb, Hammond, and New Orleans. Amtrak Train 58, the northbound City of New Orleans, is scheduled to depart Kankakee at 7:13am daily with service to Homewood and Chicago. Kankakee is also served by Amtrak Train 390/391, the Saluki, daily in the morning, and Amtrak Train 392/393, the Illini, daily in the afternoon/evening. Both the Saluki and the Illini operate between Chicago and Carbondale.

High Schools

Kankakee is home to 3 high schools, Kankakee High School, Bishop Martin D. McNamara, and Grace Baptist Academy. Kankakee High School is the public high school for the city and is the most populated school in Kankakee. Bishop McNamara and Grace Baptist Academy are private high schools. Bishop McNamara is a Catholic high school, while Grace Baptist is Southern Baptist.

Trivia

In 2000, Kankakee County (the entire county, not just the city of Kankakee) was rated by the Places Rated Almanac as the worst community in which to live out of 354 rated communities in the United States. This was parodied by late night host David Letterman, who gave the city two identical gazebos, hoping the town could turn itself around as the "Home Of The Twin Gazebos". Since this time, city leaders have attempted to improve on this ranking by bringing in a waterpark, ice rink, revitalizing downtown, and other community improvement projects. It was recently announced that the Kankakee area will be home to the ethanol plant of a Kansas City-based business.
Frank Lloyd Wright designed two houses in the Riverview section of the city. They still stand today. The Riverview Historic District was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1986, covering , 118 buildings and 1 structure.
Although Kankakee folklore claims that first Dairy Queen was opened in Kankakee, the first Dairy Queen was actually opened in Joliet, Illinois.^[1] Sherb Noble, the man who opened the first Dairy Queen, opened his first ice cream shop in Kankakee, named "Sherb's," where the Dairy Queen product was first tested. Essentially, this makes Kankakee the true home of Dairy Queen ice cream, but not the franchise name itself.^[2]
Kankakee is referred to in a number of popular songs, including "City of New Orleans" by Steve Goodman, "Lydia the Tattooed Lady" performed by Groucho Marx, "Minnie the Moocher" sung by Cab Calloway and "They Are Night Zombies!! They Are Neighbors!! They Have Come Back From The Dead!! Ahhhhh!" written and performed by Sufjan Stevens.
Legendary NY Yankees manager Casey Stengel began his professional managing career in Kankakee at the Electric Park ballfield.

Notable people from Kankakee

★ Kankakee has produced 3 Illinois Governors (Len Small, Samuel H. Shapiro, and George Ryan).

★ Three Major League Baseball players were born in Kankakee...Terry Wells (1963), Tom Prince (1964), and Billy Petrick (1984).

★ Three Major League Baseball players have died in Kankakee...Charlie Cady (1909), George Ziegler (1916), and Big Jeff Pfeffer (1954).

★ Indianapolis Colts Linebacker and Special Teams player Tyjuan Hagler, #56, played high school football at Bishop McNamara.

★ Film and television actor Fred MacMurray was born in Kankakee in 1908.

★ Actor Jordan Black was born in Kankakee.

★ Author Bill McGrath lived in Kankakee for many years.

★ Actor Marc Grapey grew up in Kankakee.

★ Porn Star Randy Spears is from Kankakee.

References

1. Dairy Queen FAQs
2. Kankakee County visitor's info

External links

★ Official City page