Mattoon is a city located in
Coles County, Illinois. As of the 2000 census, the city had a
total population of 18,291. Mattoon may be best known today for the
Mad Gasser attacks of the 1940s.
[
Early settlers from the South lived in forested areas along the
headwaters of the Little Wabash River to the southwest of the present
town. They distrusted the prairie, which they saw as the source of
fevers.
The history of Mattoon is tied to that of local
railroads. In 1853, railroad surveyors from the
Illinois Central Railroad and
Terre Haute and Alton Railroad found their railroads would cross
in the Mattoon area, and a burst of investment and land
speculation began. The two railroads raced to the meeting point,
on the understanding that the first to arrive would not have to pay to
maintain the crossing. Local settlers marked out the plots for sale
with pegs, and the village was originally known as "Pegtown."
In 1861,
the town was officially named after William B. Mattoon, the chief
construction engineer working for the Terre Haute and Alton Railroad.
The reason for this honor is unclear; some say he won the naming
rights because his rail crew arrived first. Others say he beat other
claimants in a card game, or that Pegtown residents hoped the wealthy
Mattoon would invest in the town if they named it after him. With its
combination of excellent transportation and remarkably fertile
prairie
soils, Mattoon expanded rapidly. By the dawn of the 20th century,
Mattoon's growing population and rail access brought manufacturing and
industry.
On the night before the
Lincoln-Douglas debate of September 18, 1858, at the Coles County
Fairgrounds, both Lincoln and Douglas had slept in nearby Mattoon,
[1],[2].
On June
17, 1861,
General
Ulysses S. Grant took his first post of the
American Civil War when he assumed command of the 21st Illinois
Infantry in Mattoon.
In 1865,
Amish settlers began a community to the north near
Arthur, IL. Amish farmstands and horse-drawn buggies are not
uncommon sights in the northern part of Mattoon today.
In the 1890s, Mattoon lead the successful campaign to have a
proposed college in eastern Illinois located in Coles County. The
citizens were chagrined when neighboring
Charleston was chosen as the home of the future
Eastern Illinois University instead.
Mattoon has a strong tradition of
baseball. The town was home to several minor-league teams in the
late 19th and early 20th centuries, and still has a thriving junior
league. The last stadium, with a capacity of approximately 2,000
seats, was torn down in the late 1950s.
Mattoon, IL is also the home of the Soybean Museum. It is the
largest collection of soybean hybrids in the United States under one
roof
]
Arland Williams, Jr.
Mattoon was the hometown of
Arland D. Williams Jr., a 46-year old bank examiner with the
Federal Reserve Bank in Atlanta, Georgia. On
January 13,
1982, he
was one of only six survivors aboard when
Air Florida Flight 90 crashed into the ice-chocked
Potomac River in
Washington, DC. Bystanders, news media, and rescue personnel on
the bridge and shore were helpless to reach the survivors. The only
mode of rescue was a
U.S. Park Police helicopter which arrived about 20 minutes after
the crash.
As a rescue helicopter hovered overhead, Mr. Williams repeatedly
grabbed hold of the swaying lifeline and selflessly passed it to other
survivors clinging to the wreckage. It is doubtful whether any of the
other victims could have been rescued without Mr. Williams' help.
However, by the time the helicopter returned on a final trip to rescue
him, he had already drowned.
Williams was posthumously awarded the
United States Coast Guard's Gold Lifesaving Medal by President
Ronald Reagan. An important bridge was renamed for him, and
The Citadel established several memorials. The new Arland D.
Williams Jr. Elementary School in Mattoon was dedicated to his memory
in August, 2003.
Arland D. Williams Jr. Elementary School
Arland D. Williams Jr. Elementary School is located in the
city of Mattoon in
Coles County, Illinois. The new school in Mattoon Community School
District #2 was dedicated to the memory of
Arland D. Williams Jr. (1935-1982) when it was opened in August
2003.
Recent history and current issues
In 1940,
the discovery of
petroleum reserves in the countryside immediately surrounding
Mattoon led to a small "oil boom" in the 1940s and 1950s, bringing
with it economic benefits and increased civic pride. Oil extraction
continues to be an important economic activity.
In 1966,
Lake Land College was built just south of the city. The
community college offers degrees for immediate employment and
pre-university education.
After the arrival of the Lender's
Bagel
factory in
1986, Mattoon became the self-declared "Bagel Capital of the
World." The town is also home to the world's largest bagel and an
annual summer event called "Bagelfest."
Traditionally a bastion of manufacturing, Mattoon has been challenged
by the loss of several major plants in the last two decades.
The Illinois Central Station in the heart of downtown Mattoon is
badly decaying, and local activists have sought funding for years to
restore it. 2.5 million
dollars were obtained for it via the
2005 Transportation Bill. The station and the Illinois Central
Line tracks are still used by
Amtrak's
Illini train and by the famous train
City of New Orleans. Today the station is unmanned; passengers
boarding at the Mattoon station must order their tickets by telephone
or online.
Transportation is still a vital part of local economic life. Much
of the major commercial development in recent years has occurred along
Interstate 57, which crosses the eastern edge of Mattoon.
Geography
Mattoon is located at 39°28'44" North, 88°22'23" West (39.478850,
-88.373086)GR1.
According to the
United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 24.1
km² (9.3
mi²). 24.1 km² (9.3 mi²) of it is land and none of it is covered
by water. Nearby rivers have been dammed to form Lake Paradise and
Lake Mattoon south of the city.
The terminal
moraine
of the
Wisconsin Glacier is located just to the south of Mattoon. Heading
south on I-57 there is an impressive vista from the top of the moraine
at the south Mattoon exit. While the moraine is of Wisconsinan age
(about 10,000 years before present), the land to the south is of
Illinoian age (about 100,000 years before present). The small
oil
field to the south of the moraine is also attributed to glacial
activity: The weight of the glacier to the north created cracks in the
underlying bedrock. Oil collected adjacent to these cracks.
Demographics
As of the
censusGR2
of 2000, there were 18,291 people, 8,105 households, and 4,676
families residing in the city. The
population density was 758.6/km² (1,964.8/mi²). There were 8,830
housing units at an average density of 366.2/km² (948.5/mi²). The
racial makeup of the city was 96.64%
White, 1.42%
African American, 0.18%
Native American, 0.41%
Asian, 0.01%
Pacific Islander, 0.41% from
other races, and 0.93% from two or more races. 1.27% of the
population were
Hispanic or
Latino of any race.
There were 8,105 households out of which 26.7% had children under
the age of 18 living with them, 43.6% were
married couples living together, 10.5% had a female householder
with no husband present, and 42.3% were non-families. 35.6% 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
2.21 and the average family size was 2.87.
In the city the population was spread out with 22.3% under the age
of 18, 11.3% from 18 to 24, 27.5% from 25 to 44, 20.9% from 45 to 64,
and 18.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38
years. For every 100 females there were 89.9 males. For every 100
females age 18 and over, there were 85.8 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $31,800, and the
median income for a family was $43,780. Males had a median income of
$32,339 versus $21,949 for females. The
per capita income for the city was $18,186. 13.4% of the
population and 7.6% of families were below the
poverty line. 15.5% of those under the age of 18 and 10.0% of
those 65 and older were living below the poverty line.
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