Normal, Illinois
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Normal, Illinois | |
| Coordinates: | |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| State | Illinois |
| County | McLean |
| Mayor | Chris Koos |
| Area | |
| - City | 35.4 km² (13.7 sq mi) |
| - Land | 35.3 km² (13.6 sq mi) |
| - Water | 0.2 km² (0.1 sq mi) 0.44% |
| Elevation | 265 m (869 ft) |
| Population | |
| - City (2005) | 50,519 |
| Time zone | Central Standard Time (USA) (UTC-6) |
| - Summer (DST) | Central Daylight Time (UTC-5) |
| Website: http://www.normal.org/ | |
Normal is an incorporated town in McLean County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2000 census, the town's population was 45,386. Population-wise, it is the smaller of two principal municipalities of the Bloomington-Normal metropolitan area. A special census conducted in 2005 shows that the population is now 50,519[1].
Originally known as North Bloomington, the town was incorporated as Normal in February of 1865. The name was taken name from Illinois State Normal University, a teacher-training institution located there. The school has since been renamed Illinois State University after becoming a general four year university. Normal is adjacent to Bloomington, Illinois, and when mentioned together they are known as the "Twin Cities," "Bloomington-Normal," or simply "B-N." The current mayor of Normal is Chris Koos.
The main campus of Heartland Community College, a two-year, fully accredited institution, and a satellite campus of Lincoln College, which offers associate degrees as well as four-year programs, are both located in Normal.
Downtown Normal is currently being revitalized to attract new businesses, and it was recently made the home of the new Children's Discovery Museum. The district is also home to the historic and non-profit Normal Theater, a restored Art Deco theater owned by the Town of Normal that runs classic and independent films.
A large percentage of residents of Normal are employed by Illinois State University, State Farm Insurance (Corporate Headquarters in Bloomington), Country Insurance and Financial Services (Corporate Headquarters in Bloomington) , and the Mitsubishi Motors North America manufacturing facility, which manufactures the Eclipse, Eclipse Spyder, Endeavor, and Galant.
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[edit] Geography
Normal is located near (40.512189, -88.988701)GR1.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 35.4 km² (13.7 mi²). 35.3 km² (13.6 mi²) of it is land and 0.2 km² (0.1 mi²) of it (0.44%) is water.
[edit] Demographics
As of the censusGR2 of 2000, there were 45,386 people, 15,157 households, and 8,184 families residing in the town. The population density was 1,286.6/km² (3,332.6/mi²). There were 15,683 housing units at an average density of 444.6/km² (1,151.6/mi²). The racial makeup of the town was 87.57% White, 7.71% African American, 0.15% Native American, 2.21% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 0.93% from other races, and 1.40% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.56% of the population.
There were 15,157 households out of which 27.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 42.4% were married couples living together, 9.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 46.0% were non-families. 26.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 6.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.43 and the average family size was 2.96.
In the town the population was spread out with 17.5% under the age of 18, 38.1% from 18 to 24, 23.1% from 25 to 44, 13.7% from 45 to 64, and 7.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 23 years. For every 100 females there were 88.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 85.5 males. The unusual age and sex distributions are due in large part to the presence of Illinois State University. A significant number of students at Illinois State University reside in Normal, and the institution has large programs in several female-dominated academic fields, such as education and nursing.
The median income for a household in the town was $40,379, and the median income for a family was $60,644. Males had a median income of $41,323 versus $27,486 for females. The per capita income for the town was $17,775. About 5.6% of families and 19.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 9.4% of those under age 18 and 3.9% of those age 65 or over. However, traditional measures of poverty can be highly misleading when applied to communities with a large proportion of students, such as Normal.
[edit] People
- McLean Stevenson, Actor
- Awadagin Pratt, Musician
- Ogonna Nnamani, Athlete
- Andrew Bacevich, Historian, Writer
- Richard Hovey, Poet, Activist
[edit] Trivia
- The first Steak 'n Shake restaurant was located in Normal. The original building, on Main Street near the creek, burned in the late 1950s and was rebuilt on-site, where it continued as a Steak 'n Shake francise for several more decades. It was finally sold and became a Monical's.
- Mitsubishi's vehicle manufacturing facility in Normal is the company's only plant in North America.
- The mayor of Normal will pay US$50 to anyone who can tell him a joke about his town he hasn't heard before. [2]
- The young adult novel Deliver Us From Normal, by Kate Klise, is set in Normal.
- Musician Marilyn Manson mentioned Normal is his autobiography The Long Hard Road Out of Hell. Manson wrote about his 1997 tour stop in Normal as part of the Dead To The World Tour. Manson's outrageous style evoked some controversy on his visit to the generally-conservative area.
- In episode 12 ("Tornado Days") of the short-lived science fiction TV series Eerie, Indiana second prize for the 87th annual Tornado Day sweepstakes was an all expense paid trip to Eerie's "sister city" Normal, Illinois.
[edit] Points of interest
- Camelback Bridge
- Constitution Trail
- Fell Arboretum
- Heartland Community College
- Heartland Theatre Company
- Illinois State University
- Normal Theater
[edit] Sports Teams
- Twin City Storm minor league football
- Illinois State University Redbirds
[edit] External links
- The Official Website of Normal, Illinois
- Maps and aerial photos
- Street map from Google Maps, or Yahoo! Maps, or Windows Live Local
- Satellite image from Google Maps, Windows Live Local, WikiMapia
- Topographic map from TopoZone
- Aerial image or topographic map from TerraServer-USA
