Zion, Illinois facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Zion, Illinois
City
Zion-Benton Township High School
Motto(s):  "Historic past, dynamic future"
Location of Zion in Lake County, Illinois.
Location of Illinois in the United States
Country	United States
State	Illinois
County	Lake
Founded	July 1901
Rebuilt	1937
Burned down	1937
Founded by	John Alexander Dowie
Named for	Mount Zion, Israel
Area
• Total	9.93 sq mi (25.72 km2)
• Land	9.93 sq mi (25.72 km2)
• Water	0.00 sq mi (0.00 km2)
Elevation	615 ft (187 m)
Highest elevation (9th St and Greenbay Rd.)	740 ft (230 m)
Lowest elevation	582 ft (177 m)
Population  (2020)
• Total	24,655
• Density	2,482.63/sq mi (958.58/km2)
Time zone	UTC-6 (CST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC-5 (CDT)
ZIP Code(s)	60099
Area codes	847, 224
FIPS code	17-84220
Wikimedia Commons	Zion, Illinois

Zion is a city in Lake County, Illinois, United States. The population was 22,866 at the 2000 census, and had grown to 24,413 in 2010.

Geography

Zion is located at 42°27′12″N 87°50′25″W / 42.453221°N 87.840222°W / 42.453221; -87.840222.

According to the 2010 census, Zion has a total area of 9.813 square miles (25.42 km²), of which 9.81 square miles (25.41 km²) (or 99.97%) is land and 0.003 square miles (0.01 km²) (or 0.03%) is water.

The city is one of only a few in the world to have ever been completely planned out before building. Dowie modeled the city layout after the Union Flag, because he was originally from Scotland and Australia. In the planning stage he mailed the mayors of many large cities across the world for suggestions on how to design the best city possible. A few of the recommendations were:

• Make provisions for alley ways for utilities and garbage removal, and help keep the city looking clean
• Have the houses face east and west so that thermal heat from the sun could be used to reduce heating bills
• Build as many parks as possible

Some of the diagonal roads were never completed. The north-south roads in the original plan are all named from the Bible except for two: "Caledonia" is the Roman word for Scotland, Dowie's native country, and Edina Boulevard which is named for an old Roman abbreviation for the city of Edinburgh, Dowie's birthplace. The original east-west roads are numbered starting with 1 at the state line (now called Russell Road), although there are now new east-west roads which bear names. The city used to extend all of the way down to the lakefront until the state bought it to preserve the beach. Because most of the houses on the lakefront were owned by wealthy citizens, most of them were moved to places around what is now Sheridan Road.

Location within Lake County

The former city seal was the subject of a Supreme Court case because it contained a religious symbol.

Major streets

• Sheridan Road
• 21st Street/Bethlehem Avenue
• Green Bay Road
• Galilee Avenue
• 9th Street
• Shiloh Boulevard
• 23rd Street
• 29th Street
• 33rd Street
• Lewis Avenue
• Wadsworth Road

Illinois Beach State Park

Zion is the closest municipality to South Beach within Illinois Beach State Park. The North Beach is in Winthrop Harbor. The beach was originally part of Camp Logan, a rifle range developed by the Illinois National Guard in 1892. In World War I and World War II it served as a rifle range for the Great Lakes Naval Training Station. The range remained in operation until 1973, when it was transferred to the Illinois Department of Conservation. In 1950, the Illinois Dunes Preservation Society was established to maintain the natural qualities of the beach. With the help of the Illinois Department of Conservation the area south of Beach Road was established as the state's first natural preserve. The northern beach, between Beach Road and the Wisconsin state border, were obtained between 1971 and 1982.

The south beach is now home of the Illinois Beach Resort and Conference Center. The North Point Marina is at the north beach. This is Illinois' newest and largest marina.

On May 9, 2000, the area encompassing Illinois Beach State Park and North Point Marina was officially designated as the Cullerton Complex in honor of William J. Cullerton, Sr., war hero, avid environmentalist and long-time friend of conservation.

Demographics

At the 2010 census, there were 24,508 people, 7,552 households and 5,558 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,789.5 per square mile (1,077.0/km²). There were 8,036 housing units at an average density of 980.3 per square mile (378.5/km²). The racial make-up was 48.9% White, 31.10% African American, 0.4% Native American, 2.3% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 12% from other races and 5% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 27.7% of the population.

There were 7,552 households, of which 44.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.9% were married couples living together, 20.0% had a female householder with no husband present and 26.4% were non-families. 21.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 6.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.96 and the average family size was 3.44.

33.2% of the population were under the age of 18, 9.5% from 18 to 24, 31.4% from 25 to 44, 17.4% from 45 to 64 and 8.4% were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 30 years. For every 100 females, there were 94.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.0 males.

The median household income was $45,723 and the median family income was $50,378. Males had a median income of $37,455 and females $27,563. The per capita income was $17,730. About 10.1% of families and 11.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 15.5% of those under age 18 and 7.7% of those age 65 or over.

Transportation

Zion Metra Station

The city is served by Metra's Union Pacific/North Line through Zion railway station on the east side. It connects the city to Chicago, Kenosha and intermediate communities. Pace bus line 571 provides internal transit service in Zion and connects the city to Waukegan.

Sports

The 8,500-seat Fielders Stadium was planned to open in May 2010. Once completed, it was to host the home games of the Lake County Fielders North American League baseball team co-owned by the actor Kevin Costner. The Fielders' name is an homage to Costner's 1989 film Field of Dreams, with the logo showing a ballplayer standing in a field of corn.

The Fielders' site has been subject to a court dispute between the owners and the city over a breach in contract.

Notable people

• Jarvis Brown, member of 1991 World Series champion Minnesota Twins
• Richard Bull, actor, "Nels Olson" on Little House on the Prairie
• Gary Coleman, actor, "Arnold Jackson" on Diff'rent Strokes
• Joe Daniels, drummer for Local H
• John Alexander Dowie, founder of Zion
• Paul Erickson, baseball player, mostly with Chicago Cubs
• John Hammond, general manager of the Orlando Magic and former general manager of the Milwaukee Bucks
• James Gordon Lindsay, pastor and founder of Christ for the Nations Institute
• Scott Lucas, lead singer and guitarist for Local H
• Billy McKinney, former NBA player, former NBA general manager, former commentator and current head scout for the Milwaukee Bucks
• Juan Moreno, two-time Olympic silver medalist (1992 and 1988) in Taekwondo in the Fin-weight (under 50 kg) class and three-time Olympian (2000, 1992, 1988); assistant coach with the U.S. Olympic Team at the 2008 Olympics
• Russell Nype, star of Broadway's Call Me Madam and Hello, Dolly! and Tony Award winner
• Shoes, power pop band including Gary Klebe, Jeff Murphy, John Murphy
• Lenzelle Smith Jr. (born 1991), basketball player in the Israel Basketball Premier League

See also

In Spanish: Zion (Illinois) para niños