Bunker Hill is a city located in Macoupin County, Illinois. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 1,801.
Bunker Hill is located at 39°2'29" North, 89°57'3" West (39.041452, -89.950898).
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 3.1 km2 (1.2 mi2). 3.1 km2 (1.2 mi2) of it is land and 0.1 km2 (0.04 mi2) of it is water. The total area is 1.67% water.
As of the census of 2000, there are 1,801 people, 697 households, and 496 families residing in the city. The population density is 589.3/km2 (1,526.9/mi2). There are 742 housing units at an average density of 242.8/km2 (629.1/mi2). The racial makeup of the city is 97.50% White, 1.22% African American, 0.00% Native American, 0.11% Asian, 0.00% Pacific Islander, 0.28% from other races, and 0.89% from two or more races. 0.72% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There are 697 households out of which 35.6% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.8% are married couples living together, 12.1% have a female householder with no husband present, and 28.8% are non-families. 26.1% of all households are made up of individuals and 14.1% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.52 and the average family size is 3.02.
In the city the population is spread out with 26.0% under the age of 18, 8.4% from 18 to 24, 28.7% from 25 to 44, 20.4% from 45 to 64, and 16.4% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 37 years. For every 100 females there are 88.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 87.6 males.
The median income for a household in the city is $37,156, and the median income for a family is $45,885. Males have a median income of $35,227 versus $23,000 for females. The per capita income for the city is $16,798. 10.3% of the population and 8.8% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 14.3% of those under the age of 18 and 4.6% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.
This history of Bunker Hill was summarized from several sources, Bunker Hill-Woodburn History Book, Reflections, and early issues of the Bunker Hill Gazette-News.
The site of the present town of Bunker Hill was once known to the early settlers of Macoupin county as Wolf Ridge. It was this named because wolves lived in the area.
The choice of the name, Bunker Hill, was not due to the existence of any great elevation, but rather to the fact that there is a hill here somewhat like that upon which the famous battle of the Revolution was fought and because those who gave the name came from a section of the country in which Bunker Hill was familiar and held in great reverence.
The earliest inhabitants of the community were the Peoria, Kickapoo and Winnebago Indians. The last five wigwams were pulled down and the Indians left for the country farther west.
One of the earliest settlers of the township was John Cooper, a native of Tennessee, who built a house on the edge of the prairie.
In the neighbor of the Springfield road, leading from Springfield to St. Louis, several settlements were made. In 1830, the first settler in this immediate vicinity was Elijah Lincoln, occupying the prairie about a mile and a half south-west of the present site of Bunker Hill. He and a Mr. Tuttle, laid out the town of Lincoln, naming it in honor of Elijah Lincoln. Early in 1836, Dr. Budden built an ox mill near the settlement. In June of the same year the saw mill was dismantled of its power, i.e. the ox, in default of money loaned by Messrs. True and Tilden. After the dismantling, Mr. Colby placed h is house on eight wheels and with the two teams of oxygen, moved his house (leaving only one house in Lincoln) to a new location near the Woodburn Mill. Woodburn was considerably elated at this addition as half a town came rolling in. No traces of the town of Lincoln now remain.
The earliest post office was established in 1833, about a mile south of "Lincoln." About 1831, the first school house was built. In the school house, the first sermon was preached in the township by Elder William Jones, a member of the Baptist denomination, with which a great part of the early settlers of the township were connected. The first church was built by "Hard Shell" Baptists. The second was the Congregational Church at Woodburn.
In 1834, Luke Knowlton, then county surveyor, entered 80 acres of land covering the central position of Bunker Hill.
On Christmas day, 1835, Moses True from Salisbury, New Hampshire and John Tilden from Boston, visited the settlement in company with Robert Smith of Alton. A company was formed, with the object of laying out a town and improving the surrounding country.
Source:
BunkerHillIllinois.com
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