Taylorville, Illinois

Taylorville is a city in Christian County, Illinois, United States. The population was 11,246 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat and largest city in Christian County.

Geography
Taylorville is located at °N, °W (39.540768, -89.288005).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 10.1 square miles (26.0 km²), of which, 8.1 square miles (20.9 km²) of it is land and 2.0 square miles (5.1 km²) of it (19.46%) is water.

Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 11,427 people, 4,856 households, and 3,039 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,416.6 people per square mile (546.7/km²). There were 5,208 housing units at an average density of 645.6 per square mile (249.2/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 97.67% White, 0.71% African American, 0.19% Native American, 0.51% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 0.31% from other races, and 0.55% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.70% of the population.

There were 4,856 households out of which 28.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.3% were married couples living together, 10.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 37.4% were non-families. 32.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 16.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.28 and the average family size was 2.89.

In the city the population was spread out with 24.1% under the age of 18, 7.3% from 18 to 24, 26.9% from 25 to 44, 21.9% from 45 to 64, and 19.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 88.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 82.3 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $34,235, and the median income for a family was $43,223. Males had a median income of $35,655 versus $23,647 for females. The per capita income for the city was $18,162. About 6.8% of families and 10.1% of the population were below sex the poverty line, including 13.4% of those under age 18 and 8.9% of those age 65 or over.

Other
Some outer homes and a business of Taylorville were damaged or destroyed by two EF2 tornadoes on April 2, 2006.

The town newspaper is the Breeze-Courier, which is the only daily newspaper serving Christian County. Also, The State Journal-Register, published in Springfield, Illinois covers Taylorville and Christian County quite extensively. The Decatur, Illinois Herald & Review covers the area as well.

Taylorville was known (in the early-to-mid 1990s) to have had a high rate of neuroblastoma, a cancer affecting the brain and striking children. The local power company Central Illinois Public Service Company was sued and lost for contaminating the groundwater in 1994.

The IHSA single season Men's Basketball record of 45–0 was set by Taylorville High School in 1944. Ron Bontemps and Johnny Orr were team members.

Taylorville is known as the "Christmas Capital of Illinois."

Notable people

 * Ron Bontemps - Olympic gold medal winner and team captain, 1952 Men's Basketball
 * Larry Bucshon- Indiana Congressman
 * Jon Corzine - former Governor of New Jersey
 * Yvonne Craig - actress, most famous for playing Batgirl in the 1960s television series Batman
 * Randy Hopper - Wisconsin Senator
 * Jens Kujawa - exchange student from Germany who later played basketball for the University of Illinois and in the 1992 summer Olympics for the seventh-place German National Team.
 * Johnny Orr - Iowa State University men's basketball coach with most wins in the college's history; also coached the University of Michigan to national runner up in the 1976 NCAA Championship
 * Pat Perry - St. Louis Cardinals Pitcher from 1985–1987
 * Edward Mills Purcell - 1952 Nobel Prize winner in physics; discovered nuclear magnetic resonance
 * Sandy Stockton - fictional character on the series Funny Face and The Sandy Duncan Show played by actress Sandy Duncan, was said to have been from Taylorville, and as such, Duncan had a street, Sandy Duncan Drive, named after her