TAYLORVILLE, IL

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

History

Taylorville was founded on May 24, 1839, and was named after John Taylor, a planning commissioner for the state of Illinois.

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

Some outer homes and a business in Taylorville were damaged by an F1 tornado on April 2, 2006.

On August 11, 2012, a Beechcraft Model 18 airplane crashed into a residential area of Taylorville, killing the pilot but injuring none on the ground. A subsequent NTSB investigation into the accident concluded that an improper flap configuration and failure to maintain the correct airspeed due to pilot error, resulted in the crash.

At about 5:15 PM on December 1, 2018, as part of the December 2018 tornado outbreak, a strong tornado hit Taylorville. The tornado injured at least 26 residents and damaged more than 600 homes and businesses, 34 of which were completely destroyed. Damage surveys by the National Weather Service rated the tornado EF3 with winds over .

Geography

Taylorville is located at (39.540768, −89.288005).

According to the 2010 census, Taylorville has a total area of , of which (or 83.77%) is land and (or 16.23%) is water.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 11,427 people, 4,856 households, and 3,039 families living in the city. The population density was 1,416.6 people per square mile (546.7/km). There were 5,208 housing units at an average density of 645.6 per square mile (249.2/km). 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 people of any race were 0.70% of the population.

Transportation

Taylorville is served by Illinois Route 29, Illinois Route 48 and Illinois Route 104. (by closest major city) Illinois Route 29 connects Taylorville to Springfield Illinois, Illinois Route 48 connects Decatur Illinois including highway access to US Highway 51 to Pana Illinois and/or Champaign Illinois via Interstate 72, and Illinois Route 104 connects Taylorville to Jacksonville Illinois.

Education

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

In 1911, the Taylorville Christians were a member of the Illinois–Missouri League, an American minor league baseball league. Future Baseball Hall of Famer Ray Schalk played on that team.

Media

The town newspaper is the Breeze-Courier, which is the only daily newspaper serving Christian County. 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.

Notable people