Hampshire, Illinois
Encyclopedia
Hampshire is a village in Kane County
Kane County, Illinois
Kane County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 515,269, which is an increase of 27.5% from 404,119 in 2000. Its county seat is Geneva, and its largest city is Aurora.- Geography :...

, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

.

Geography

Hampshire is located at 42.098871°N 88.525792°W.

According to the United States Census Bureau
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...

, the village has a total area of 5 square miles (13 km²), all of it land.

Demographics

As of the census
Census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...

of 2000, there were 2,490 people, 1,015 households, and 792 families residing in the village. There were 1,051 housing units at an average density of 215.5 per square mile (83.2/km²). The racial makeup of the village was 98.21% White, 0.10% African American, 0.38% Native American, 0.14% Asian, and 0.62% from other races
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...

. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.41% of the population.

There were 1,015 households out of which 42.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 66.6% were married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...

 living together, 7.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 21.9% were non-families. 17.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.86 and the average family size was 3.28.
Current President Josh Stien

In the village the population was spread out with 29.7% under the age of 18, 6.8% from 18 to 24, 32.1% from 25 to 44, 20.2% from 45 to 64, and 11.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 92.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.8 males.

The median income for a household in the village was $58,519, and the median income for a family was $65,069. Males had a median income of $42,217 versus $29,934 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...

 for the village was $22,143. About 2.3% of families and 2.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 2.5% of those under age 18 and 9.2% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Hampshire's mascot is the Whip-Pur. The Hampshire school system consists of Hampshire High School
Hampshire High School
Hampshire High School is a public school in Romney, West Virginia that serves grades 9 through 12 and is a part of Hampshire County Schools under the auspices of the Hampshire County Board of Education. It is the only high school in Hampshire County. Hampshire High School is located on Trojan Way ...

, Hampshire Middle School, Hampshire Elementary School, and Gary D. Wright Elementary.

Culture

Hampshire is home to a small restaurant named Chick n' Dip, which is locally famous for its broasted chicken.

On May 28, 1988 Thomas J. Smrt
Thomas J. Smrt
Thomas J. Smrt is an American inventor, businessman and entrepreneur who is best known as the inventor of the upside-down aerosol spray paint can. He was previously the owner of Fox Valley Systems, a company that markets his spray paint applicators, however he sold the company to his sons in 2006...

 held the grand opening for Shireland, a shire horse based theme park. The park covered 111 acre (0.44920146 km²) and contained a 68000 square feet (6,317.4 m²) circus tent as well as four 10000 square feet (929 m²) exhibit tents. The concept centered around the horses, however it also incorporated traditional clown
Clown
Clowns are comic performers stereotypically characterized by the grotesque image of the circus clown's colored wigs, stylistic makeup, outlandish costumes, unusually large footwear, and red nose, which evolved to project their actions to large audiences. Other less grotesque styles have also...

 shows. It followed a medieval theme, with area names like "dragonwood" (a small forest which incorporated a tram ride, animatronic dragons, and "shire knights riding shire horses). At the end of the summer 1988, Shireland shut down for unspecified reasons and did not reopen until 1991. It was only open for a month in 1991, after which it closed permanently. The property sat mostly untouched for 15 years thereafter and became a popular place for urban exploration
Urban exploration
Urban exploration is the examination of the normally unseen or off-limits parts of urban areas or industrial facilities. Urban exploration is also commonly referred to as infiltration, although some people consider infiltration to be more closely associated with the exploration of active or...

groups to take photographs. In June 2005, Smrt sold the property to a developer who began demolishing the existing buildings but had no specific plans to develop the property.

External links

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