Ottawa, Illinois
Ottawa is a city in north-central
Illinois. It is the county seat of
La Salle County, Illinois The county seat of
La Salle County, one of Illinois' largest counties by area, Ottawa is at the heart of corn and soybean farming in North Central Illinois. It is also the site of the Third Appellate District Court for Northern Illinois, and has many historic homes and registered historic landmarks. Recent additions to Ottawa have included renovations to its historic mansion, the Reddick Mansion, and artistic murals throughout the central business district. Several Ottawa businesses have conducted historic renovations of central business properties. Ottawa is known as the scenic gateway to
Starved Rock State Park, the most popular state park in Illinois, with some 2 million visitors per year.
The
Fox River, which flows through communities like
Elgin and
Aurora empties into the
Illinois in downtown Ottawa.
Ottawa is known for several major reasons.
It was the site of the first of the
Lincoln-Douglas Debates of 1858 during which
Stephen A. Douglas, leader of the
Democratic party, openly accused
Abraham Lincoln of forming a secret bipartisan group of Congressmen to bring about the
abolition of
slavery.
Ottawa was also important in the development of the
Illinois-Michigan Canal, which terminates in
LaSalle, Illinois 12 miles to the west, which linked the
Mississippi River to
Lake Michigan and
Chicago in the 19th century.
A hotbed of the abolition movement and a major stop on the
underground railroad, because of its rail, road, and river transportation, Ottawa was the site of a famous abduction of a runaway slave from its courthouse by prominent civic leaders, who stood trial in Chicago for this daring escapade.
Because of numerous silica sand deposits (Ottawa sand was on board the ill-fated Columbia space shuttle for experimental purposes) Ottawa has been a major sand and glass center for more than 100 years. One of its largest employers is Pilkington Glass works, a successor to LOF (Libbey Owens Ford). Formerly concentrated in automotive glass, the plant now manufactures specialty glass and is undergoing a $50 million renovation in 2006. Ottawa sand continues to be extracted from several quarries in the area, and is recognized in glass-making and abrasives for its uniform granularity and characteristics.
GE Plastics, a successor to Borg Warner automotive glass manufacture, operates a large plastics facility in Ottawa, and is a major employer.
As of the
census of 2000, there were 18,307 people, 7,510 households, and 4,889 families residing in the city. The
population density was 964.3/km² (2,497.9/mi²). There were 8,030 housing units at an average density of 423.0/km² (1,095.6/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 95.26%
White, 1.37%
African American, 0.15%
Native American, 0.83%
Asian, 0.06%
Pacific Islander, 0.93% from
other races, and 1.39% from two or more races.
Hispanic or
Latino of any race were 5.21% of the population.
There were 7,510 households out of which 31.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.4% were
married couples living together, 11.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.9% were non-families. 30.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.38 and the average family size was 2.98.
In the city the population was spread out with 24.9% under the age of 18, 8.1% from 18 to 24, 28.2% from 25 to 44, 20.8% from 45 to 64, and 17.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 91.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.3 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $36,513, and the median income for a family was $44,435. Males had a median income of $41,943 versus $22,041 for females. The
per capita income for the city was $19,426. About 9.8% of families and 11.3% of the population were below the
poverty line, including 16.8% of those under age 18 and 7.0% of those age 65 or over.
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Mr. Lincoln and Freedom: Lincoln-Douglas Debate in Ottawa
