Bushnell is a city in
McDonough County,
Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rock ...
,
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
. The population was 2,970 at the 2020 census.
Geography
Bushnell is located at (40.551667, -90.507921).
According to the 2010 census, Bushnell has a total area of , of which (or 99.63%) is land and (or 0.37%) is water.
History
The town was founded in 1854 when the
Northern Cross Railroad
The Northern Cross Railroad was the first railroad to operate in Illinois, originating in Meredosia and eventually extending both east and west to the state borders. It eventually linked the state capital Springfield east to Decatur and Danvil ...
built a line through the area.
Nehemiah Bushnell
Nehemiah H. Bushnell (October 9, 1813 – January 31, 1873) was an American attorney, railroad president, and politician from Connecticut. A graduate of Yale University and the Harvard School of Law, Bushnell settled in Quincy, Illinois to pract ...
was the president of the railroad, and townspeople honored him by naming their community after him. The railroad later became part of the
Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad
The Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad was a railroad that operated in the Midwestern United States. Commonly referred to as the Burlington Route, the Burlington, or as the Q, it operated extensive trackage in the states of Colorado, Illin ...
, which continues to operate through Bushnell under the name
Burlington Northern Santa Fe
Burlington Northern Santa Fe, LLC is the parent company of the BNSF Railway (formerly the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway). The company is an indirect, wholly owned subsidiary of
Berkshire Hathaway, which is controlled by investor Warre ...
. Bushnell was also served by the
Toledo, Peoria and Western Railway
The Toledo, Peoria and Western Railway is a short line railroad that operates of track from Mapleton, Illinois, through Peoria across Illinois to Logansport, Indiana. TP&W has trackage rights between Galesburg, Illinois, and Peoria, between Lo ...
, now the
Keokuk Junction Railway
The Keokuk Junction Railway Co. , is a Class III railroad in the U.S. states of Illinois and Iowa. It is a subsidiary of Pioneer Railcorp.
History
The present company was incorporated in 1980 as the Keokuk Northern Real Estate Co., formed in M ...
.
Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada. ...
trains pass through the city but do not stop.
The Nagel Brothers of Bushnell were the first to invent a process of making rolled oats without having to steam the oats. Up until this time, the oats were first steamed to separate the groat from the hull. The patent for this new process was later sold to the Quaker Company.
Bushnell is home to
Vaughan & Bushnell hammer factory and
Kitchen Cooked Potato Chips
A kitchen is a room (architecture), room or part of a room used for cooking and food preparation in a dwelling or in a commercial establishment. A modern middle-class residential kitchen is typically equipped with a Kitchen stove, stove, a sink ...
.
Demographics
As of the
census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses inc ...
of 2000, there were 3,221 people, 1,323 households, and 889 families residing in Bushnell. The population density was . There were 1,446 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 98.79%
White
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White ...
, 0.12%
African American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
, 0.19%
Native American, 0.09%
Asian, 0.43% from
other races
Other often refers to:
* Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy
Other or The Other may also refer to:
Film and television
* ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack
* ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...
, and 0.37% from two or more races.
Hispanic
The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad.
The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties for ...
or
Latino of any race were 0.68% of the population.
There were 1,323 households, out of which 29.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.9% were
married couples
Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between ...
living together, 10.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.8% were non-families. 27.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 15.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.43 and the average family size was 2.94.
In the city, the population was spread out, with 24.9% under the age of 18, 9.0% from 18 to 24, 26.4% from 25 to 44, 22.0% from 45 to 64, and 17.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females, there were 93.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.8 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $30,482, and the median income for a family was $38,450. Males had a median income of $27,266 versus $18,583 for females. The
per capita income
Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population.
Per capita i ...
for the city was $17,263. About 12.2% of families and 17.0% of the population were below the
poverty line
The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...
, including 29.3% of those under age 18 and 6.5% of those age 65 or over.
Music
From 1991 to 2012, Bushnell was home to one of the largest Christian Music and Arts festivals in the world, known as the
Cornerstone Festival
Cornerstone Festival was a Christian music festival put on by Jesus People USA and held annually around July 4 near Bushnell, Illinois, drawing some 20,000 attendees each year. In a given year, many artists that played at Cornerstone also playe ...
. Each year around the 4th of July, 25,000 people from all over the world would descend on the small farm town to watch over 300 bands, authors and artists perform at the Cornerstone Farm Campgrounds. The festival was generally well received by locals, and businesses in the area would typically put up signs welcoming festival-goers to their town.
As a result of the location of the music festival, numerous live albums and videos have been recorded or filmed in Bushnell, including the annual Cornerstone Festival DVD. The festival's 20th anniversary DVD also included interviews with local Bushnell citizens and business owners.
Cornerstone held its final festival in 2012 and no longer operates.
Popular culture
A short instrumental song titled "Let's Hear That String Part Again, Because I Don't Think They Heard It All the Way Out in Bushnell" appears on
Sufjan Stevens
Sufjan Stevens ( ; born July 1, 1975) is an American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. He has released nine solo studio albums and multiple collaborative albums with other artists. Stevens has received Grammy and Academy Award nom ...
' 2005 album ''
Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rock ...
''.
Notable people
*
Ta-Nehisi Paul Coates (born 1975), writer
*
Seibert Q. Duntley (1911–1999), physicist and president of the
Optical Society of America
Optica (formerly known as The Optical Society (OSA) and before that as the Optical Society of America) is a professional society of individuals and companies with an interest in optics and photonics. It publishes journals and organizes conference ...
*
Charles Kuhn (1892–1989), cartoonist
*
E. C. Mills (1873–1962), educator
*
Earl Sheely
Earl Homer Sheely (February 12, 1893 – September 16, 1952) was a first baseman for the Chicago White Sox (1921–27), Pittsburgh Pirates (1929) and Boston Braves (1931).
Sheely finished sixth in voting for the 1925 American League MVP, playing ...
(1893–1952), 1920s first baseman for
Chicago White Sox
The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...
Horse show
Beginning in 1908, the Truman Pioneer Stud Farm in Bushnell was home to one of the largest horse shows in the Midwest. The show was well known for imported European horses. The Bushnell Horse Show returned in 2004 and has become one of the better draft horse hitch shows in the tri-state region. The Bushnell Horse Show features some of the best Belgian and Percheron hitches in the country. Teams have come from many different states and Canada to compete.
"National Horse Show returns"
/ref>
References
External links
Cornerstone Music and Arts Festival(http://www.cornerstonefestival.com).
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Cities in Illinois
Cities in McDonough County, Illinois