Danville is a city in Vermilion County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. The population was 29,204 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Danville micropolitan area.
History
The area that became Danville was once home to the Miami, Kickapoo, and Potawatomi tribes of Native Americans. Danville was founded in 1827 on of land donated by Guy W. Smith and donated by Dan W. Beckwith. The sale of lots was set for April 10, 1827, and advertised in newspapers in Indianapolis, Indiana and the state capital of Vandalia. The first post office was established in May of the same year in the house of Amos Williams, organizer of Vermilion and Edgar Counties and a prominent Danville citizen. Williams and Beckwith drew up the first plat map; the city was named after Dan Beckwith at Williams' suggestion, although Beckwith suggested the names "Williamsburg" and "Williamstown". Beckwith was born in Pennsylvania in 1795 and moved to Indiana as a young man; in 1819 he accompanied the first white explorers to the area where Danville later existed because of his interest in the salt springs of the Vermilion River. He died in 1835 of pneumonia contracted on a horseback ride back from Washington; he was 40 years old.
In 1838 the Potawatomi Trail of Death camped and then passed through Danville. Four Potawatomi people died and were buried in Danville. In the mid-1800s Abraham Lincoln visited Danville over the course of approximately 18 years as he practiced law across the 8th Judicial Circuit. Danville was home to Ward Hill Lamon his law partner who later served as his bodyguard. Lincoln later gave a speech in his stocking feet from the balcony of Dr. William Fithian, a prominent Danville physician. The Fithian home is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and serves as the Vermilion County Museum. In 1882, a small group of Franciscan Sisters formed St. Elizabeth Hospital out of a 14-room hotel. In 1883 a horsecar based streetcar was established. In 1884 an opera house was constructed. In 1891 the streetcar system was converted to electric streetcars. This interurban streetcar network was substantial in communities south of Danville within the county, such as Catlin, Westville, Georgetown, and Ridgefarm.
Danville became a major industrial city in the late 19th and early twentieth centuries. Starting in the 1850s Danville was an important coal mining area; some of the first open pit mining techniques were practiced here. The coal formation underlying eastern Illinois and western Indiana is named the "Danville Member," after the area where it was first discovered. Danville also served as a significant manufacturing center during the early 1900s, and the city's population doubled between 1900 and 1920. During this time Danville also acted as a rail hub for both passenger and freight service. Danville was the site of a riot in 1903, which led to the lynching of a black man and an assault on the county jail.
The Danville Branch of the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers opened in 1898 and, by 1910, 4,257 veterans were at the branch. This branch was the eighth of ten branches founded by the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers (NHDVS), nationwide, between 1866 and 1929. The Soldiers' Home was a major center in-itself with its own passenger train service, streetcar line, mess hall, farms, livestock, lake, jail, hospital, bakery, laundry stables, stores, theater, chapel, mortuary, office buildings, power plant, print shop, shoemakers, tinsmiths, barber shop and fire department. The first Danville Public Library was formed out of various existing collections in 1883 and was replaced by a Carnegie library in 1904. In 1910, a group of 9 elephants escaped from a Ringling circus and ran through Danville before being recaptured.
An extension University of Illinois was created in Danville in 1946. The extension became an independent junior college in 1949. The college, later called Danville Area Community College, acquired several historic buildings from the Veterans Administration which were renovated throughout the 1960s for educational purposes. These acquisitions placed the college on a larger campus shared with the National Cemetery and modernized Veteran's Hospital. In the 1970s the enclosed Village Mall was constructed.
By 1966 only 6 mines remained in Vermilion County. With the closure of the mines and many factories, including a major General Motors plant, Danville's economic base suffered in the latter half of the 20th century and the population began to decline significantly. Many of the former mines were converted into lakes, creating fishing and recreation opportunities at parks such as Kickapoo State Recreation Area and Kennekuk Cove County Park. The 21st century has seen continued population decline but also major economic development initiatives including the restoration of the Fisher Theatre, expansion of major health care facilities, and the expansion of educational programs focused on job placement.
Geography Danville is located approximately south of Chicago, east of Champaign-Urbana, and west of Indianapolis, Indiana. Illinois Route 1, U.S. Route 136, and U.S. Route 150 intersect in Danville; Interstate 74 passes through the south end of town. The city lies on the Vermillion River, which is part of the Wabash River Valley. Lake Vermilion is located on the northwest side of town.
According to the 2010 census, Danville has a total area of , of which (or 99.57%) is land and (or 0.43%) is water.
Neighborhoods
Danville is made up of many neighborhoods, of which 14 have or have had official neighborhood associations and 9 have official borders. The West Downtown neighborhood is one of the city's oldest, dating back to the later part of the 19th century. The neighborhood was home of the Renaissance Initiative Program created in 2000, which worked for the restoration and preservation of the neighborhood's historic assets. While the program officially disbanded in 2008, the West Downtown Neighborhood association continues these efforts. The Lincoln Park neighborhood is a locally designated historic district. Within the Lincoln Park neighborhood sits the 22-acre Lincoln Park, home of the also locally designed historic landmark the Lamon House. The Danville Neighborhood Leadership Council works to promote neighborhood associations, improve quality of life, and coordinate with City of Danville departments.
Danville is broadly divided into three districts. including the downtown district, the retail district, and the campus district. The downtown district consists of the historic core of the city, the retail district includes the northside retail corridor, and the campus district includes the Danville Area Community College (DACC) and VA campuses on the city's east side.
Climate
In recent years, average temperatures in Danville have ranged from a low of in January to a high of in July, although a record low of was recorded in January 1994 and a record high of was recorded in July 1936. Average monthly precipitation ranged from inches in February to inches in June.
Demographics
Danville is the principal city of the Danville Micropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Danville and Vermilion County.
Racial and ethnic composition +Danville city, Illinois – Racial and ethnic compositionRace / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic)Pop 2000Pop 2010Pop 2020% 2000% 2010% 2020White alone (NH)23,14019,62615,41068.25%59.42%52.77%Black or African American alone (NH)8,1939,8089,61024.17%29.70%32.91%Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)6171460.18%0.21%0.16%Asian alone (NH)4023944211.19%1.19%1.44%Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone (NH)6560.02%0.02%0.02%Other race alone (NH)58421260.17%0.13%0.43%Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)4959271,4051.46%2.81%4.81%Hispanic or Latino (any race)1,5492,1542,1804.57%6.52%7.46%Total33,90433,02729,204 100.00%100.00%100.00%
2020 census
As of the 2020 census, Danville had a population of 29,204. The median age was 38.5 years. 24.1% of residents were under the age of 18 and 18.3% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 101.0 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 100.1 males age 18 and over.
99.9% of residents lived in urban areas, while 0.1% lived in rural areas.
There were 11,709 households in Danville, of which 29.0% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 30.9% were married-couple households, 22.5% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 39.0% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 37.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
There were 13,484 housing units, of which 13.2% were vacant. The homeowner vacancy rate was 2.9% and the rental vacancy rate was 11.7%.
Income and poverty
The median income for a household in the city was $44,239 and the median income for a family was $59,930, and Married-couples families had a median income of $90,409. The per capita income for the city was $26,877. 25.1% of the population was determined to be living below the poverty line. Out of the total people living in poverty, 23.2% were between 18 and 64 years old.
Crime
In 2020, Danville was named one of the most dangerous cities in the country and the second most dangerous in the Midwest. The same study found Danville the 6th most dangerous metro area in the country and the most dangerous metro area in the state.
2022 American Community Survey 5-year estimates
Economy Danville's main shopping center is the Village Mall, opened in 1975. Additional retail has spread north on Route 1 Vermilion Street since the early 90s, ranging from traditional big-box stores to retail infill and redevelopment of abandoned shopping centers. Retail in the community has increased after a large influx of redevelopment and green development, beginning in 2013 with the addition of Meijer and the Kohl's Plaza.
Portions of Danville are covered under the Illinois Enterprise Zone Program tax incentive program. Additionally, the City of Danville has created five Tax Increment Financing districts, including downtown, campus corridor, midtown, east Voorhees, and western gateway. Other available programs include a small business revolving loan fund and a downtown special service area (SSA). Economic development initiatives in the county, including in Danville, are covered by the organization Vermilion Advantage as well as Downtown Danville Inc, the City of Danville, and other partners.
The largest employment sectors in the Danville MSA are government (14.6%), employee of private company workers (67.6%), private not for profit (8.7%).
Following the legalization of Cannabis in Illinois, Danville's location near the Indiana state line made it an attractive location for a recreational cannabis dispensary (cannabis remains illegal in Indiana). Cresco Labs opened an adult-use dispensary under the Sunnyside brand in Danville in May 2020.Cannabis Dispensary Opens in Danville
Arts and culture
Tourism Tourism provides a significant economic impact to the Danville area. Danville is rich in Lincoln history, with over 12 sites commemorating his 18 years practicing law there while riding the 8th Judicial Circuit. Danville is a designated Looking for Lincoln gateway community and is home of three Looking for Lincoln wayside exhibits.
Other tourist attractions include the historic downtown district, home of the Fischer Theatre, which includes a museum dedicated to the many famous performers who have lived in Danville, including Dick Van Dyke, Jerry Van Dyke, Donald O'Connor, Bobby Short, Gene Hackman, and Helen Morgan. The downtown area also includes the performance space Temple Plaza, Palmer Arena and ice rink, and 18 murals painted in 4 days by 160 Walldog artists from all over the world.