# Morris, Illinois

Morris is a city in and the county seat of Grundy County, Illinois, United States and part of the southwest Chicago metropolitan area. The population was 14,163 as of the 2020 census.
A team of ten anthropologists and sociologists from nearby University of Chicago studied the city in depth and reported its findings in W. Lloyd Warner, editor, Democracy in Jonesville: A Study of Quality and Inequality (1949).

## Description

Morris is the Grundy County seat and has a large hospital and modern schools. It is home to the Morris Community High School Redskins, who have won three state championships in football. There are many small parks, ball diamonds, tennis courts, two golf courses, an outdoor swimming pool, an indoor short course pool as well as the Gebhard Woods State Park and the William G. Stratton State Park for boat launching on the Illinois River and a skatepark located near White Oak elementary school. Morris Community High School is known to be located on an abandoned mining network that stems for approximately five miles (8 kilometres).
Morris is known for its downtown, ranked #3 as one of the best Main Streets in Illinois.. Its home to more than 30 independently owned stores and restaurants.

## Geography

Morris is located in northeast Grundy County along U.S. Route 6 and Illinois Route 47 and on the north side of the Illinois River at an elevation of 515 feet (157 m).
According to the 2021 census gazetteer files, Morris has a total area of 11.64 square miles (30.15 km$^2$), of which 11.28 square miles (29.22 km$^2$) (or 96.92%) is land and 0.36 square miles (0.93 km$^2$) (or 3.08%) is water.

### Climate

The annual precipitation for Morris is about 40 inches. The record high for Morris is 109 °F (43 °C) on July 14, 1936. The record low for Morris is -26 °F (−32 °C) in December 1924. The average high temperature for Morris in July is 84.5 °F (43 °C), while the average January low is 15.4 °F (-9.2 °C).
Morris has not been struck by any major tornadoes in recent history, although they occur in Northern Illinois annually. Morris was the first town hit by the Super Outbreak of April 3–4, 1974. However, the damage within the city was relatively minor, and nobody was injured.
The city can receive heavy snowfall and experience blizzards periodically.
Climate data for Morris, Illinois (1991–2020 normals, extremes 1912–present) :
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °F (°C) | 68 (20) | 71 (22) | 85 (29) | 93 (34) | 103 (39) | 106 (41) | 109 (43) | 107 (42) | 103 (39) | 95 (35) | 82 (28) | 72 (22) | 109 (43) |
| Mean daily maximum °F (°C) | 31.2 (−0.4) | 35.6 (2.0) | 47.7 (8.7) | 60.9 (16.1) | 72.1 (22.3) | 81.7 (27.6) | 84.9 (29.4) | 82.7 (28.2) | 77.4 (25.2) | 64.4 (18.0) | 49.0 (9.4) | 36.7 (2.6) | 60.4 (15.8) |
| Daily mean °F (°C) | 23.4 (−4.8) | 27.4 (−2.6) | 38.3 (3.5) | 50.3 (10.2) | 61.6 (16.4) | 71.4 (21.9) | 75.0 (23.9) | 72.8 (22.7) | 66.1 (18.9) | 53.6 (12.0) | 40.3 (4.6) | 29.1 (−1.6) | 50.8 (10.4) |
| Mean daily minimum °F (°C) | 15.7 (−9.1) | 19.3 (−7.1) | 28.9 (−1.7) | 39.6 (4.2) | 51.0 (10.6) | 61.2 (16.2) | 65.0 (18.3) | 63.0 (17.2) | 54.8 (12.7) | 42.8 (6.0) | 31.6 (−0.2) | 21.5 (−5.8) | 41.2 (5.1) |
| Record low °F (°C) | −23 (−31) | −22 (−30) | −19 (−28) | 12 (−11) | 24 (−4) | 34 (1) | 41 (5) | 34 (1) | 26 (−3) | 12 (−11) | −9 (−23) | −56 (−49) | −26 (−32) |
| Average precipitation inches (mm) | 2.09 (53) | 1.79 (45) | 2.23 (57) | 3.34 (85) | 4.39 (112) | 4.72 (120) | 4.92 (125) | 4.01 (102) | 3.55 (90) | 3.23 (82) | 2.50 (64) | 2.02 (51) | 38.79 (985) |
| Average snowfall inches (cm) | 7.4 (19) | 7.5 (19) | 2.9 (7.4) | 0.5 (1.3) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 1.1 (2.8) | 5.3 (13) | 24.7 (63) |
| Average precipitation days (≥ 0.01 in) | 10.0 | 8.2 | 9.2 | 10.8 | 13.4 | 11.2 | 9.3 | 9.5 | 8.1 | 10.2 | 8.1 | 9.4 | 117.4 |
| Average snowy days (≥ 0.1 in) | 5.9 | 4.3 | 1.8 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 1.0 | 4.0 | 17.6 |
| Source: NOAA ||||||||||||||

## Demographics

As of the 2020 census there were 14,163 people, 6,206 households, and 4,100 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,216.65 inhabitants per square mile (469.75/km$^2$). There were 6,286 housing units at an average density of 539.99 per square mile (208.49/km$^2$). The racial makeup of the city was 82.98% White, 2.18% African American, 0.37% Native American, 1.17% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 4.84% from other races, and 8.39% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 13.30% of the population.
There were 6,206 households, out of which 31.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.47% were married couples living together, 12.04% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.93% were non-families. 29.94% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.18% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.76 and the average family size was 2.27.
The city's age distribution consisted of 22.9% under the age of 18, 8.8% from 18 to 24, 26.8% from 25 to 44, 24% from 45 to 64, and 17.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37.6 years. For every 100 females, there were 93.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.8 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $61,419, and the median income for a family was $73,750. Males had a median income of $47,209 versus $32,672 for females. The per capita income for the city was $32,024. About 6.5% of families and 10.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 18.3% of those under age 18 and 8.2% of those age 65 or over.

## Industries

The Allen Paper Car Wheel Works were based on East North Street in Morris, which supplied the Pullman Palace Car Company in Chicago from 1867 to 1890 with composite wheels for their railway carriages. By the 1920s, the paper mill had become one of the largest employers in Morris, producing cardboard boxes of various shapes, sizes, and colors that were shipped throughout the US.
The Lyondell Chemical Company is located about five miles (8 km) from the city center. The plant, located just off U.S. Route 6 heading eastbound away from Morris, employs many Morris residents. In addition to the chemical plant, three nuclear power plants are located within a 15-mile (24 km) radius of the center of Morris. The closest nuclear plant is only three miles (5 km) away, called the Dresden Nuclear Power Station. The LaSalle Nuclear Station is 14–15 miles (23–24 km) away, and Braidwood Generating Station is about 13 miles (21 km) away. All of the stations are owned by Exelon Corp. Among the stations, Dresden Generating Station generates energy for Chicago and surrounding areas.

## Telephone switching history

In early 1960, the world's first electronic switching system was installed at the Morris central office. The system was a milestone in telephone switching history, an experiment whose planning started in the early 1950s, and led to the largest sustained research and development program toward a single goal in the Bell System. After conversion of the existing manual telephone system using telephone operators for completing telephone calls, with an automatic electromechanical crossbar switching system starting in ca. 1958, a few hundred subscribers received dial service from June 1960 through January 1962 from the first mostly electronic system, that used cold-cathode electron tubes, instead of mechanical relays and switches. For telephone subscribers, the most notable characteristic of what is usually called the Morris System was the use of electronic tone ringers which used up to eight different tones produced by a tweeter, rather than the traditional bell ringer.

## Notable people

* Jessie Bartlett Davis, (c. 1859–1861–1905), operatic singer and actress
* Jack Boyle, (1889–1971), third baseman for the Philadelphia Phillies
* Ed Brady, (b. 1960), former NFL linebacker
* Kelly Dransfeldt, (b. 1975), former shortstop for the Texas Rangers and Chicago White Sox
* Careen M. Gordon, (b. 1972), Member of the Illinois House of Representatives from the 75th district from 2003 to 2011
* Philip C. Hayes, (1833–1916), congressman
* Albert Kingsbury, (1863–1943), engineer, inventor and entrepreneur
* Eric J. Magnuson, (b. 1951), lawyer and Chief Justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court
* Billy Petrick, (b. 1984), former pitcher for the Chicago Cubs
* Walter M. Pierce, (1861–1954), congressman from Oregon's 2nd congressional district and 17th governor of Oregon
* Lyman Beecher Ray (1831–1916), lieutenant governor of Illinois 1889–93, politician and Morris shopkeeper
* Scott Spiezio, (b. 1972), former Major League Baseball third baseman
* Ronald Steel, (b. 1931), award-winning writer, historian, and professor
* James R. Washburn (1921–2007), Illinois state representative and mayor of Morris
* Jerry Weller, (b. 1957), former congressman from the 11th District of Illinois