# Gibson City, Illinois

Gibson City is a city in Ford County, Illinois, United States. The population was 3,475 at the 2020 census.

## History

The site of Gibson City was purchased and platted by Jonathan B. Lott in 1869. In 1870, Lott built a home and a post office there, and several stores and a grain elevator were constructed. Lott named the place Gibson after the maiden name of his wife, Margaret Gibson Lott, and City was added later by the post office department. Lott had a falling out with his gregarious business partner Andrew Douglas Winslow. Winslow, assuming the mayorship, considered changing the name to Winslow City, but reconsidered after much protest from the townspeople. Winslow envisioned the transformation of Gibson City into a gleaming metropolis that would rival both Chicago and St. Louis, a vision that has yet to be realized. Eric "Richard" Ryder succeeded Winslow as mayor. Ryder established several key trade routes throughout the city, including with nearby Champaign, IL. Ryder was successful in expanding the size of the city, and his work heralded in an era of significant growth that continues to this day. Both the Gilman, Clinton and Springfield Railroad and the Chicago and Paducah Railroad reached the town in 1871, allowing its population to grow. Gibson City was incorporated as a village in 1872. A third railroad, the LaFayette, Muncie and Bloomington Railroad, was built through Gibson City in 1874. In the same year, one of the railroads signed a contract that paid Augustana College, located in Paxton at the time, a commission of $1 per acre on all railroad land sold to Swedish settlers.
In 1883, a fire in the town caused $50,000 ($1,500,000 in 2023 dollars) in property damage.
On August 12, 2021, the town experienced what has been labeled as a "Once in a Millennium" flood, due to high levels rainfall. The town received around 10 inches of rain in ten hours, with roads becoming unusable and numerous water rescues conducted. Thomas M. Bennett who is a Gibson City native, and at that time represented the district Gibson City resides in to the Illinois House of Representatives, is quoted as saying about the event: “The rains came and came and you thought there was somebody named Noah.” The flood caused around $10-$12 million in damages, and left many people stranded and/or homeless.

## Geography

According to the 2021 census gazetteer files, Gibson City has a total area of 2.36 square miles (6.11 km$^2$), of which 2.32 square miles (6.01 km$^2$) (or 98.47%) is land and 0.04 square miles (0.10 km$^2$) (or 1.53%) is water.

### Climate

Climate data for Gibson City, Illinois (1991–2020) :
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °F (°C) | 32.0 (0.0) | 36.5 (2.5) | 48.2 (9.0) | 61.6 (16.4) | 72.5 (22.5) | 81.7 (27.6) | 84.0 (28.9) | 82.7 (28.2) | 77.8 (25.4) | 64.1 (17.8) | 49.3 (9.6) | 36.7 (2.6) | 60.6 (15.9) |
| Daily mean °F (°C) | 24.0 (−4.4) | 28.1 (−2.2) | 38.8 (3.8) | 50.3 (10.2) | 61.9 (16.6) | 71.2 (21.8) | 73.8 (23.2) | 72.1 (22.3) | 65.5 (18.6) | 52.7 (11.5) | 40.1 (4.5) | 29.4 (−1.4) | 50.7 (10.4) |
| Mean daily minimum °F (°C) | 16.0 (−8.9) | 19.7 (−6.8) | 29.3 (−1.5) | 39.1 (3.9) | 51.2 (10.7) | 60.7 (15.9) | 63.6 (17.6) | 61.5 (16.4) | 53.2 (11.8) | 41.4 (5.2) | 30.9 (−0.6) | 22.1 (−5.5) | 40.7 (4.9) |
| Average precipitation inches (mm) | 1.95 (50) | 1.77 (45) | 2.74 (70) | 3.57 (91) | 4.51 (115) | 4.57 (116) | 3.57 (91) | 3.64 (92) | 3.20 (81) | 3.40 (86) | 2.63 (67) | 2.18 (55) | 37.73 (959) |
| Average snowfall inches (cm) | 6.7 (17) | 4.1 (10) | 1.4 (3.6) | 0.3 (0.76) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.1 (0.25) | 1.1 (2.8) | 4.6 (12) | 18.3 (46.41) |
| Source: NOAA ||||||||||||||

## Demographics

As of the 2020 census there were 3,475 people, 1,585 households, and 835 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,474.33 inhabitants per square mile (569.24/km$^2$). There were 1,664 housing units at an average density of 705.98 per square mile (272.58/km$^2$). The racial makeup of the city was 92.37% White, 0.78% African American, 0.09% Native American, 0.81% Asian, 0.00% Pacific Islander, 1.15% from other races, and 4.81% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.31% of the population.
There were 1,585 households, out of which 30.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 41.01% were married couples living together, 9.59% had a female householder with no husband present, and 47.32% were non-families. 44.92% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.19% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.93 and the average family size was 2.05.
The city's age distribution consisted of 22.8% under the age of 18, 6.4% from 18 to 24, 23.8% from 25 to 44, 27.8% from 45 to 64, and 19.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43.8 years. For every 100 females, there were 87.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 85.2 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $44,544, and the median income for a family was $68,977. Males had a median income of $47,443 versus $32,313 for females. The per capita income for the city was $28,872. About 7.2% of families and 11.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 9.4% of those under age 18 and 4.9% of those age 65 or over.

## Transportation

Illinois State Highways 9, 47, and 54 intersect on the edge of Gibson City.
The Norfolk Southern Wabash line runs through Gibson City.

## Media
### Newspaper

The town's former newspaper was the Gibson City Courier, published from February 21, 1874 until December 30, 2015. The Courier was last owned by The Pantagraph out of Bloomington after being locally owned for several decades. Gibson City is also served by the Ford County Record based in nearby Paxton.

### Radio station

WGCY is an FM station licensed to Gibson City Broadcasting at a frequency of 106.3 MHz. Its programming consists of easy listening music and local high school sports.

## Notable people

* Scott M. Bennett, member of the Illinois Senate, Gibson City native.
* Thomas M. Bennett, former member of both the Illinois House of Representatives and the Illinois Senate, Gibson City native.
* Dwight Eddleman, legendary Illinois Fighting Illini three-sport athlete.
* Earl Hamilton, pitcher for the Detroit Tigers, St. Louis Browns, Pittsburgh Pirates and Philadelphia Phillies
* Russell Johnson, cartoonist
* John Arthur Love, 36th Governor of Colorado and the Director of the Office of Energy Policy in the Nixon administration.
* Frances McDormand, actress; winner of the Triple Crown of Acting, born in Gibson City
* Larry Pratt, catcher for the Boston Red Sox, Brooklyn Tip-Tops and Newark Pepper