View source for Piper City, Illinois

{{Use American English|date=January 2026}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2024}}
{{Infobox settlement
| name             = Piper City
| settlement_type  = [[List of towns and villages in Illinois|Village]]
| image_skyline    = 
| imagesize        = 
| image_caption    = 
| motto            = 
| image_map        = File:Ford County Illinois Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Piper City Highlighted.svg
| mapsize          = 
| map_caption      = Location of Piper City in Ford County, Illinois.
<!-- Location -->
| subdivision_type = Country
| subdivision_name = United States
| subdivision_type1 = State
| subdivision_name1 = Illinois
| subdivision_type2 = County
| subdivision_name2 = [[Ford County, Illinois|Ford]]
| subdivision_type3 = 
| subdivision_name3 = 
<!-- Government -->
| established_title = 
| established_date = 
| founder          = 
| named_for        = 
| government_footnotes = 
| government_type  = 
| governing_body   = 
| leader_party     = 
| leader_title     = Village President
| leader_name      = 
<!-- Area -->
| unit_pref        = Imperial
| area_footnotes   = <ref name="CenPopGazetteer2020">{{cite web|title=2020 U.S. Gazetteer Files|url=https://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/gazetteer/2020_Gazetteer/2020_gaz_place_17.txt|publisher=United States Census Bureau|accessdate=March 15, 2022}}</ref>
| area_total_km2   = 1.44
| area_total_sq_mi = 0.56
| area_land_km2    = 1.44
| area_land_sq_mi  = 0.56
| area_water_km2   = 0.00
| area_water_sq_mi = 0.00
<!-- Population -->
| population_as_of = [[2020 United States census|2020]]
| population_footnotes = 
| population_total = 745
| population_density_km2 = 518.52
| population_density_sq_mi = 1342.34
<!-- General information -->
| timezone         = [[North American Central Time Zone|CST]]
| utc_offset       = -6
| timezone_DST     = [[North American Central Time Zone|CDT]]
| utc_offset_DST   = -5
| elevation_footnotes = <ref name=gnis/>
| elevation_ft     = 669
| coordinates      = {{coord|40|45|14|N|88|11|15|W|display=inline,title}}
| coordinates_footnotes = <ref name=gnis/>
<!-- Area/postal codes and others -->
| postal_code_type = [[ZIP code]]
| postal_code      = 60959
| area_code        = [[Area code 815|815]]
| blank_name       = [[Federal Information Processing Standards|FIPS code]]
| blank_info       = 17-60079
| blank1_name      = [[Geographic Names Information System|GNIS]] feature ID
| blank1_info      = 2399679<ref name=gnis>{{GNIS|2399679}}</ref>
| website          = {{URL|http://pipercity.com/}}
| footnotes        = 
}}
'''Piper City''' is a village in [[Ford County, Illinois|Ford County]], [[Illinois]], United States. The population was 745 at the 2020 census.

==History==
Piper City was laid out in 1867 by Samuel Cross of New York and William A. Piper (March 5, 1820 – July 6, 1896) of [[Philadelphia]]. The original plat was named Brenton. It was a station on the [[Toledo, Peoria and Western Railway|Toledo Peoria and Western Railroad]], which had been completed ten years earlier. The present name of the town, which was adapted soon after the town was founded, comes from Piper who had extensive land holdings in the area.<ref>E. A. Gardner, ''History of Ford County, Illinois'' (Chicago: S.J. Clarke, 1908) p. 198.</ref> Cross lived briefly in the township, but little is known of his life. An earlier railroad siding and grain station known as Brenton had been established two miles to the east of the eventual location of the town. The new station was therefore briefly known as New Brenton. The Original Town lay on both sides of the railroad and the streets were aligned with the railroad, which was angled slightly away from true north–south.  John Allen and W. C. Jones opened the first store in Piper City the summer of 1867. A second store called Piper, Montelius and Company was operated by J.A. Montelius, Piper's nephew, but it is unclear if Piper was actually a resident in the new town.<ref>Peg Johnson, ''Wagons to Wings: A History of Piper City'' (Piper City Centennial Committee, 1964). P.98.</ref> The first Post Office was in the home of John R. Lewis, who had been a land agent for the [[Illinois Central Railroad]]. A Presbyterian Church was established in 1869, a Catholic church in 1880 and a Methodist church in 1881.  In 1870, Montelius established a bank and was, for many years, the leading citizen of Piper City.<ref>Gardner, 1880, p.198.</ref> In 1887, B.W. Kensey began the ''Piper City Journal''. In 1924, when the people of Piper City learned that a new highway, soon to be known as U.S. 24, would pass a quarter mile south of the town, a delegation was sent to the governor to protest. They were unsuccessful.<ref>Johnston, 1964, p.28.</ref>  The town has been an important [[grain trade|grain shipping]] point for the rich agricultural land of the pan handle of Ford County.

==Geography==
According to the 2021 census gazetteer files, Piper City has a total area of {{convert|0.56|sqmi|km2|2}}, all land.<ref name="gaz2021">{{Cite web |publisher=United States Census Bureau |title=Gazetteer Files |url=https://www.census.gov/geographies/reference-files/time-series/geo/gazetteer-files.html |access-date=June 29, 2022 |website=Census.gov}}</ref>

===Climate===
{{Weather box   <!-- Infobox begins -->
| single line = Y
| collapsed = Y
| location    = Piper City, Illinois (1991–2020)
<!-- Average high temperatures -->
| Jan high F  =35.0
| Feb high F  =40.1
| Mar high F  =51.7
| Apr high F  =65.2
| May high F  =76.0
| Jun high F  =85.0
| Jul high F  =87.6
| Aug high F  =85.3
| Sep high F  =80.4
| Oct high F  =67.8
| Nov high F  =52.6
| Dec high F  =40.2
<!-- Mean daily temperature -->
| Jan mean F  =25.3
| Feb mean F  =29.5
| Mar mean F  =39.8
| Apr mean F  =51.6
| May mean F  =62.6
| Jun mean F  =72.5
| Jul mean F  =75.3
| Aug mean F  =72.8
| Sep mean F  =66.3
| Oct mean F  =54.8
| Nov mean F  =41.6
| Dec mean F  =30.8
<!-- Average low temperatures -->
| Jan low F  =15.6
| Feb low F  =18.9
| Mar low F  =27.9
| Apr low F  =38.0
| May low F  =49.2
| Jun low F  =60.0
| Jul low F  =63.1
| Aug low F  =60.3
| Sep low F  =52.2
| Oct low F  =41.7
| Nov low F  =30.7
| Dec low F  =21.5
<!-- Total precipitation, this should include rain and snow. -->
| precipitation colour    =  green
| Jan precipitation inch  =3.40
| Feb precipitation inch  =2.75
| Mar precipitation inch  =2.97
| Apr precipitation inch  =4.02
| May precipitation inch  =4.91
| Jun precipitation inch  =4.53
| Jul precipitation inch  =4.90
| Aug precipitation inch  =4.14
| Sep precipitation inch  =2.86
| Oct precipitation inch  =3.68
| Nov precipitation inch  =3.22
| Dec precipitation inch  =3.01
<!-- Snowfall -->
| Jan snow inch  =8.6
| Feb snow inch  =4.4
| Mar snow inch  =3.3
| Apr snow inch  =0.9
| May snow inch  =0.0
| Jun snow inch  =0.0
| Jul snow inch  =0.0
| Aug snow inch  =0.0
| Sep snow inch  =0.0
| Oct snow inch  =0.0
| Nov snow inch  =1.3
| Dec snow inch  =6.2
<!-- Mandatory fields, source -->
| source = NOAA<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/us-climate-normals/#dataset=normals-monthly&timeframe=30&station=USC00116819 |title=NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals Quick Access |publisher=NOAA |access-date=2025-01-14 }}</ref>
}}<!-- Infobox ends -->

==Demographics==
{{US Census population
|1870= 302
|1880= 423
|1890= 460
|1900= 577
|1910= 663
|1920= 715
|1930= 650
|1940= 663
|1950= 735
|1960= 807
|1970= 842
|1980= 905
|1990= 760
|2000= 781
|2010= 826
|2020= 745
|footnote=U.S. Decennial Census<ref name="DecennialCensus">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census.html|title=Census of Population and Housing|publisher=Census.gov|accessdate=June 4, 2015}}</ref>
}}As of the [[2020 United States census|2020 census]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Explore Census Data |url=https://data.census.gov/cedsci/profile?g=1600000US1760079 |access-date=June 28, 2022 |website=data.census.gov}}</ref> there were 745 people, 398 households, and 253 families residing in the village. The population density was {{Convert|1,342.34|PD/sqmi|PD/km2}}. There were 357 housing units at an average density of {{Convert|643.24|/sqmi|/km2}}. The racial makeup of the village was 86.17% [[White (U.S. Census)|White]], 0.13% [[African American (U.S. Census)|African American]], 0.27% [[Native American (U.S. Census)|Native American]], 0.67% [[Asian (U.S. Census)|Asian]], 0.00% [[Pacific Islander (U.S. Census)|Pacific Islander]], 5.23% from [[Race (United States Census)|other races]], and 7.52% from two or more races. [[Hispanic (U.S. Census)|Hispanic]] or [[Latino (U.S. Census)|Latino]] of any race were 9.80% of the population.

There were 398 households, out of which 34.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 32.66% were married couples living together, 22.86% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.43% were non-families. 31.66% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.06% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.44 and the average family size was 2.03.

The village's age distribution consisted of 17.8% under the age of 18, 13.3% from 18 to 24, 18.9% from 25 to 44, 33.9% from 45 to 64, and 16.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 45.0 years. For every 100 females, there were 93.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.5 males.

The median income for a household in the village was $36,310, and the median income for a family was $40,987. Males had a median income of $42,000 versus $25,341 for females. The [[per capita income]] for the village was $22,757. About 20.6% of families and 19.7% of the population were below the [[poverty line]], including 40.8% of those under age 18 and 2.0% of those age 65 or over.

==Notable people==
<!-- Note:
· Only people who already have a Wikipedia article may appear here. This establishes notability.
· The article must mention how they are associated with Piper City, whether born, raised, or residing.
· The fact of their association should have a reliable source cited.
· Alphabetical by last name please.
· All others will be deleted.
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* [[Elmer Koestner]], pitcher for the [[Cleveland Naps]], [[Chicago Cubs]] and [[Cincinnati Reds]]; born in Piper City

==References==
<references />

{{Ford County, Illinois}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Villages in Ford County, Illinois]]
[[Category:Populated places in the United States established in 1867]]
[[Category:Villages in Illinois]]