Community Profile & Membership Directory 2017
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COMMUNITY PROFILE & MEMBERSHIP DIRECTORY 2017 300 Civic Center Plaza, Suite 245 Quincy, IL 62301 (217) 222-7980 quincychamber.org www.quincychamber.org 2017 COMMUNITY PROFILE AND MEMBERSHIP DIRECTORY 1 2 2017 COMMUNITY PROFILE AND MEMBERSHIP DIRECTORY www.quincychamber.org Table of Contents 4 Quincy & Its History 19 Parks & Recreation 6 Quincy Today 20 Education 7 Worship & Faith 21 Private Schools 8 Location &Transportation 23 Business & Industry 9 Tourism & Culture 31 Healthcare & Medicine 12 Day Trips 34 Seniors 14 Shopping & Dining 36 Utilities 16 Places to Live 38 Membership Directory & Buyer’s Guide About the Cover 2017 is a big year for the Quincy Public School District. This year, the first of five new elementary schools will open and ground will be broken for a second school. When the project is complete, funded by an $89 million referendum passed easily by voters in 2014, Quincy will have five new elementary schools for children in grades K-5, one of the most beautiful junior high schools in the state of Illinois for our 6th-8th graders and an expanded high school for grades 9-12. Add these new facilities to the community’s strong parochial school system that includes four Roman Catholic elementary schools, Quincy Christian School, St. James Lutheran School and Quincy Notre Dame High School, a strong community college and multiple four-year liberal arts universities within driving distance, and it is obvious that Quincyans are taking care of the future of our community. Right on Q is the new rally cry for Quincy and Adams County. You’ll see it in the way area residents arrive, right on cue, to fill sandbags to protect their neighbors from a rising Mississippi River, when people need a hand or visitors need a welcome. It’s about hard work and developing a highly skilled workforce. It’s about going the extra mile. Come spend some time here and visit the Chamber member companies in the back of this book. In Quincy, we go the extra mile to welcome you, support you and encourage you. That’s not just our promise, it’s our heritage. Cover photo by Jake Shane, Herald-Whig photographer. Many of the photos in this publication have been contributed by The Herald-Whig. www.quincychamber.org 2017 COMMUNITY PROFILE AND MEMBERSHIP DIRECTORY 3 Quincy and Its History In the early 19th century, the Mississippi River was seen as the essence of opportunity. Shortly after Illinois became a state in 1818 and Military Tract bounty land became available, John Wood and Willard Keyes bought land in what they deemed the perfect spot on the Mississippi, where the water met the bluffs. It was an ideal port for steamboats, trading and commercial prospects. Within a few years, the riverfront bustled with passengers, porters, tradesmen and speculators. Between 1829 and 1870, more than 10,500 Germans settled in Quincy, bringing to the community skilled craftsmen and high caliber citizens, the majority of whom settled in the southwest section of the city. Manufacturers produced stoves, plows, household furniture, organs, carriages and farm wagons. Several breweries and a distillery also prospered. Front Street was a mix of dry goods stores, saloons, hotels and restaurants. Quincy became home to a number of the finest pioneer leaders in business, law and trade. Today, Quincy continues to recognize and honor her German heritage. In 1990, 56 percent of Quincyans claimed German ancestry. “Calftown,” a portion of the southwest section of town appropriately named because every home in the area was said to have had a cow in the yard in the mid-1800s, is also known as the South Side German National Historic District. We have a close and long-standing Sister City relationship with Herford, Germany, from where many of our ancestors originated, and we celebrate our German heritage with Germanfest and Oktoberfest celebrations each year. Quincy was named after President John Quincy Adams. Early in 1825, the Illinois Legislature created a new county in West Central Illinois and named it Adams. A commission named the existing village as county seat, calling it Quincy, and to complete the use of his name, the public square was called “John’s Square.” Visitors called Quincy “a gem of a city.” Flour and saw mills flourished, for the fertile soil yielded excellent crops of grain; game was abundant; oak, hickory and walnut timber came in quantity from the forests that were cut down to make way for the expanding community; and trade flourished. That nickname, “The Gem City,” is still reflected in our community today in company names, television and radio station call letters, and our summer collegiate league baseball team. Just more than a decade old, Quincy was faced with its first human rights issue when the question of slavery became a growing issue across the country. Just across the Mississippi River, Missouri was a slave state, but most of Quincy’s earliest settlers came from the Northeastern United States, bringing with them strong antislavery inclinations. Quincy was bold in its conviction and hospitable in its actions. In 1836, Rev. Dr. David VINTAGE PHOTOS COURTESY OF QUINCY PUBLIC LIBRARY, Nelson founded the Mission HISTORIC QUINCY AREA PHOTO Institute that operated COLLECTION 4 2017 COMMUNITY PROFILE AND MEMBERSHIP DIRECTORY www.quincychamber.org Quincy’s best known Underground Railroad Station, Mission Institute #1, just north of present day Madison Park. The Underground Railroad was an informal, secret system of aiding fugitive slaves by passing them along from “station to station” until they reached Canada and freedom. The Underground Railroad lasted in Quincy from the early 1830s to the late 1840s. Again showing their willingness to aid the most vulnerable of people, the residents of Quincy acted as a refuge to individuals of the Mormon faith escaping persecution in Missouri during the winter of 1838-39. The city of Quincy sheltered 5,000 members of the Church at a time when the city’s own population numbered only 1,500. As the largest community in the area, Quincy became the political center for the region. Founder John Wood became the 12th Governor of Illinois in 1860. Stephen Douglas was elected to congress and later to the Senate. On October 13, 1858, as the country was still grappling with the question of slavery, the sixth of the famous Lincoln-Douglas debates was held in John’s Square, which is now Washington Park. More than 15,000 people are said to have crowded the square to hear Lincoln draw from Douglas the admission that he favored permitting the states to settle the question of slavery within their borders, a position that won election to the Senate for Douglas, but two years later went far toward electing Lincoln to the presidency. With the advent of railroads in Illinois, the center of activity swung away from the river, but while other cities have surpassed it in size, Quincy remains the largest city in an area of 100 miles in all directions and has positioned itself as the regional retail and medical hub for a population of more than 250,000 residents. www.quincychamber.org 2017 COMMUNITY PROFILE AND MEMBERSHIP DIRECTORY 5 Quincy Today After 175 years, Quincy is a modern and progressive city in the heart of a large and fertile agricultural area. We have a diverse business community, made up of hundreds of small companies, global manufacturers and nonprofit agencies. More than 40 percent of our businesses are owned by women. Cost of living for our 40,000+ residents is lower than in the big cities. More than 60% of our residents own their homes; the average price of a single-family dwelling is $141,000. Fiber connection to the internet is available for both commercial and residential properties. Our workforce is strong. Twenty-four percent of our population age 25 and older have bachelor degrees or higher, and the average household income is more than $60,000 per year. Nearly 10% of our population are minorities. Wide tree-lined streets and historic homes remind visitors of days gone by. Parks are within proximity to all residential areas, and travel to anywhere in the city can take place in only 15 minutes. Strong public and private school systems and churches of every faith support family life. The fine arts are appreciated and cultivated. Here, residents have the best of both worlds: access to most of the amenities of the big city with the safety, work ethic and more relaxed pace of smaller town living. Patriotism runs through our blood. Quincy proudly boasts of having one of the largest Veterans Homes in the state of Illinois. Caring for nearly 600 residents from all over the state, the facility is a community unto itself. The home provides medical, recreational, religious and social services for its residents. The grounds, including the All Wars Museum and deer park, are open to the public. Quincy area residents are also strong supporters of the Honor Flight program. And, we are busy people! International organizations such as Altrusa, Exchange, Kiwanis, Lions, Optimists and Rotary, have active service clubs in our area. Nearly 200 other associations allow residents to share their passions. We have clubs for duck hunters, needle workers, animal lovers, all kinds of car enthusiasts, writers, rock lovers and so many more. And, if we don’t have a group that shares your hobby, you can start one! We have a raceway, nearby county fairgrounds, a summer collegiate baseball team called the Quincy Gems and five golf courses. Civil War re-enactments take place in our Riverview Park, local farmers bring their goods to sell at the Farmers Market, visitors can feed the ducks that live in South Park, and the Quincy Park Band provides musical entertainment every week during the summer months.