Grant Park is a village in northeastern Kankakee County, Illinois, United States. Grant Park was incorporated in 1883. As of the 2020 census, Grant Park had a population of 1,294. It is part of the Kankakee–Bradley Metropolitan Statistical Area. Much of the town was destroyed by a cyclone in 1912, according to Frank Leslie's Weekly magazine, which ran pictures.
Geography
According to the 2021 census gazetteer files, Grant Park has a total area of , of which (or 99.27%) is land and (or 0.73%) is water.
Weather events
In 1912 a large tornado swept through grant park destroying several homes in the northern portion of the village, injuring multiple residents.
A second large scale tornado struck grant park April 7, 1948, killing 3, and injuring 8. Extensive damage to homes and livestock was done. this tornado is considered the worst tornado in the history of Kankakee County.
On April 7, 1954, a third tornado caused one fatality, and two minor injuries. Several millions of dollars in damage was done.
On August 10, 2020, a relatively small tornado touched down in Grant Park. It caused major damage to trees and roofs along its path, which ended just nearing Lake Metonga. This tornado formed from the bigger August 2020 Midwest derecho.
Demographics
2020 census
As of the 2020 census, Grant Park had a population of 1,294. There were 371 families residing in the village. The population density was . The median age was 43.6 years. 21.3% of residents were under the age of 18 and 19.9% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 88.6 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 95.0 males age 18 and over.
0.0% of residents lived in urban areas, while 100.0% lived in rural areas.
There were 517 households in Grant Park, of which 28.8% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 49.9% were married-couple households, 19.1% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 24.8% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 27.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.