Hinckley is a village in Squaw Grove Township, DeKalb County, Illinois, United States. The population was 2,006 at the 2020 census, a slight decline from 2,070 at the 2010 census.

History

In the 1830s, a Mr. Hollenbeck, who lived near Ottawa, Illinois, was traveling the then-unsettled territory. He found a grove of trees west of the present-day Hinckley and named it Squaw Grove, after the Native American women who were tending camp.

In the spring of 1835, John Sebree built a log house. The following year, more families came to the area and a small town was started at the west edge of what is now Hinckley, which was named Squaw Grove.

Hinckley was conceived in the 1870s as the brainchild of Francis Hinckley, president of the Chicago and Iowa Railroad. The rail line was placed one-half mile east of the Village of Squaw Grove, which was then named Hinckley.

Education

Hinckley is a part of the Hinckley-Big Rock Community Unit School District 429, which operates three schools:

  • Hinckley-Big Rock Elementary School is located on the west side of Hinckley on US HWY 30.
  • Hinckley-Big Rock Middle School is located in the center of Big Rock on US HWY 30.
  • Hinckley-Big Rock High School is located on the east side of Hinckley on US HWY 30.

Geography

According to the 2021 census gazetteer files, Hinckley has a total area of , of which (or 99.06%) is land and (or 0.94%) is water.

Demographics

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, Hinckley had a population of 2,006. The median age was 38.7 years. 25.3% of residents were under the age of 18 and 15.2% were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females, there were 103.9 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 98.0 males age 18 and over.

0.0% of residents lived in urban areas, while 100.0% lived in rural areas.

There were 766 households in Hinckley, of which 32.4% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 55.2% were married-couple households, 16.8% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 21.1% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 25.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

{| class="wikitable"

|+ Racial composition as of the 2020 census Christopher Walken and Susan Sarandon portray two painfully shy people who find one another through a community theater production of "A Streetcar Named Desire", in which they portray the tempestuous Stanley and Stella Kowalski.

Notes

  • Village of Hinckley