St. Anne, Illinois

St. Anne (sometimes spelled Saint Anne) by Charles Chiniquy, a French-Canadian Catholic priest and law client of the 16th U.S. President Abraham Lincoln, who was excommunicated by the Catholic Church in 1856. He later converted to Protestant Christianity, becoming a Presbyterian Evangelical minister and a well-known temperance activist in Canada and the United States.

Demographics

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, there were 1,161 people, 480 households, and 301 families residing in the village. The population density was . There were 543 housing units at an average density of .

The median age was 39.8 years. 22.0% of residents were under the age of 18 and 17.7% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females, there were 103.7 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.1 males.

Of the 480 households, 32.9% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 44.2% were married-couple households, 18.8% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 27.3% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 29.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. Of all housing units, 11.6% were vacant; the homeowner vacancy rate was 5.2% and the rental vacancy rate was 11.6%.

Education

St. Anne Community High School is the sole high school within the region, and an elementary school also named for the town exists across the street from the high school. The closest institution of higher education to St. Anne is Kankakee Community College.

Transportation

Illinois Route 1, part of the Western route of the historic Dixie Highway, runs north and south in St. Anne. Interstate 57 is the closest interstate highway to St Anne. The town is also located about 5 miles away from the banks of the Iroquois River, which itself connects to the rest of the world through the Mississippi, Illinois, and Kankakee Rivers.

St. Anne has no passenger railroad services of its own, however, Union Pacific Railroad owns freight rail tracks which pass through the city. St. Anne formerly was served by passenger rail, then operated by the New York Central Railroad, the Missouri Pacific Railroad and the Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad.

Air transport is limited in St. Anne, with the closest airport being the general aviation-exclusive Kankakee Airport. Commercial air service's closest links to St. Anne are through the two major Chicago airports, with Midway being slightly closer to St. Anne than O'Hare.

Notable people

Jack Sikma (born 1955), seven-time NBA All-Star and Hall of Fame center for 1979 NBA champion Seattle SuperSonics; attended St. Anne High School
Joseph M. Pallissard (1886–1960), one of the Early Birds of Aviation. He was a childhood resident of St. Anne.
Florence Price (1887–1953), classical composer, pianist, organist and music teacher. Price maintained a seasonal residence in St. Anne. In 2009, a couple who were renovating an abandoned house on the outskirts of St. Anne discovered that it contained a trove of her manuscripts including dozens of pieces that had been thought lost.