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Calumet City, Illinois
City
Seal
Location of Calumet City in Cook County, Illinois.
Location of Illinois in the United States
Coordinates: 41°36′51″N 87°32′47″W / 41.61417°N 87.54639°W / 41.61417; -87.54639Coordinates: 41°36′51″N 87°32′47″W / 41.61417°N 87.54639°W / 41.61417; -87.54639
Country	United States
State	Illinois
County	Cook
Township	Thornton
Incorporated (Village)	February 13, 1893 (as West Hammond)[1]
Incorporated (City)	1924 (as Calumet City)[2][3]
Government
• Type	Council-Mayor
• Mayor	Michelle Markiewicz Qualkinbush
Area [4]
• Total	7.30 sq mi (18.92 km2)
• Land	7.18 sq mi (18.60 km2)
• Water	0.12 sq mi (0.32 km2)  1.64%
Population (2016)
• Total	36,732
• Estimate  (2016)[5]	36,732
• Density	5,115.17/sq mi (1,974.95/km2)
Standard of living (2009-11)
• Per capita income	$20,390
• Median home value	$121,900
ZIP code(s)	60409
Area code(s)	708
Geocode	17-10487
FIPS code	17-10487
Website	www.calumetcity.org

Calumet City (/ˌkæljʊˈmɛt/ KAL-yuu-MET) is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 37,042 at the 2010 census,^[7] a decline of 5.2% from 2000. The ZIP code is 60409.

Calumet City (commonly referred to locally as "Cal City") was founded in 1893 when the villages of Schrumville and Sobieski Park merged under the name of West Hammond, since it lies on the west side of the Illinois-Indiana line from Hammond, Indiana.^[1] In 1924, West Hammond officially became Calumet City after its citizens voted to change the name in 1923.^[2][3]

In addition to being bordered to the east by Hammond, it is also bordered by Burnham and Chicago to the north, Lansing to the south, and South Holland and Dolton to the west.

The Smiley Towers

A landmark and point of pride among Cal City residents is the pair of large water towers painted like the popular "Have a Nice Day" smiley faces.^[8]

Geography

Calumet City is located at 41°36′51″N 87°32′47″W / 41.61417°N 87.54639°W / 41.61417; -87.54639 (41.614188, −87.546389).^[9]

According to the 2010 census, Calumet City has a total area of 7.314 square miles (18.94 km²), of which 7.19 square miles (18.62 km²) (or 98.3%) is land and 0.124 square miles (0.32 km²) (or 1.7%) is water.^[10]

Demographics

As of the 2010 census,^[12] there were 37,042 people residing in the city. The racial makeup of the city was 20.4% White, 71.9% African American, 1.2% Native American, 0.5% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 8.1% from other races, with 1.9% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 15.0% of the population, including 13.4% of Mexican descent.

There were 13,978 households (and 9,052 families), out of which 32.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 30.8% were husband-wife families, 27.3% had a female householder with no husband present, 6.7% had a male householder with no wife present, and 35.2% were non-families. 38.8% Of all households had individuals under 18 years and 25.9% housed someone 65 years of age or older. 12.6% were people over 65 years of age living alone. The average household size was 2.65 and the average family size was 3.35.

In the city, the age distribution of the population was 28.2% under the age of 18, 60.1% from 18-65 and 11.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35.1 years. For every 100 females, there were 85.2 males.

According to the 2015 American Community Survey^[13] The median income for a household in the city was $38,557, and the median income for a family was $49,086. Full-time, year-round male workers had a median income of $43,494 versus $39,573 for females. The per capita income for the city was $19,483. About 19.2% of families and 22.2% of the population were below the poverty line in the past 12 months, including 33.9% of those under age 18 and 13.9% of those age 65 or over. 51.9% were employed, and 12.9% were unemployed.

Government

Calumet City is in Illinois' 2nd congressional district.

Notable people

A 1903 portrait of Virginia Brooks, an unidentified woman and men sitting in a room, probably in a courthouse or police station. The women are probably associated with vice in Calumet City

• 
  Johnni Black, born Laurie Golem, adult films actress and Gulf War Army veteran


• 
  Landon Cox, drafted to Cincinnati Bengals, July 28, 2011^[14]
  


• 
  Arline M. Fantin, Illinois state representative^[15]
  


• 
  Frank Giglio, Illinois state representative^[16]
  


• 
  John Jurkovic, defensive lineman for several NFL teams; radio host at ESPN Radio 1000^[17][18]
  


• 
  Mirko Jurkovic, former offensive guard for the Chicago Bears and All-American at the University of Notre Dame^[19]
  


• 
  Gene Krupa, jazz drummer, buried in Holy Cross Cemetery


• 
  DJ Rashad, Chicago house music producer


• 
  Mike Tomczak, quarterback for several NFL teams, including the 1985 Chicago Bears Super Bowl champions^[20][21]
  


• 
  Steve Wojciechowski, former pitcher for the Oakland Athletics
  


• 
  Tink, singer-songwriter


• 
  Tim Walberg, member of the United States House of Representatives from Michigan. His family moved from Chicago to Calumet City and he attended Thornton Fractional Township North High School.^[22]
  

In popular culture

Calumet City is featured or mentioned in a number of major movies. John Belushi's "Joliet Jake" and Dan Aykroyd's "Elwood" characters from The Blues Brothers were born in Calumet City, and so is the orphanage they grew up in which they save "on a mission from God" by paying $5,000 in property taxes from a $10,000 record deal at their concert, as well as "Ray's Music Exchange" that holds the famed Ray Charles "Shake Your Tail-Feather" scene of the movie. In the book and film The Silence of the Lambs, Buffalo Bill is thought to be hiding in Calumet City, when he is actually in Belvedere, Ohio. The Calumet City scenes in the film were filmed in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, however. Lily Tomlin's prim but assertive housewife/spokesperson "Mrs. Judith Beasley" is said to be a resident of Calumet City. She said, "Hi. I am not an actress, but a real person like yourself."

Calumet City is also referenced by a number of popular music acts. The Black Crowes included a video of the Smiley Towers in their 1990 video for "Hard to Handle". A photograph of the "Dolton" smiley water tower is featured on the back of the Dead Kennedys album Plastic Surgery Disasters. Rapper Twista has referenced Calumet City. Kanye West's reference to Calumet in his 2005 song "Drive Slow" does not refer to Calumet City, but rather to Calumet High School, which was located in the South Side of Chicago and not in Calumet City.

The Smiley Tower is also featured in the movie Natural Born Killers; it is seen out the window of Mallory's family home (part of that movie was filmed in Hammond, Indiana). In the Nine Inch Nails music video on the director's cut of the same film, the Smiley Tower and Dolton Avenue/State Street is featured.

The founders of the Calumet Baking Powder Company adopted its brand name from the original Native American word for the land that became Calumet City. They later named one of thoroughbred horse racing's most famed and successful enterprises, Calumet Farm, after the company.

In 2004, Alan Keyes purchased a raised ranch house in Calumet City to establish residency in Illinois so he could run for the U.S. Senate in place of Jack Ryan against Barack Obama, although instead of residing in the house, he officially moved into an apartment elsewhere in town, on Garfield Avenue.

In 2010, pop music group Hanson remade the "Shake Your Tailfeather" scene of the movie "The Blues Brothers" for the music video for their hit "Thinkin' 'Bout Somethin'" in Tulsa, Oklahoma, paying homage to Calumet City's Ray's Music Exchange, John Belushi, and Ray Charles.

Jean Shepherd (writer and narrator of the classic movie "A Christmas Story") in radio broadcasts from WOR radio, New York in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s and in his PBS specials of the 1970s and 1980s, and his many books, often refers to it as Cal City or just Calumet. He grew up next door in Hammond, Indiana.

Education

Calumet City is served by several elementary school districts:^[23]

• 
  Calumet City School District 155^[24]
  
  
  • Woodrow Wilson Memorial School
  
  
  • Wentworth Intermediate School
  
  
  • Wentworth Jr. High School
  
  
  
  


• 
  Dolton School District 149^[25]
  
  
  • Berger Vandenberg School
  
  
  • Carol Moseley Braun School
  
  
  • Caroline Sibley School
  
  
  • Dirksen Middle School
  
  
  
  


• 
  Lincoln Elementary School District 156^[26]
  • Lincoln Elementary School
  
  


• 
  Hoover-Schrum Memorial School District No. 157^[27]
  
  
  • Hoover Elementary School
  
  
  • Schrum Memorial Middle School
  
  
  
  

The city is served by two high school districts:

• 
  Thornton Township High School District 205 (west of Torrence Avenue)^[28]
  • Thornwood High School
  
  


• 
  Thornton Fractional High School District 215 (east of Torrence Avenue)^[29]
  • Thornton Fractional North High School
  
  

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Calumet City, Illinois.

• 
  Calumet City official website