La Fayette, Illinois
La Fayette (named after Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette, pronounced locally "Lay - fay - et") is a village in Stark County, Illinois. It is located south of Kewanee off Route 78 on Route 17|IL-17 (Madison Street). The population was 223 at the 2010 census, down from 227 in 2000. It is part of the Peoria, Illinois Metropolitan Statistical Area. Once a prominent strip coal mine and farming village with; a general store, high school(until 1970), hotel, bank, grain elevator, train depot, and many other features and amenities. Once the coal mines shut down and railroad was removed in the early 1980s, it slowly became a low income and high poverty village with many people moving away and it eventually diminished to the hollow shell of what it once was.
La Fayette | |
|---|---|
Village | |
Location of La Fayette in Stark County, Illinois. | |
Location of Illinois in the United States | |
| Coordinates: 41°6′35″N 89°58′25″W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Illinois |
| County | Stark |
| Area | |
| • Total | 0.19 sq mi (0.49 km2) |
| • Land | 0.19 sq mi (0.49 km2) |
| • Water | 0.00 sq mi (0.00 km2) |
| Population (2020) | |
| • Total | 160 |
| • Density | 846.56/sq mi (327.15/km2) |
| Time zone | UTC-6 (CST) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-5 (CDT) |
| ZIP Code(s) | 61449 |
| Area code | 309 |
| FIPS code | 17-40676 |
| Wikimedia Commons | La Fayette, Illinois |