Iuka, Illinois facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Iuka, Illinois
Village
Location in Marion County, Illinois
Iuka, Illinois Location in the United States
Country	United States
State	Illinois
County	Marion
Township	Iuka
Area
• Total	0.73 sq mi (1.90 km2)
• Land	0.73 sq mi (1.90 km2)
• Water	0.00 sq mi (0.00 km2)
Elevation	515 ft (157 m)
Population  (2020)
• Total	512
• Density	698.50/sq mi (269.56/km2)
Time zone	UTC-6 (CST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC-5 (CDT)
ZIP code	62849
Area code(s)	618
FIPS code	17-37933
GNIS ID	2398283

Iuka is a small village located in Marion County, Illinois, in the United States. In 2020, about 512 people lived there. It's a quiet place in the eastern part of Marion County.

Exploring Iuka's Location

Iuka is found in the eastern part of Marion County. A main road, U.S. Route 50, runs through the northern side of the village. This road can take you about 8 miles (13 km) west to Salem, which is the main town of the county. If you head east on U.S. Route 50, you'll reach Flora, which is about 17 miles (27 km) away.

Land and Water Features

The village of Iuka covers an area of about 0.73 square miles (1.90 square kilometers). Most of this area is land. Only a tiny part, about 0.14%, is water.

Jamison Creek flows through the northern part of Iuka. This creek eventually joins the Skillet Fork river, which then flows into the Little Wabash River. The southern part of the village also has water that drains into Johns Branch, another stream that connects to the Skillet Fork.

Understanding Iuka's Population

The number of people living in Iuka has changed over many years. Here's a quick look at how the population has grown and shrunk:

In 2010, there were 489 people living in Iuka. These people lived in 185 different homes. Most of the people living in Iuka were White (98.6%). A small number were African American (1.4%) or Asian (0.2%). About 0.8% of the population identified as Hispanic or Latino.

Family Life in Iuka

Out of the 185 homes in Iuka, about 35.7% had children under 18 living there. More than half (50.8%) were married couples living together. Some homes (10.3%) had a female head of the house without a husband present. About 25.4% of all homes were made up of people living alone.

The average home in Iuka had about 2.64 people. The average family had about 3.08 people. The population was spread out in terms of age. About 33.4% of the people were under 19 years old. The median age, which is the middle age of all the people, was 33.1 years.

Interesting Places Near Iuka

There are a few interesting spots to learn about around Iuka. Some of these places have cool stories or historical importance.

The Mystery of Burrows Cave

Southeast of Iuka, there's a place with limestone rocks. Some people believe this is where Burrows Cave might be. In 1982, a man named Russell E. Burrow said he found many old items in this cave. He claimed these items had ancient Egyptian and Greek writing on them. However, most experts today believe that Burrows Cave is not real and that the items were not truly ancient.

The Historic Halfway Tavern

Just east of Iuka, along U.S. Route 50, you can find the Halfway Tavern. This building is a copy of an old inn that used to be exactly halfway between Vincennes and St. Louis. Today, it's a State Historic Site, meaning it's protected because of its history.

It's said that Abraham Lincoln might have stayed at the original inn, but there's no clear proof. There's also a story that a group of Native Americans once found gold from a stagecoach in the early 1800s. The story says the gold is buried in a wooded area north of the tavern, but this claim is also questioned.

Hebron School: A Look Back at Education

Further east along U.S. Route 50, you'll find the Hebron School. This is an old wooden one-room schoolhouse. It was used to teach children from 1908 until 1952. It's a great example of what schools looked like a long time ago.

See also

In Spanish: Iuka (Illinois) para niños