Demographics

Batavia was first settled in 1833 by Christopher Payne and his family. Originally called Big Woods for the wild growth throughout the settlement, the town was renamed by local judge and former Congressman Isaac Wilson in 1840 after his previous home of Batavia, New York.^[6] Because Judge Wilson owned the majority of the town, he was given permission to rename the city. Batavia was on the front lines of the Black Hawk War in which Abraham Lincoln was a citizen soldier, and Zachary Taylor and Jefferson Davis were Army officers.^[7] Although there is no direct evidence that any of them were actually in Batavia, there are writings by Lincoln that refer to "Head of the Big Woods", which was the original name of Batavia given by its original settler, Christopher Payne. The city was incorporated on July 27, 1872.^[8]

After the death of her husband, Mary Todd Lincoln was an involuntary resident of the Batavia Institute in 1875.^[9] In the late 19th century, Batavia was a major manufacturer of the Conestoga wagons used in the country's westward expansion.^[10] Into the early 20th century, most of the windmill operated waterpumps in use throughout America's farms were made at one of the three windmill manufacturing companies in Batavia.^[11][12] Many of the original limestone buildings that were part of these factories are still in use today as government and commercial offices and storefronts. The Aurora Elgin and Chicago Railway constructed a power plant in southern Batavia and added a branch to the city in 1902. The Campana Factory was built in 1936 to manufacture cosmetics for The Campana Company, most notably Italian Balm, the nation's best-selling hand lotion at the time.

Data Courtesy of the City of Batavia Website

https://www.cityofbatavia.net/762/Demographic-and-Employment-Data