Decatur information

Decatur is the largest city and the county seat of Macon County in the U.S. state of Illinois. The city, known as "The Soybean Capital of the World", was founded in 1823 and is located in Central Illinois along the Sangamon River and Lake Decatur. In 2000 its population was 81,860.
For other uses, see Decatur.
With its central Illinois location it forms the center of the Decatur, Illinois Metropolitan Statistical Area (population 125,000), which includes surrounding towns of Argenta, Bement, Bethany, Boody, Blue Mound, Cerro Gordo, Clinton, Dalton City, Elwin, Findlay, Forsyth, Harristown, Illiopolis, Kirksville, La Place, Macon, Maroa, Monticello, Moweaqua, Mount Auburn, Mount Zion, Niantic, Oakley, Oreana, Stonington, Sullivan, and Warrensburg.
The city is named after War of 1812 naval hero Stephen Decatur, Jr.
Decatur has many tree-lined streets, older restored homes, historic residential districts, and restored downtown commercial areas. In the transition from a manufacturing to a service economy, Decatur has experienced some population shifting outward in the area as de-centralization has led much of the area's new homebuilding activity to the surrounding areas.
The city's symbol is the Transfer House, an early-twentieth-century Victorian structure located originally in the center of town where the city's mass transit lines met. The Transfer House was moved in 1963 to save it from destruction as roads were being built for the increasing automobile traffic.
Decatur was awarded the All-America City Award in 1960.
The city's motto is "Decatur, We Like it Here". The old motto was "The Pride of the Prairie". "The Soybean Capital of the World" is the un-official motto. (...) more....

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