Normal is a town in McLean County, Illinois, United States. The population was 52,736 at the 2020 census. Normal is the smaller of the two principal cities of the Bloomington–Normal metropolitan area, and is Illinois's seventh most populous community outside the Chicago metropolitan area. It is home to Illinois State University and Heartland Community College.
Founded in 1865, it was renamed Normal in 1867 after Illinois State Normal University (now Illinois State University), a normal school. Chris Koos has been the mayor of Normal since 2003.
History The town was laid out with the name North Bloomington on June 7, 1854, by Joseph Parkinson.Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois and History of McLean County (Chicago: Munsell, 1908) p.902. From its founding, it was generally recognized that Jesse W. Fell was the force behind the creation of the town. He had arranged for the new railroad, which would soon become the Chicago and Alton Railroad, to pass west of Bloomington and then curve to cross the Illinois Central Railroad at a point where he owned or controlled land. Most of the original town lies south of these tracks, with Beaufort Street as its northern limit, and some blocks west of the Illinois Central and north of the tracks.Combined Indexed Atlas 1852 - 1914, McLean County, Illinois (Bloomington: McLean County Historical Society and McLean County Genealogical Society, 2006) p. 89. Fell, his brothers, and associates quickly laid out many additions to the original town.
The town was renamed Normal in February 1865 and officially incorporated on February 25, 1867.History of Normal The name was taken from Illinois State Normal University, a normal school (teacher-training institution) located there. The school has since been renamed Illinois State University after becoming a general four-year university. Normal is adjacent to Bloomington, Illinois, and when mentioned together they are known as the "Twin Cities", "Bloomington–Normal", "BN", or "BloNo".
In 2007, the town council voted to name the downtown area "Uptown Normal", and, as of 2011, Uptown Normal is home to the Children's Discovery Museum, Marriott Hotel and Conference Center, Hyatt Place Hotel, Uptown Station and Town Hall and a variety of local shops and restaurants all centered around a roundabout. The district is also home to the historic non-profit Normal Theater, a restored Art Deco theater owned by the Town of Normal that shows classic and independent films.
On August 31, 2021, a mass shooting occurred at a mobile home park in Normal that left three people dead and three more injured. The deceased were two women and a man, the latter being the gunman. The shooter was shot and killed by responding police officers.
Geography According to the 2010 census, Normal has a total area of , of which , or 99.66%, is land and , or 0.34%, is water.
Climate
Demographics
Racial and ethnic composition +Normal city, Illinois – Racial and ethnic compositionRace / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic)Pop 2000Pop 2010% 2000% 2010White alone (NH)39,12143,31338,52886.20%82.51%73.06%Black or African American alone (NH)3,4604,2015,9987.62%8.00%11.37%Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)6059530.13%0.11%0.10%Asian alone (NH)9961,6732,3062.19%3.19%4.37%Pacific Islander alone (NH)182110.04%0.04%0.00%Other race alone (NH)43712010.09%0.14%0.38%Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)5261,0262,1971.16%1.95%4.17%Hispanic or Latino (any race)1,1622,1333,4522.56%4.06%6.55%Total45,38652,49752,736100.00%100.00%100.00%
2020 census As of the 2020 census, Normal had a population of 52,736. The median age was 25.8 years. 18.1% of residents were under the age of 18 and 11.6% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 90.5 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 87.8 males age 18 and over.
100.0% of residents lived in urban areas, while 0.0% lived in rural areas.
There were 20,042 households in Normal, of which 25.5% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 36.8% were married-couple households, 24.1% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 33.1% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 33.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
There were 21,903 housing units, of which 8.5% were vacant. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.3% and the rental vacancy rate was 10.1%.
2000 census As of the 2000 census, there were 45,386 people, 15,157 households, and 8,184 families residing in the town. The population density was . There were 15,683 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 87.57% White, 7.71% African American, 0.15% Native American, 2.21% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 0.93% from other races, and 1.40% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.56% of the population.
There were 15,157 households, out of which 27.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 42.4% were married couples living together, 9.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 46.0% were non-families. 26.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 6.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.43 and the average family size was 2.96.
In the town, the age distribution of the population shows 17.5% under the age of 18, 38.1% from 18 to 24, 23.1% from 25 to 44, 13.7% from 45 to 64, and 7.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 23 years. For every 100 females, there were 88.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 85.5 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $40,379, and the median income for a family was $60,644. Males had a median income of $41,323 versus $27,486 for females. The per capita income for the town was $17,775. About 5.6% of families and 19.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 9.4% of those under age 18 and 3.9% of those age 65 or over. Economy
The original Steak 'n Shake restaurant opened in Normal in 1934.
Mitsubishi Motors North America and Chrysler Corporation established a manufacturing plant under the joint venture Diamond-Star Motors in 1986. It was Mitsubishi's only North American car manufacturing facility. It was closed May 31, 2016, and purchased by Rivian Automotive in January 2017.
Rivian's largest U.S. manufacturing plant is in Normal, where it builds all-electric vehicles since 2021. Amazon has ordered more than 100,000 electric vehicles to be built at the plant. The New York Times has described how the company has had a transformational effect on Normal.
Farnsworth Group, a national architecture and engineering firm with over 500 employees, announced it will be relocating its headquarters to Uptown Normal in the 5-story, $30M, Trail East Development expected to open in 2020, though as of September 2024 the development had stalled. Afni, a national customer service firm, and Illinois State University's Small Business Development Incubator (SBDI) are also expected to move into Trail East.
The town's major retail center is on Veterans Parkway on the east side of town. It includes The Shoppes at College Hills, an outdoor mall on the site of the former College Hills Mall.
Arts and culture
The Children's Discovery Museum in uptown Normal provides hands-on exhibits, classes and programs for children. The museum has three floors of exhibits including a two-story mesh climber for children to climb to the third floor and a agriculture exhibit called AgMazing. The museum also offers education programs and houses the Discover More! Store. In 2010, the Children's Discovery Museum was deemed the best creative children's experience in Illinois by Media World USA's "Best of" Series. The Children's Discovery Museum was subsequently featured on a Best of Illinois television program on CBS 2 WBBM Chicago and on the Travel Channel.http://www.officialbestof.com/state/illinois/2010/videos/CHILDRENS%20MUSEUMFINALWEB.wmv
The Illinois State University Planetarium offers a variety of science and astronomy programs for children from preschool to high-school. The planetarium is located in Felmley Hall of Science on ISU's campus. Public programs are usually offered on weekends and during special events.
The Challenger Learning Center relocated to Heartland Community College in 2010. The Challenger Learning Center promotes leadership, communication, problem-solving and critical thinking skills while offering an interactive, simulated space and science experience through scheduled team missions for students, public and corporate groups.
The Normal Public Library first began as a Reading Room sponsored by the Community Council with Margaret Hanna overseeing the collection of three hundred books. In 1938, citizens voted to help support the library through donations. In 1973, the library moved to its current location at 206 W. College Avenue. As of 2018, the library's collection has grown to nearly 200,000 materials.
Theatre Normal Theater opened in 1937 and was the first theater in Bloomington-Normal built specifically for sound films. The strong art-deco design was, at the time, very avant-garde for a small Illinois town. The Normal Theater has been completely restored to its original condition. In addition to showing classic movies and independent films, the theater is used for a variety of activities including group outings, meetings and other events where assembly seating is required.
Braden Auditorium, located inside Illinois State University's Bone Student Center, serves as the hub of student life at ISU and a landmark resource to the Bloomington-Normal community. The Auditorium seats 3,457. Eight to ten annual shows feature a variety of Broadway musicals, pop and country stars, touring variety shows, comedians and big name performers.
The Town of Normal Parks and Recreation Department's "Normal Summer Music Theatre" program celebrated its 40th season in 2011. This program invites students in grades 8–12 to perform in two different productions each summer at the Connie Link Amphitheater.
Heartland Theatre Company performs a number of plays every season. Heartland's Annual 10-Minute Play Festival attracts playwrights from all over the country and their "New Plays from the Heartland" Midwest One-Act Play Competition allows winning playwrights from eight Midwest states to share their original works with audiences.
The Illinois State University Center for the Performing Arts provides the ISU campus and greater Central Illinois community with a wide variety of cultural activities. More than 20,000 people attend annual performances produced by the Illinois State University Schools of Music and Theatre in the center and all performances are open to the public.
The Prairie Fire Theatre is a not-for-profit organization, incorporated in 1998. All events are performed and directed by local talent, drawing from a largely untapped but highly skilled pool of professional artists.
Events Make Music Normal has coincided with the international Make Music Day in June since 2013. The two-day festival highlights musicians from the Central Illinois area on multiple stages around Uptown. Local artists and vendors complete the festival atmosphere.
Established in 1983, the Sugar Creek Arts Festival is held each autumn in Uptown Normal. The combination of high-quality art, live music and food has kept the streets of Normal full of color and activity for over 22 years. The festival has a unique trait- only original pieces of artwork are shown; not copies of prints or items purchased overseas. The Sugar Creek Arts Festival, hosted by the McLean Country Arts Center, is one of the largest art festivals in Central Illinois and continues to grow.