Arcola by the numbers

Here's a numerical look at Arcola:

61910 – Town ZIP code

2,652 – Arcola's population in 2000 census

1855 – Year the Illinois Central Railroad plotted land to build a city, originally called Okaw

3 – Number of community parks. The oldest one, the Arcola City Park, has a pavilion, picnic tables, charcoal grills and playground equipment. Kelly Moore Memorial Park contains softball, baseball and soccer fields, tennis courts and a basketball court. Rotary Gazebo Park is a small garden park in the downtown area.

6 – Number of times Arcola High's football team reached state championship games. The Purple Riders won the title in 1978, 1985 and 1988 and finished runner-up in 1977, 1991 and 1995.

12 – Sets of twins delivered by Arcola's Dr. J.V. Fishel between 1935 and 1954. Fishel delivered 2,000 babies in that time.

$15 – Cost to take a 15-minute flight over town in H.A. Cullison's plane in 1919

268 – Prefix for Arcola phone numbers

300 tons – The amount of snow and ice estimated on the high school roof during a snowstorm in 1927. High school boys went up to clear it off because school officials worried the roof would collapse.

650 dozen – Number of brooms produced each week in 1945 by the national Broom Manufacturing Co.

$376.27 – City property taxes paid by the owner of a $100,000 home in Arcola in 2006

1918 – Year the first Raggedy Ann book was published

2005 – Year Arcola native Nancie King Mertz was named artist of the year by the Chicago Convention and Tourism Bureau

23,000 – Number of visitors to the Amish Interpretive Center in a year.

1860 – Arcola's first church, Presbyterian, was constructed

10 – Number of churches believed to be in Arcola

1973 – Year Nancy Stiff began one of the first girls' basketball teams in area. Eventually, she took two teams to the state Sweet 16.

$10,000 – Amount Andrew Carnegie agreed to donate for a new public library in Arcola. The building was dedicated in 1905.