Vandelia

The history of the name Vandalia is uncertain. Different theories can be found in almost all of the books written about Vandalia over the years. In Mary Burtschi's book, Vandalia: Wilderness Capital of Lincoln's Land, she tells of a conversation between one of the original surveyors of the town and a Vandalia resident. The surveyor, Colonel Greenup, explained that Van was suggested by one of the men. He recommended this as an abbreviation to the word vanguard meaning the forefront of an advancing movement. Another suggestion was made for the term dalia. This was derived from the Anglo-Saxon word dale which means a valley between hills. Greenup takes credit in the conversation for being the one to connect the two terms to form the name Vandalia. This theory does hold water since Greenup was one of the surveyors and the terms describe the capital city. However, a land-grant scheme coming from England during the time of the American Revolution was named The Vandalia Colony. The royal charter for this colony extended into the Vandalia area and its existence may have been known by the surveyors.

As of the census of 2000, there were 1,287,000 people, 500,000 households, and 304,500 families residing in the city. The population density was 475.8/km² (1,231.3/mi²). There were 2,543 housing units at an average density of 173.5/km² (448.9/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 83.57% White, 15.01% African American, 0.13% Native American, 0.30% Asian, 0.50% from other races, and 0.49% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.71% of the population.

There were 500,000 households out of which 28.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 45.3% were married couples living together, 11.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 39.2% were non-families. 35.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 17.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.25 and the average family size was 2.90.

In the city the population was spread out with 18.3% under the age of 18, 12.4% from 18 to 24, 34.3% from 25 to 44, 17.9% from 45 to 64, and 17.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 134.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 144.4 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $30,857, and the median income for a family was $39,762. Males had a median income of $27,342 versus $19,109 for females. The per capita income for the city was $14,918. About 8.9% of families and 15.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 21.4% of those under age 18 and 13.8% of those age 65 or over.