South Holland is a village and south suburb of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States, within Thornton Township. The population was 21,465 at the 2020 census. It is named after the Dutch province of South Holland.

History

The area currently occupied by South Holland, Illinois, was first settled in 1846 by immigrants from South Holland, Netherlands. When the community formally incorporated as a village in 1894, its population was about 1,000. Originally a general farming community, it later specialized in vegetable growing, especially onion sets. By the 1940s South Holland was known as the "Onion Set Capital of the World". The town was built on low ground near the Calumet River and was originally called de Laage Prairie (Low Prairie) to differentiate it from another Dutch settlement further north on higher ground and called de Hooge Prairie (now the Roseland neighborhood of Chicago).

In October 2007, Forbes.com declared South Holland to be the "Most Livable Metro-Area suburb" of the Chicago metropolitan area.

In a book called The Shortest History of Migration, the economist Ian Goldin explains the concept of chain migration or network migration by noting that 90% of Dutch migrants from South Holland to the United States settled in three American towns, one of which was South Holland, Illinois.

Geography South Holland is located at (41.60, -87.60). It is bordered by Harvey and Phoenix to the west, Dolton to the north, Thornton to the south, and Calumet City and Lansing to the east.

According to the 2010 census, South Holland has a total area of , of which (or 99.78%) is land and (or 0.22%) is water.

South Holland's addresses and numbered streets are 3 blocks ahead of Chicago's grid. For example, 159th Street is actually called 162nd Street.

Surrounding areas Dolton Harvey Calumet City Phoenix / Harvey Calumet City East Hazel Crest Lansing Thornton

Demographics

Racial and ethnic composition

+South Holland, Illinois – Racial and ethnic compositionRace / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic)Pop 1980Pop 1990Pop 2000Pop 2010% 1980% 1990% 2000% 2010White alone (NH)24,08918,6489,6644,0232,09496.44%84.36%43.64%18.26%9.76%Black or African American alone (NH)1202,56311,19516,26317,2770.48%11.59%50.55%73.82%80.49%Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)6 Compiliation of American Indian, Eskimo, Aleut categories142434240.02%0.06%0.11%0.15%0.11%Asian alone (NH)307 Compiliation of Japanese, Chinese, Filipino, Korean, Asian Indian, and Vietnamese categories. Other Asian groups would be included in the Some Other Race category371190135871.23%1.68%0.86%0.61%0.41%Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone (NH)1 Compiliation of Hawaiian, Guamanian, and Samoan categories. Other Pacific Islander groups would be included in the Some Other Race category0 Derived from extracting Pacific Islander population from Asian population2110.00%0.00%0.01%0.00%0.00%Other race alone (NH)59 Calculated as the difference between the total population and all other categories02031870.24%0.00%0.09%0.14%0.41%Mixed race or Multiracial (NH) x Not an option in the 1980 Census x Not an option in the 1990 Census2162694780.00%0.00%0.98%1.22%2.23%Hispanic or Latino (any race)395 Listed as Spanish origin in the 1980 Census. Racial identification for Hispanics only consisted of White, Black, and Some Other Race; hence, a small number of Latinos may be also be included in the counts for Asian, Native American, and Pacific Islander5098361,2741,4171.58%2.30%3.77%5.78%6.60%Total24,97722,10522,14722,03021,465100.00%100.00%100.00%100.00%100.00%

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, South Holland had a population of 21,465 and 7,452 households. The median age was 43.3 years. 21.8% of residents were under the age of 18 and 20.0% were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 84.9 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 79.8 males age 18 and over.

100.0% of residents lived in urban areas, while 0.0% lived in rural areas.

There were 7,452 households in South Holland, of which 32.4% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 41.0% were married-couple households, 14.9% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 39.8% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 22.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

There were 7,863 housing units, of which 5.2% were vacant. The homeowner vacancy rate was 2.5% and the rental vacancy rate was 7.2%. The population density was and the housing unit density was . Census Bureau profile data reported 5,505 families, an average household size of 3.36, and an average family size of 2.82.

Income and poverty

The median income for a household in the village was $66,859, and the median income for a family was $79,688. Males had a median income of $41,500 versus $35,913 for females. The per capita income for the village was $28,649. About 9.3% of families and 11.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 19.2% of those under age 18 and 11.0% of those age 65 or over. Government South Holland is in Illinois's 2nd congressional district.

Education South Holland is served by several school districts: South Holland School District 150South Holland School District 150 Greenwood School (K-3) McKinley School (4–8) South Holland School District 151 Taft School (PreK-1) Eisenhower School (2–3) Madison School (4–5) Coolidge Junior High School (6–8)

Thornton Township High School District 205Thornton Township High School District 205 serves all of South Holland.

Thornwood High School is located in South Holland. Thornridge High School and Thornton Township High School are also within District 205.

Two private K-8 schools, Calvin Christian School and Calvary Academy, are located in South Holland, as well as a private high school, Unity Christian Academy. Seton Academy was a Catholic co-educational high school located in the village that closed on June 30, 2016. It was formerly an all-girls school until 2003 when boys were admitted. Christ our Savior School and Holy Ghost School were once in South Holland, but both have been closed by the Chicago Archdiocese. Apostolic Kingdom Christian Academy has also been closed.

South Holland is home to the main campus of South Suburban College.South Suburban College

Transportation Pace provides bus service on multiple routes connecting South Holland to destinations across the Southland.

Notable people

Liz Bouck-Jagielski, collegiate softball coach Eddy Curry, forward for the Chicago Bulls, New York Knicks, and Miami Heat Kevin DeYoung, pastor, author

Kevin Drumm, musician Cliff Floyd, All-Star outfielder for seven Major League Baseball teams Ron Hicks (born 1967), archbishop-designate of New York, currently bishop of the Diocese of Joliet (2020–2026). He was a childhood resident of South Holland. Norman J. Kansfield, minister noted for being suspended after officiating at his daughter's same-sex marriage James Meeks, state senator, representing Illinois' 15th district Mark Mulder, pitcher for the Oakland Athletics and St. Louis Cardinals Frederick Nymeyer, industrialist, author, and publisher Robert F. Prevost, Pope Leo XIV, noted for being the 1st American Pope Robert Shaw, former Chicago alderman and former commissioner of the Cook County Board of Review Steve Trout, pitcher for the Chicago White Sox, Chicago Cubs, New York Yankees, and Seattle Mariners Jason Weaver, actor and singer

In literature The 1925 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel So Big by Edna Ferber is set in South Holland. The Widow Paarlberg inspired one of the main characters and her family farm is preserved in a municipal park.

The 2021 novel "Termination Shock" by Neal Stephenson includes a lead character, child of a conservative Dutch father and Indonesian mother, who spends his childhood in South Holland during the 1950s and 1960s. Though the town isn't named its description in the novel fits only South Holland, Illinois during that time period.

References

External links