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Braidwood, IL
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Braidwood, IL

Will County, 52 miles SW of the Loop. Incorporated only nine years after William Henneberry discovered coal here in 1864, Braidwood soon became a major coal supplier to Chicago. Irish, Welsh, Scottish, and Czech miners, including future mayor Anton Cermak were among those who found work in the mines, which were the site of strikes in 1868, 1874, and 1877. Two nuclear power plants were built near Braidwood in the 1980s.


Braidwood, IL (inc. 1873)
Year Total
(and by category) 		  Foreign Born Native with foreign parentage Males per 100 females
1900 3,279   32.6% 54.9% 109
  3,146 White (95.9%)      
  133 Negro (4.1%)      
1930 1,161   24.1% 38.8% 98
  1,105 White (95.2%)      
  56 Negro (4.8%)      
1960 1,944   — — 100
  1,899 White (97.7%)      
  45 Negro (2.3%)      
1990 3,584   1.2% — 97
  3,488 White (97.3%)      
  68 American Indian (1.9%)      
  18 Asian/Pacific Islander (0.5%)      
  17 Other race (0.5%)      
  39 Hispanic Origin* (1.1%)      
2000 5,203   1.5% — 101
  5,072 White alone (97.5%)      
  14 Black or African American alone (0.3%)      
  5 American Indian and Alaska Native alone (0.1%)      
  17 Asian alone (0.3%)      
  41 Some other race alone (0.8%)      
  54 Two or more races (1.0%)      
  147 Hispanic or Latino* (2.8%)      

Brandon Johnson

Bibliography
Gutman, Herbert. “Labor in the Land of Lincoln.” In Power and Culture: Essays on the American Working Class. 1992.
The History of Will County, Illinois. 1878.

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