was a wealthy landowner in Vermilion County who had made his fortune on the agricultural and livestock markets. He was one of the founders of the First National Bank of Chicago and Co-founder of the Chicago Union Stockyards. The town was founded on a tract of land in the southwestern part of the county which Allerton purchased in 1880. It had formerly been known as Twin Grove Farm. When the C&EI railroad came through the area, he gave them a right-of-way through his land, and then established a grain elevator and platted the village; later he provided land for a park, established a bank, provided funds for a new brick school in 1894, and installed a water system. Allerton himself continued to live in Chicago. Samuel Allerton also owned 12,000 acres in Piatt County, part of which later became the Robert Allerton Park, farther west in the Monticello area; Robert was Samuel's son who oversaw his father's agricultural interests in Illinois. Samuel's total land holdings included 78,000 acres across four Midwest states.
Geography
Allerton is located near the southwestern corner of Vermilion County at . The village extends west into Champaign County in two places. Champaign-Urbana is about to the northwest, and Danville is the same distance to the northeast. According to the 2010 census, Allerton has a total area of, all land. Allerton is located on the county line, and a small portion of is located in Champaign County, Illinois.
Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 293 people, 112 households, and 89 families living in the village. The population density was 454.4 people per square mile. There were 122 housing units at an average density of 189.2 per square mile. The racial makeup of the village was 97.61% White, 0.68% Native American, and 1.71% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.39% of the population. There were 112 households out of which 38.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 64.3% were married couplesliving together, 10.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 20.5% were non-families. 18.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.62 and the average family size was 2.93. In the village, the population was spread out with 28.3% under the age of 18, 7.8% from 18 to 24, 27.6% from 25 to 44, 22.9% from 45 to 64, and 13.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females, there were 98.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 101.9 males. The median income for a household in the village was $42,250, and the median income for a family was $51,964. Males had a median income of $38,611 versus $28,750 for females. The per capita income for the village was $17,512. None of the families and 4.5% of the population were living below the poverty line, including no under eighteens and 8.6% of those over 64.
