Riverdale is a village and south suburb in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 10,663 at the 2020 census. The village shares its name with the bordering Riverdale neighborhood in Chicago.

History

The Village of Riverdale was incorporated in 1893. In 1904 the Englishman and former Chicago glucose manufacturer Charles Pope (1843–1922) purchased property in Riverdale at what is today the west side of Indiana Avenue with the intention of establishing a beet sugar factory. The property was previously occupied by The Riverdale Distillery, which had been established by the Union Copper Distilling Company of Chicago in 1871 to manufacture fermentum yeast. Located on the south bank of the Little Calumet river with access to the Illinois Central tracks, the beet sugar factory opened in 1905 with a capacity of 350 tons of beet sugar per day, a production rate that was eventually increased to 500 tons per day. The factory was sold by Pope's heirs in 1922 to the Midwest Sugar Refining Company, who added sugar to the product line that was produced from cane supplied from Cuba and Puerto Rico. and who the following year began a program that was intended "to expand this enterprise far beyond its present capacity so as to make the company one of the leading producers and refiners of sugar in the Middle West." In 1947 this enterprise was replaced by The Chromium Mining and Smelting Corporation.

Geography Riverdale is located at (41.640684, -87.630645). According to the 2010 census, Riverdale has a total area of , of which (or 95.33%) is land and (or 4.67%) is water.

Surrounding areas Chicago Calumet Park Chicago Blue Island Dolton Dixmoor Dolton Harvey / Dolton

Demographics

Racial and ethnic composition +Riverdale village, Illinois – Racial and ethnic compositionRace / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic)Pop 1980Pop 1990Pop 2000Pop 2010% 1980% 1990% 2000% 2010White alone (NH)12,8117,8461,53951130196.81%57.53%10.22%3.77%2.82%Black or African American alone (NH)365,42412,94212,6109,7910.27%39.77%85.96%93.07%91.82%Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)7 Compiliation of American Indian, Eskimo, Aleut categories242424110.05%0.18%0.16%0.18%0.10%Asian alone (NH)37 Compiliation of Japanese, Chinese, Filipino, Korean, Asian Indian, and Vietnamese categories. Other Asian groups would be included in the Some Other Race category92913130.28%0.07%0.19%0.10%0.12%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 category Derived from extracting Pacific Islander population from Asian population0070.01%0.00%0.00%0.07%Other race alone (NH)20 Calculated as the difference between the total population and all other categories01811400.15%0.00%0.12%0.08%0.38%Mixed race or Multiracial (NH) x Not an option in the 1980 Census x Not an option in the 1990 Census137143160 x x0.91%1.06%1.50%Hispanic or Latino (any race)3213343662373402.43%2.45%2.43%1.75%3.19%Total13,23313,63715,05513,54910,663100.00%100.00%100.00%100.00%100.00%

2020 census As of the 2020 census, Riverdale had a population of 10,663. The median age was 37.3 years. 24.8% of residents were under the age of 18 and 12.4% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 82.6 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 76.5 males age 18 and over.

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

There were 4,187 households in Riverdale, and 2,726 families resided in the village. Of all households, 33.2% had children under the age of 18 living in them, 20.2% were married-couple households, 21.4% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 51.3% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 32.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

There were 5,087 housing units, of which 17.7% were vacant. The homeowner vacancy rate was 6.1% and the rental vacancy rate was 13.8%. The population density was , and housing units were at an average density of .

Income and poverty The median income for a household in the village was $38,355, and the median income for a family was $42,632. Males had a median income of $36,231 versus $30,861 for females. The per capita income for the village was $18,987. About 27.2% of families and 28.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 37.9% of those under age 18 and 17.0% of those age 65 or over. Government Riverdale is divided between two congressional districts. Most of the city is in Illinois's 2nd congressional district; the area west of Ashland Avenue and the area southwest of 141st and Halsted Streets are in the 1st district. The local government of Riverdale consists of six elected trustees, one elected village clerk, and one elected mayor. On April 9, 2013, incumbent mayor Deyon Dean was defeated by trustee Lawrence Jackson, who was sworn in as mayor of Riverdale on May 2, 2013.

Mayors of Riverdale, Illinois Image Mayor Years Notes ? Henry Strosinski Sr. 1949– Edward L. Kipley Sr. 1957–1967 ? Frank J. Heenan 1972–1988 Edward L. Kipley Jr. 1989–1997 Joseph C. Szabo April 1997 – November 14, 2001 Zenovia Evans November 2001 – April 2001 April 2001 – April 2009 Appointed Acting mayor after resignation of Szabo Won in the general election in April 2001. First African American mayor of Riverdale. Deyon Dean April 2009 – April 2013 Lawrence L. Jackson April 2013 – November 2025 Removed from office after being convicted of perjury and obstruction of justice. Cassandra Riley-Pinkney November 2025 – Present Appointed mayor to serve until the next election in April 2027

Transportation Riverdale is home to two stations on the Metra Electric District's main line; Ivanhoe station at 144th Street and Riverdale station at 137th Street.

Pace provides bus service on multiple routes in the village connecting Riverdale to destinations across the Southland.

Notable people

Marcheline Bertrand, actress; mother of actress Angelina Jolie; grew up in Riverdale Antwaan Randle El, Chicago Bears Assistant HC/Wide Receiver’s Coach; wide receiver for the Washington Redskins and Pittsburgh Steelers; Super Bowl champion (XL); born in Riverdale Charles Christian Hammer, classical guitarist Sir Charles' Biography - Sir Charles Hammer Retrieved February 19, 2017. Marjorie Pebworth, Illinois politician; lived in Riverdale'Illinois Blue Book 1967-1968,' Biographical Sketch of Marjorie Pebworth, pg. 203 Betty Robinson, Olympic gold medalist in the 100 and 400 meter relays (1928 & 1936); born in Riverdale Steamboat Struss, pitcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates; born in Riverdale Joseph C. Szabo, 12th Administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration; previously served as a Village Trustee and Village President of Riverdale

References

External links

Village of Riverdale official website