Thornton, Iowa

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Thornton is a city in Cerro Gordo County, Iowa, United States. The population was 422 at the 2000 census.

1 Geography
2 Demographics
3 Schools
4 External links

[edit] Geography

Thornton is located at 42°56′42″N, 93°23′3″W (42.944972, -93.384115)^GR1.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 3.2 km² (1.2 mi²), all land.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 422 people, 183 households, and 124 families residing in the city. The population density was 130.3/km² (338.6/mi²). There were 193 housing units at an average density of 59.6/km² (154.8/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 98.58% White, 0.24% Native American, 0.71% from other races, and 0.47% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.18% of the population.

There were 183 households out of which 24.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.6% were married couples living together, 5.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.7% were non-families. 29.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 16.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.31 and the average family size was 2.81.

In the city the population was spread out with 21.3% under the age of 18, 9.0% from 18 to 24, 24.9% from 25 to 44, 19.0% from 45 to 64, and 25.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females there were 98.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 98.8 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $35,125, and the median income for a family was $43,750. Males had a median income of $30,893 versus $19,000 for females. The per capita income for the city was $16,622. About 5.0% of families and 11.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 14.1% of those under age 18 and 6.5% of those age 65 or over.

[edit] Schools

Thornton is part of the Sheffield-Chapin/Meservey-Thornton (SCMT) School District. Students from Thornton currently attend school in the Thornton school building, or in the nearby town of Sheffield. Due to declining enrollment, a plan is currently being explored to share classes with the neighboring Rockwell-Swaledale school district.

The Thornton school building was built as a K-12 facility for Thornton High school. The core of the building was built in the 1920's, and in the 1950's, a large addition, including a gymnasium, library, offices, and additional classrooms was added. In 1965, the building became the junior-high and high school for the combined Meservey-Thornton school district (shared with neighboring Meservey), which hosted the elementary grades). Due to declining enrollments, in 1983 the Meservey building was closed and the Thornton facility was again used for grades K-12. In 1988, Meservey-Thornton began whole-grade sharing with Sheffield-Chapin school district, and the building was used as an elementary and middle-school.