During the 1700s, French explorers headed by Berrard de LaHarpe were forced to spend the winter just north of the present city of La Harpe, Illinois. About 1896, four stone tablets dated June 15,1715 and inscribed in French were reportedly found a few miles east of the old fortication built by the explorers. Soon after 1830, landowners in the area began to develop a town which they called Franklin. In 1836, they applied for a post office and were informed another town in Illinois was already named Franklin. The first postmaster, Louis F. Chaffin, suggested the name be registered as La Harpe, for the Frenchman who spent the winter over 100 years earlier. The City of La Harpe was granted a charter by the Illinois legislature in 1859. The charter was amended in 1861 to change the size of the town, and the boundaries have changed through the years. Today the city has 22 streets and avenues.
As of the census of 2000, there were 1,385 people, 561 households, and 383 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,021.8 people per square mile (393.2/km²). There were 604 housing units at an average density of 445.6/sq mi (171.5/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 99.78% White, 0.07% from other races, and 0.14% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.14% of the population.
There were 561 households out of which 31.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.0% were married couples living together, 9.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.6% were non-families. 29.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 16.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.39 and the average family size was 2.93.
In the city the population was spread out with 24.0% under the age of 18, 6.5% from 18 to 24, 24.4% from 25 to 44, 23.5% from 45 to 64, and 21.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females there were 85.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 77.3 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $32,589, and the median income for a family was $37,708. Males had a median income of $31,250 versus $20,400 for females. The per capita income for the city was $15,586. About 4.6% of families and 7.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 8.9% of those under age 18 and 6.3% of those age 65 or over.
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