Oblong was incorporated in 1883. The original town site was on a naturally occurring ular prairie, hence the name. The crossroads at the town site was the location of a general store owned by Henry Peck. The prominent sign "Hen. Peck" gave rise to the village's original moniker, Henpeck.
Geography
Oblong is located at . According to the 2010 census, Oblong has a total area of, of which is land and is water.
Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 1,580 people, 681 households, and 439 families residing in the village. The population density was 1,662.8 people per square mile. There were 761 housing units at an average density of 800.9 per square mile. The racial makeup of the village was 98.92% White, 0.19% African American, 0.25% Native American, 0.13% Asian, and 0.51% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.57% of the population. Sociologist James W. Loewen has described Oblong as a sundown town. There were 681 households out of which 27.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.9% were married couplesliving together, 12.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.4% were non-families. 32.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 18.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.25 and the average family size was 2.81. In the village, the population was spread out with 22.8% under the age of 18, 7.7% from 18 to 24, 24.9% from 25 to 44, 20.8% from 45 to 64, and 23.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females, there were 81.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 80.5 males. The median income for a household in the village was $27,409, and the median income for a family was $36,532. Males had a median income of $27,135 versus $20,560 for females. The per capita income for the village was $14,926. About 7.0% of families and 9.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 15.0% of those under age 18 and 5.6% of those age 65 or over.
Arts and culture
It is the home of the IllinoisOil Field Museum and Resource Center, a collection of early oilfield artifacts from the early days of the oil industry in the Illinois Basin and a resource center featuring a collection of early oil field records and resource books.
