Rankin is a village in Butler Township, Vermilion County, Illinois, United States. It is part of the Danville, Illinois Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 561 at the 2010 census. History This town was named after W. A. Rankin, a wealthy landowner in the area. In 1872, there was a dispute between him and W. H. Pells (who was on the board of directors of the Lake Erie and Western Railroad) over the location of a railroad station. Ultimately, over the course of several years, Rankin won out over Pellsville, which was located a mile and a half to the west. There were railroad maintenance shops in Rankin until 1932 when they were moved to Frankfort, Indiana, and some of the residents of Rankin followed. In 1972 the town celebrated its centennial, and a small commemorative volume was issued with brief articles on many of the town's families. The Veterans Memorial Located on the Main street in Rankin, it was built in 1996. Local people joined together and put in motion to build this memorial. Due credit goes to RTHS graduate Margaret "Maggie" Olson Diskin, who spearheaded this project. Names of more than 700 men and women from the Rankin area who served the United States of America in war and peace are embedded on this monument, including the Civil War, Spanish–American War, WW I, WW II, Korean War, Lebanon Conflict, Vietnam War, Korean War, Operation Enduring Freedom, and Operation Iraqi Freedom. Its website is "http://www.rankinveteransmemorial.com" Geography Rankin is located at (40.463836, -87.896055). According to the 2010 census, Rankin has a total area of , all land. Demographics As of the census of 2000, there were 617 people, 247 households, and 162 families residing in the village. The population density was . There were 282 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the village was 93.52% White, 0.16% African American, 0.49% Native American, 0.49% Asian, 4.86% from other races, and 0.49% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 6.16% of the population. There were 247 households, out of which 27.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.8% were married couples living together, 8.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.4% were non-families. 30.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 15.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age