of his contemporaries. Geography Pittsfield is on U.S. Route 54 between the Mississippi River approximately eight miles to the southwest and the Illinois River approximately eight miles to the east. Bay Creek flows past just north and east of the city. According to the 2010 census, Pittsfield has a total area of , of which (or 92.19%) is land and (or 7.81%) is water. Pittsfield's drinking water supply is provided by Lake Pittsfield, an artificial reservoir held in by an earth and concrete dam. The lake is located within a park that has become a prime recreational area offering boating, fishing, RV and primitive camping, hiking, disc golf, and other outdoor activities. Pittsfield, along with the bulk of Pike County, is located in the land between the Illinois and Mississippi rivers as they move toward convergence in St. Louis. The land is riddled with streams and bottom lands mostly draining through the McGee Creek drainage basin into the Illinois River. Thus, the land around Pittsfield and Pike County is much more hilly and forested than the rest of the plains of central Illinois. This geography, combined with a relative lack of heavy development, make the areas around Pittsfield particularly suited to wildlife. Pittsfield regularly attracts large numbers of out-of-state game hunters, and Pike county consistently leads all other Illinois counties in the number of deer harvested during fall hunting seasons. Climate Demographics As of the census of 2000, there were 4,211 people, 1,805 households, and 1,126 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 1,985 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 98.43% White, 0.21% African American, 0.19% Native American, 0.36% Asian, 0.17% from other races, and 0.64% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.62% of the population. There were 1,805 households, out of which 25.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.5% were married couples living together, 8.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 37.6% were non-families. 34.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 21.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.22 and the average family size was 2.86. In the city, the population was spread out, with 21.3% under the age of 18, 7.2% from 18 to 24, 22.8%