Wyoming is a city in Stark County, Illinois, United States. The population was 1,429 at the 2010 census, up from 1,424 in 2000. It is the headquarters of the Rock Island Trail State Park. Wyoming is part of the Peoria, Illinois Metropolitan Statistical Area. The former CB&Q Railroad depot in town is the Rock Island Trail State Park's headquarters. History The city of Wyoming was founded on May 3, 1836, by General Samuel Thomas, a veteran of the War of 1812. General Thomas was born in 1787 and died in 1879. He is buried in the Wyoming City Cemetery where a plaque below his stone denotes that he was the founder and benefactor of the town of Wyoming. The main city park in Wyoming is Thomas Park; there is also a Thomas Street in honor of General Thomas. Samuel Thomas as well as many of the other early settlers came from the state of Pennsylvania. It is for the Wyoming Valley in Pennsylvania that the city is named. Stark County is rural, consisting mostly of farm land. The county was established on March 2, 1839, and named for John Stark, a soldier of the French and Indian wars and a Major General of the Continental Army during the American Revolution, serving with great distinction at Bunker Hill, Trenton, Princeton, and Bennington. Wyoming is the largest community in Stark County, with 1,429 people as of the 2010 census. The other principal villages are Toulon, Bradford, Lafayette, Castleton, Camp Grove, West Jersey, Duncan, Stark, Speer, Milo, Elmira, Osceola, and Modena. Toulon is the county seat, and an historic courthouse is sited there. Geography Wyoming is located at (41.063576, -89.774041). According to the 2010 census, Wyoming has a total area of , all land. Just west of Wyoming is Spoon River. Demographics As of the census of 2000, there were 1,424 people, 629 households, and 408 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 669 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 99.09% White, 0.21% Asian, and 0.70% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.07% of the population. There were 629 households, out of which 26.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.1% were married couples living together, 8.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.1% were non-families.