Brown County, Illinois: History and Information

Brown County, Illinois

Brown County History, Geography, Demographics, Cities and Towns, and Education

County Seat: Mount Sterling
Year Organized: 1839
Square Miles: 306

Court House:

200 W Court Street
Mount Sterling, IL 62353-0000

Etymology - Origin of County Name

Jacob Brown [1775-1828] was a Brigadier General of NY volunteers during the early years of the War of 1812. By 1815, he was Commander-in-chief of the Army. He received a gold medal for his action at Chippewa, Erie, and Niagra.

Demographics:

History

Brown County was created on February 1, 1839 (Laws, 1839, p. 52) and was formed from Schuyler County. Present area, or parts of it, formerly included in: Schuyler County (1825–1839), Pike County (1821–1825), Madison County (1812–1821) and St. Clair County (1795–1812). The County was named for Jacob Brown, Major General during the War of 1812, who won distinction at Sackett's Harbor, Chippewa and Niagara. The County Seat is Mount Sterling (1839-Present).

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 307 square miles (796 km²), of which 306 square miles (792 km²) is land and 2 square miles (4 km²) (0.52%) is water. The Illinois River flows along part of the county's eastern border.

Neighboring Counties:

Northeast: Schuyler County

East: Cass County

Southeast: Morgan County

Southwest: Pike County

West: Adams County

Cities and Towns:

- Buckhorn

township

- Cooperstown

township

- Elkhorn

township

- Missouri

township

- Mound Station

village

Incorporated Area

- Mount Sterling (County Seat)

city

Incorporated Area

- Pea Ridge

township

- Ripley

village

Incorporated Area

- Versailles

village

Incorporated Area

County Resources:

Enter County Resources and Information Here

The history of our nation can be seen as a prolonged struggle to define the relative roles and powers of our governments: federal, state, and local. And the names we've given our counties, our most locally based jurisdictions, reflects the "characteristic features of our country!"

But age, size and colorful names of our counties isn't the only reason to explore counties' role in American history, or the history of county government itself. In fact, the story of county government reflects the larger meanings of American history.

Today's counties are the most flexible, locally responsive and creative governments in the US. They are the most diverse, varying in size, population, geography, and governmental structure. In their politics and policies, they express a 1990's political slogan "Think globally, act locally."

Illinois State...

Illinois

Illinois Counties

Brown County, Illinois

Brown County History, Geography, Demographics, Cities and Towns, and Education

Etymology - Origin of County Name

Demographics:

History

Geography

Neighboring Counties:

Cities and Towns:

County Resources:

County Resource Guide

Penn Foster High School