Clinton County, Illinois

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

County Seat: Carlyle
Year Organized: 1824
Square Miles: 474

Court House:

PO Box 308
Carlyle, IL 62231-0308

Etymology - Origin of County Name

DeWitt Clinton, mayor of the city and Governor of the State of New York; promoter of the Erie Canal.

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

History

Clinton County was created on December 27, 1824 (Laws, 1825, p. 27) and was formed from Bond and Washington Counties. Present area, or parts of it, formerly included in: Washington County (1818–1824), Randolph County (1803–1813) and St. Clair County (1790–1818). The County was named for DeWitt Clinton, a distinguished lawyer, financier and statesman, Mayor of the city and Governor of the State of New York, United States Senator and chief promoter of the Erie Canal. The County Seat is Carlyle (1825-Present).

CLINTON COUNTY, organized in 1824, from portions of Washington, Bond and Fayette Counties, and named in honor of De Witt Clinton. It is situated directly east of St. Louis, has an area of 494 square miles, and a population (1900) of 19,824. It is drained by the Kaskaskia River and by Shoal, Crooked, Sugar and Beaver Creeks. Its geological formation is similar to that of other counties in the same section. Thick layers of limestone lie near the surface, with coal seams underlying the same at varying depths. The soil is varied, being at some points black and loamy and at others (under timber) decidedly clayey. The timber has been mainly cut for fuel because of the inherent difficulties attending coal-mining. Two railroads cross the county from east to west, but its trade is not important. Agriculture is the chief occupation, corn, wheat and oats being the staple products.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 503 square miles (1,304 km²), of which 474 square miles (1,228 km²) is land and 29 square miles (76 km²) (5.81%) is water.

Neighboring Counties:

North: Bond County
Northeast: Fayette County
East: Marion County
South: Washington County
Southwest: St. Clair County
Northwest: Madison County

Cities and Towns:

- Albers	village	Incorporated Area
- Aviston	village	Incorporated Area
- Bartelso	village	Incorporated Area
- Beckemeyer	village	Incorporated Area
- Breese	city	Incorporated Area
- Brookside	township
- Carlyle (County Seat)	city	Incorporated Area
- Clement	township
- Damiansville	village	Incorporated Area
- Germantown	village	Incorporated Area
- Hoffman	village	Incorporated Area
- Huey	village	Incorporated Area
- Irishtown	township
- Keyesport	village	Incorporated Area
- Lake	township
- Looking Glass	township
- Meridian	township
- New Baden	village	Incorporated Area
- Santa FE	township
- St. Rose	township
- Sugar Creek	township
- Tamalco	township
- Trenton	city	Incorporated Area
- Wade	township
- Wheatfield	township

County Resources:

Enter County Resources and Information Here

County Resource Guide

Counties: US Map

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."

Penn Foster High School

Custom Search