DeKalb County, Illinois

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

County Seat: Sycamore
Year Organized: 1837
Square Miles: 634

Court House:

133 West State Street
Sycamore, IL 60178-1448

Etymology - Origin of County Name

Named for Johann DeKalb, a German baron, who served in the Colonies during the Revolution, and was mortally wounded at Camden, South Carolina in 1780

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

County History

DeKalb County was created on March 4, 1837 (Laws, 1837, p. 97) and was formed from Kane County. Present area, or parts of it, formerly included in: Kane County (1836–1837), LaSalle County (1831–1835), Putnam County (1825–1831), Fulton County (1823–1825), Pike County (1821–1823), Clark County (1819–1821), Crawford County (1816–1819), Edwards County (1815–1816), Madison County (1812–1815) and St. Clair County (1795–1812).

The County was named for Johann de Kalb, a German baron, who served in the Colonies during the Revolution, and was mortally wounded at Camden, South Carolina in 1780. The County Seat is Sycamore . Prior County Seats was Orange—Name later changed to Sycamore (1837–1839), Coltonville (1839–1840) and Sycamore (1840–Present).

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 635 square miles (1,645 km²), of which 634 square miles (1,642 km²) is land and 1 square mile (2 km²) (0.13%) is water.

Neighboring Counties:

North: Boone County
Northeast: McHenry County
East: Kane County
Southeast: Kendall County
South: La Salle County
Southwest: Lee County
Northwest: Ogle County; Winnebago County

Cities and Towns:

- Afton	township
- Cortland	town	Incorporated Area
- Dekalb	city	Incorporated Area
- Genoa	city	Incorporated Area
- Hinckley	village	Incorporated Area
- Kingston	village	Incorporated Area
- Kirkland	village	Incorporated Area
- Malta	village	Incorporated Area
- Mayfield	township
- Pierce	township
- Sandwich	city	Incorporated Area
- Shabbona	village	Incorporated Area
- Somonauk	village	Incorporated Area
- South Grove	township
- Squaw Grove	township
- Sycamore (County Seat)	city	Incorporated Area
- Victor	township
- Waterman	village	Incorporated Area

County Resources:

Enter County Resources and Information Here

County Resources

The history of our nation was a prolonged struggle to define the relative roles and powers of our governments: federal, state, and local. And the names given the counties, our most locally based jurisdictions, reflects the "characteristic features of this 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."