Edwards County, Illinois

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

County Seat: Albion
Year Organized: 1814
Square Miles: 222

Court House:

50 E. Main Street
County Courthouse
Albion, IL 62806-1262

Etymology - Origin of County Name

The County was named for Ninian Edwards, Governor of the Illinois Territory and the third Governor of the State of Illinois. Edwards served as Territorial Governor from May 27, 1809 to October 6, 1818 and Governor of the State of Illinois from December 6, 1826 to December 6, 1830.

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

County History

Edwards County was created on November 28, 1814 (Territorial Laws, 1814, Pope's Digest, p. 85) and was formed from Gallatin and Madison Counties. Present area, or parts of it, formerly included in: Gallatin County (1812–1814), Randolph County (1803–1812), St. Clair County (1801–1809) and Knox, Northwest Territory (1790–1809). Prior County Seats was Palmyra (1814–1821) and Albion (1821–Present).

Edwards County History
(Source: "Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois", 1900)

Edwards County, situated in the south-eastern part of the State, between Richland and White on the North and South, and Wabash and Wayne on the east and west, and touching the Ohio River on its southeastern border. It was separated from Gallatin County in 1814, during the Territorial period. Its territory was diminished in 1824 by the carving out of Wabash County.

The surface is diversified by prairie and timber, the soil fertile and well adapted to the raising of both wheat and corn. The principal streams, besides the Ohio, are Bonpas Creek, on the east, and the Little Wabash River on the west. Palmyra ( a place no longer on the map) was the seat for holding the first county court, in 1815, John McIntosh, Seth Gard and William Barney being the Judges.

Albion, the present county seat (population, 937), was laid out by Morris Birkbeck and George Flower (emigrants from England), in 1819, and settled largely by their countrymen, but not incorporated until 1860. The area of the county is 220 square miles, and population of 2,000 in 1890, is partly in this county, though mostly in White.

Edwards County was named in honor of Ninian Edwards, the Territorial Governor of Illinois.

Settled in 1818 by two Englishmen, George Flower and Morris Birkbeck, who sought land far enough south to escape frigid winters and far enough north to avoid slavery

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 223 square miles (577 km²), of which 222 square miles (576 km²) is land and 0.386 square miles (1 km²) (0.14%) is water.

Neighboring Counties:

North: Richland County
East: Wabash County
Southeast: Gibson County, Ind.; Posey County, Ind.
Southwest: White County
West: Wayne County

Cities and Towns:

- Albion (County Seat)	city	Incorporated Area
- Bennington	township
- Bone Gap	village	Incorporated Area
- Browns	village	Incorporated Area
- West Salem	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."