Franklin County, Illinois

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

County Seat: Benton
Year Organized: 1818
Square Miles: 412

Court House:

P.O. Box 607
County Courthouse
Benton, IL 62812-0607

Etymology - Origin of County Name

Benjamin Franklin, famed statesman and US ambassador to France during the American Revolution.

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

County History

Franklin County was created on January 2, 1818 (Laws, 1817/18, p. 11) and was formed from Gallatin and White Counties. Present area, or parts of it, formerly included in: White County (1815–1818), Gallatin County (1812–1818), Randolph County (1795–1813) and Knox, Northwest Territory (1790–1795).

The County was named for Benjamin Franklin, philosopher, statesman, diplomatist, author, printer, a member of the Continental Congress, Ambassador to France, and (before the Revolution) Deputy Postmaster General of the British Colonies in America. The County Seat is Benton . Prior County Seats was Shawneetown–Kaskaskia Road, at Moses Garrett’s tavern (1818–1821), Frankfort (1821–1841) and Benton (1841–Presaent).

The first settlers arrived in Franklin County in 1804. This group included six brothers named Jordan. They settled near the southeastern corner of the County, near modern Thompsonville. The first year they built a pole shed, covered with brush, chinked with mud, thatched with grass, and open to the south. They kept a fire burning outside the south face. This was called the Jordan Settlement.

(NOTE: The 1804 has not been proven as stated in some Historical writtings. There are documents showing this date should be more in the range of 1808-1809.)

In the winter of 1809, during Tecumseh's War, there was fear of attacks by Indians. Governor Edwards issued a call for the building of forts. Frank Jordan built two forts. The one at the settlement was called "Jordan's Fort". The second was several miles west. It was called "Frank's Fort", which eventually became West Frankfort.

Franklin County was formed in 1818 out of Gallatin, White and part of Jackson Counties. It is 36 miles long and 24 miles wide; making 864 square miles. It's bounded north by Jefferson County; east,by Hamilton and Gallatin County; south by Johnson and Union County; west by Jackson and Perry Counties.

Franklin County is watered by Rend Lake and the Big Muddy River and branches, and the south fork of saline creek. The prairies are generally small and fertile, but rather to level; the timber good and in ambundance; the soil rather sandy. Its products are similar to those of the counties adjoining and it is capable of being made a rich agricultural county.

It was named for Benjamin Franklin.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 431 square miles (1,117 km²), of which, 412 square miles (1,067 km²) of it is land and 19 square miles (50 km²) of it (4.48%) is water. Wayne Fitzgerrell State Recreation Area is located in this county.

Neighboring Counties:

North: Jefferson County
Northeast: Hamilton County
Southeast: Saline County
South: Williamson County
Southwest: Jackson County
Northwest: Perry County

Cities and Towns:

- Barren	township
- Benton (County Seat)	city	Incorporated Area
- Buckner	village	Incorporated Area
- Cave	township
- Christopher	city	Incorporated Area
- Denning	township
- Eastern	township
- Ewing	village	Incorporated Area
- Goode	township
- Hanaford	village	Incorporated Area
- Logan	township
- North City	village	Incorporated Area
- Northern	township
- Orient	city	Incorporated Area
- Royalton	village	Incorporated Area
- Sesser	city	Incorporated Area
- Six Mile	township
- Thompsonville	village	Incorporated Area
- Tyrone	township
- Valier	village	Incorporated Area
- West City	village	Incorporated Area
- West Frankfort	city	Incorporated Area
- Zeigler	city	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."