Grundy County, Illinois

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

County Seat: Morris
Year Organized: 1841
Square Miles: 420

Court House:

111 Washington Street
County Courthouse
Morris, IL 60450-2426

Etymology - Origin of County Name

Felix Grundy, US Senator from Tennessee and US Attorney General.

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

History

Grundy County was created on February 17, 1841 (Laws, 1841, p. 74) and was formed from La Salle County. Present area, or parts of it, formerly included in: LaSalle County (1831–1841), [Southeastern Part: Vermilion County (1826–1831), Edgar County (1823–1826), Clark County (1819–1823)], Southwestern Part: [Tazewell County (1827–1831), Fayette County (1821–1826)], [North of Illinois River: Putnam County (1825–1831), Fulton County (1823–1825), Pike County (1821–1823)], Clark County (1819–1823), Crawford County (1816–1819), Edwards County (1815–1816), Madison County (1812–1815), St. Clair County (1801–1812) and Knox, Northwest Territory (1790–1801).

The County was named for Felix Grundy, a lawyer and politician, United States Senator from Tennessee, and Attorney General of the United States. The County Seat is Morris (1842-Present) at a site previously called Grundytown, then Grundyville, and finally Morris

County & Town Histories
as printed in the "Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois", 1901
TRANSCRIBED BY K. TORP

GRUNDY COUNTY - Situated in the northeastern quarter of the State, having an area of 440 square miles and a population in 1900 of 24,136. The surface is mainly rolling prairie, beneath which is a continuous coal seam, three feet thick. Building stone is abundant (particularly near Morris), and there are considerable beds of potter's clay. The county is crossed by the Illinois River and the Illinois & Michigan Canal, also by the Rock Island and the Chicago & Alton Railways. The chief occupation of the people is agriculture, although there are several manufacturing establishments. The first white settler of whom any record has been preserved, was William Marquis, who arrived at the mouth of the Mazon in a "prairie schooner" in 1828. Other pioneers were Colonel Sayers, W.A. Holloway, Alexander K. Owen, John Taylor, James McCartney and Joab Chappell. The first public land sale was made in 1835, and, in 1841, the county was organized out of a part of La Salle, and named after Felix Grundy, the eminent Tennesseean. The first pollbook showed 148 voters. Morris was chosen the county-seat and has so remained. Its present population 3,653 (1901). Another prosperous town is Gardner, with 1,100 inhabitants.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 430 square miles (1,115 km²), of which, 420 square miles (1,088 km²) of it is land and 11 square miles (27 km²) of it (2.44%) is water.

Neighboring Counties:

North: Kendall County
Northeast: Will County
Southeast: Kankakee County
South: Livingston County
West: La Salle County

Cities and Towns:

- Aux Sable	township
- Braceville	village	Incorporated Area
- Carbon Hill	village	Incorporated Area
- Coal City	village	Incorporated Area
- Diamond	village	Incorporated Area
- East Brooklyn	village	Incorporated Area
- Erienna	township
- Felix	township
- Gardner	village	Incorporated Area
- Godley	village	Incorporated Area
- Goodfarm	township
- Goose Lake	township
- Kinsman	village	Incorporated Area
- Maine	township
- Mazon	village	Incorporated Area
- Minooka	village	Incorporated Area
- Morris (County Seat)	city	Incorporated Area
- Nettle Creek	township
- Norman	township
- South Wilmington	village	Incorporated Area
- Verona	village	Incorporated Area
- Wauponsee	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."

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