Jackson County, Illinois

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

County Seat: Murphysboro
Year Organized: 1816
Square Miles: 588

Court House:

1001 Walnut Street
County Courthouse
Murphysboro, IL 62966-2177

Etymology - Origin of County Name

President Andrew Jackson, known as "Old Hickory" during the War of 1812; used presidential veto power to dramatically strengthen the office.

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

County History

Jackson County was created on January 10, 1816 (Laws, 1815/16, p. 62) and was formed from Johnson and Randolph Counties. Present area, or parts of it, formerly included in: Johnson County (1812–1816), Randolph County (1795–1816) and St. Clair County (1790–1795).

The County was named for Andrew Jackson, statesman and seventh President of the United States (1829–1837). His army defeated the British at New Orleans during the War of 1812. As Democratic president (1829–1837), he opposed the Bank of America and greatly strengthened the presidency. The County Seat is Murphysboro . Prior County Seats was House of Nathan Davis on Big Muddy River (1816–1817), Brownsville (1817–1843) and Murphysboro—Name changed from Murphys Borough, date unknown (1843–Present).

History of Jackson Co

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 603 square miles (1,561 km²), of which, 588 square miles (1,523 km²) of it is land and 14 square miles (37 km²) of it (2.39%) is water. The average elevation is around 400 feet (120 m), except near the Mississippi River.

Neighboring Counties:

North: Perry County
Northeast: Franklin County
East: Williamson County
Southeast: Union County
West: Perry County, Mo.
Northwest: Randolph County

Cities and Towns:

- Ava	city	Incorporated Area
- Bush	village	Incorporated Area
- Campbell Hill	village	Incorporated Area
- Carbondale	city	Incorporated Area
- De Soto	village	Incorporated Area
- Degognia	township
- Dowell	village	Incorporated Area
- Elk	township
- Elkville	village	Incorporated Area
- Fountain Bluff	township
- Gorham	village	Incorporated Area
- Grand Tower	city	Incorporated Area
- Kinkaid	township
- Levan	township
- Makanda	village	Incorporated Area
- Murphysboro (County Seat)	city	Incorporated Area
- Ora	township
- Pomona	township
- Sand Ridge	township
- Somerset	township
- Vergennes	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."