Macon County, Illinois

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

County Seat: Decatur
Year Organized: 1829
Square Miles: 581

Court House:

141 S Main Street
County Courthouse
Decatur, IL 62523-1200

Etymology - Origin of County Name

Nathaniel Macon, revolutionary soldier and later US Senator.

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

County History

Macon County was created on January 19, 1829 (Laws, 1829, p. 28) and was formed from unorganized land (Shelby County). Present area, or parts of it, formerly included in: County Shelby County (1821–1829), Fayette County (1821–1827), Sangamon County (1821–1829), Clark County (1819–1821), Bond County (1817–1821), Crawford County (1816–1819), Madison County (1812–1817), Edwards County (1815–1816), St. Clair County (1801–1812) and Knox, Northwest Territory (1790–1801).

The County was named for Nathaniel Macon, a Colonel during the Revolution and later a Representative and United States Senator in Congress from North Carolina. He strenuously opposed the adoption of the United States Constitution as conferring powers on the Federal government, which should be reserved, to the states. The County Seat is Decatur. Prior County Seats was Home of James Ward (1829–1830) and Decatur (1830–Present).

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 585 square miles (1,516 km²), of which, 581 square miles (1,504 km²) of it is land and 5 square miles (13 km²) of it (0.83%) is water.

Because of its location, Macon County is often referred to as "The Heart of Illinois". However, it's not actually in the center of the State.

Neighboring Counties:

North: DeWitt County
Northeast: Piatt County
Southeast: Moultrie County; Shelby County
Southwest: Christian County
West: Sangamon County
Northwest: Logan County

Cities and Towns:

- Argenta	village	Incorporated Area
- Austin	township
- Blue Mound	village	Incorporated Area
- Casner	township
- Decatur (County Seat)	city	Incorporated Area
- Forsyth	village	Incorporated Area
- Friends Creek	township
- Harristown	village	Incorporated Area
- Hickory Point	township
- Illini	township
- Long Creek	village	Incorporated Area
- Macon	city	Incorporated Area
- Maroa	city	Incorporated Area
- Milam	township
- Mount Zion	village	Incorporated Area
- Newburg	township
- Niantic	village	Incorporated Area
- Oakley	township
- Oreana	village	Incorporated Area
- South Macon	township
- South Wheatland	township
- Warrensburg	village	Incorporated Area
- Whitmore	township

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."