Macoupin County, Illinois

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

County Seat: Carlinville
Year Organized: 1829
Square Miles: 864

Court House:

P.O. Box 39
Carlinville, IL 62626-0039

Etymology - Origin of County Name

Native American name.

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

County History

Macoupin County was created on January 17, 1829 (Laws, 1829, p. 26) and was formed from unorganized land (Greene County) and Madison County . Present area, or parts of it, formerly included in: Greene County (1821–1829), Madison County (1825–1829), ? County (1812–1821) and St. Clair County (1790–1812).

The County was named for Macoupin Creek which flows through the county and is derived from the Indian word for the water lilies that grew along the creek. The tubers of the water lilies were a food source for the indians. The County Seat is Carlinville (1829-Present).

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 868 square miles (2,247 km²), of which, 864 square miles (2,237 km²) of it is land and 4 square miles (10 km²) of it (0.47%) is water.

Neighboring Counties:

Northeast: Sangamon County
East: Montgomery County
South: Madison County
Southwest: Jersey County
Northwest: Greene County; Morgan County

Cities and Towns:

- Barr	township
- Benld	city	Incorporated Area
- Bird	township
- Brighton	village	Incorporated Area
- Brushy Mound	township
- Bunker Hill	city	Incorporated Area
- Carlinville (County Seat)	city	Incorporated Area
- Chesterfield	village	Incorporated Area
- Dorchester	village	Incorporated Area
- Eagarville	village	Incorporated Area
- East Gillespie	village	Incorporated Area
- Gillespie	city	Incorporated Area
- Girard	city	Incorporated Area
- Hettick	village	Incorporated Area
- Hillyard	township
- Honey Point	township
- Lake Ka-ho	village	Incorporated Area
- Modesto	village	Incorporated Area
- Mount Clare	village	Incorporated Area
- Mount Olive	city	Incorporated Area
- Nilwood	town	Incorporated Area
- North Otter	township
- North Palmyra	township
- Palmyra	village	Incorporated Area
- Piasa	township
- Polk	township
- Royal Lakes	village	Incorporated Area
- Sawyerville	village	Incorporated Area
- Scottville	village	Incorporated Area
- Shaws Point	township
- Shipman	town	Incorporated Area
- South Otter	township
- South Palmyra	township
- Standard City	village	Incorporated Area
- Staunton	city	Incorporated Area
- Virden	city	Incorporated Area
- Western Mound	township
- White City	village	Incorporated Area
- Williamson	village	Incorporated Area
- Wilsonville	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."