Mason County, Illinois

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

County Seat: Havana
Year Organized: 1841
Square Miles: 539

Court House:

P.O. Box 77
County Courthouse
Havana, IL 62644-0077

Etymology - Origin of County Name

County in Kentucky.

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

County History

Mason County was created on January 20, 1841 (Laws, 1841, p. 69) and was formed from Menard and Tazewell Counties. Present area), or parts of it), formerly included in: Tazewell County (1827–1841), Peoria County (1825–1827), Sangamon County (1821–1839), Menard County (1839–1841), Madison County (1812–1821) and St. Clair County (1790–1812).

The County was named for Mason County in Kentucky through the influence of emigrants from that county, and hence for George Mason, a member of the Virginia legislature who campaigned for the adoption of the United States Bill of Rights. The County Seat is Havana . Prior County Seats was Havana (1841–1843), Bath (1843–1851) and Havana (1851–Present).

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 563 square miles (1,459 km²), of which, 539 square miles (1,396 km²) of it is land and 24 square miles (63 km²) of it (4.34%) is water.

Mason County is bounded on the south by the Sangamon River, and on the west by the Illinois River. These rivers join at the southwest tip of the County.

The soil covering much of Mason County is very sandy. This was formed during the melting of the Wisconsin Glacier about 10,000 years before present. Meltwater from the glacier deposited large amounts of sand in a delta region near at the junction of the Sangamon and Illinois Rivers.

Neighboring Counties:

Northeast: Tazewell County
Southeast: Logan County; Menard County
Southwest: Cass County
West: Schuyler County
Northwest: Fulton County

Cities and Towns:

- Allens Grove	township
- Bath	village	Incorporated Area
- Bishop	township
- Crane Creek	township
- Easton	village	Incorporated Area
- Forest City	village	Incorporated Area
- Havana (County Seat)	city	Incorporated Area
- Kilbourne	village	Incorporated Area
- Lynchburg	township
- Manito	village	Incorporated Area
- Mason City	city	Incorporated Area
- Pennsylvania	township
- Quiver	township
- Salt Creek	township
- San Jose	village	Incorporated Area
- Spring Lake	township
- Topeka	village	Incorporated Area

County Resources:

Enter County Resources and Information Here

County Resource Guide

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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