McLean County, Illinois

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

County Seat: Bloomington
Year Organized: 1830
Square Miles: 1,184

Court House:

104 W Front Street
Law & Justice Center
Bloomington, IL 61701-5005

Etymology - Origin of County Name

John McLean, first representative in Congress from Illinois in 1818 and US Senator (1824-25).

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

County History

McLean County was created on December 25, 1830 (Laws, 1830, p. 31) and was formed from Tazewell and unorganized land (Tazewell County). Present area, or parts of it, formerly included in: Eastern Part [Shelby County (1827–1830), Fayette County (1821–1827), Clark County (1819–1821), Crawford County (1816–1819), Edwards County (1815–1816)], Western Part [Tazewell County (1827–1831), Peoria County (1825–1827), Sangamon County (1821–1825), Bond County (1817–1821)], Madison County (1812–1817), St. Clair County (1801–1812) and Knox, Northwest Territory (1790–1801).

The County was named for John McLean, a pioneer lawyer, Territorial judge, first Representative in Congress from Illinois (1818), and United States Senator (1824–1825). The County Seat is Bloomington (1831-Present, Named Blooming Grove until 1831).

Geography

McLean County boasts some of the richest soil in the world. Only patches of farmland in Argentina, southern Ukraine and along the Yellow River in China match the fertile ground that covers much of the northern half of Illinois, particularly a high-yielding band through the state's midsection.

Neighboring Counties:

Northeast: Livingston County
East: Ford County
Southeast: Champaign County; Piatt County
South: DeWitt County
Southwest: Logan County
West: Tazewell County
Northwest: Woodford County

Cities and Towns:

- Allin	township
- Anchor	village	Incorporated Area
- Arrowsmith	village	Incorporated Area
- Bellflower	village	Incorporated Area
- Bloomington (County Seat)	city	Incorporated Area
- Bloomington City	township
- Carlock	village	Incorporated Area
- Cheney's Grove	township
- Chenoa	city	Incorporated Area
- Colfax	village	Incorporated Area
- Cooksville	village	Incorporated Area
- Cropsey	township
- Danvers	village	Incorporated Area
- Downs	village	Incorporated Area
- Dry Grove	township
- Ellsworth	village	Incorporated Area
- Empire	township
- Funks Grove	township
- Gridley	village	Incorporated Area
- Heyworth	village	Incorporated Area
- Hudson	village	Incorporated Area
- Le Roy	city	Incorporated Area
- Lexington	city	Incorporated Area
- Martin	township
- McLean	village	Incorporated Area
- Money Creek	township
- Mount Hope	township
- Normal	town	Incorporated Area
- Oldtown	township
- Randolph	township
- Saybrook	village	Incorporated Area
- Stanford	village	Incorporated Area
- Towanda	village	Incorporated Area
- Waldo	township
- West	township
- White Oak	township
- Yates	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."