Randolph County, Illinois

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

County Seat: Chester
Year Organized: 1795
Square Miles: 578

Court House:

1 Taylor Street
County Courthouse
Chester, IL 62233-1970

Etymology - Origin of County Name

Edmund Randolph, revolutionary soldier, Secretary of State and US Attorney General under President George Washington.

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

County History

Randolph County was created on October 5, 1795 (By proclamation of Arthur St. Clair, St. Clair Papers, Vol. 2, p. 345.) and was formed from St. Clair County and Northwest Territory. Present area, or parts of it, formerly included in: St. Clair County —Northern section of Randolph County (1790–1803) and St. Clair County (1790–1795).

The County was named for Edmund Randolph, a soldier of the Revolution, a lawyer and statesman, member of the Continental Congress, Attorney General and Governor of Virginia, Secretary of State of the United States and Attorney General under Washington. The County Seat is Chester . Prior County Seats was Kaskaskia (1795–1847) and Chester (1847-Present).

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 597 square miles (1,547 km²), of which, 578 square miles (1,498 km²) of it is land and 19 square miles (49 km²) of it (3.15%) is water.

The Kaskaskia River flows into the Mississippi River in Randolph County. At this point the Mississippi, which usually defines the border between Illinois and Missouri, is entirely in Illinois. The Mississippi changed its course in the late-nineteenth century, leaving Kaskaskia, the former state capitol, on the west side of the River. The boundary of the State, however, follows the old course of the River, leaving Illinois with an enclave on the western shore of the Mississippi River.

Neighboring Counties:

North: St. Clair County
Northeast: Washington County
East: Perry County
Southeast: Jackson County
South: Perry County, Mo.
Southwest: Ste. Genevieve County, Mo.
Northwest: Monroe County

Cities and Towns:

- Baldwin	village	Incorporated Area
- Bremen	township
- Chester (County Seat)	city	Incorporated Area
- Coulterville	village	Incorporated Area
- Eden	township
- Ellis Grove	village	Incorporated Area
- Evansville	village	Incorporated Area
- Houston	township
- Kaskaskia	village	Incorporated Area
- Percy	village	Incorporated Area
- Prairie	township
- Prairie du Rocher	village	Incorporated Area
- Red Bud	city	Incorporated Area
- Rockwood	village	Incorporated Area
- Ruma	village	Incorporated Area
- Sparta	city	Incorporated Area
- Steeleville	village	Incorporated Area
- Tilden	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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