Stephenson County, Illinois

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

County Seat: Freeport
Year Organized: 1837
Square Miles: 564

Court House:

15 North Galena Avenue
County Courthouse
Freeport, IL 61032-4348

Etymology - Origin of County Name

Col. Benjamin Stephenson, Adjutant General of the Illinois Territory (1813-14).

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

County History

Stephenson County was created on March 4, 1837 (Laws, 1837, p. 96) and was formed from Jo Daviess and Winnebago Counties. Present area, or parts of it, formerly included in: JoDaviess County (1826–1837), Winnebago County (1836–1837), Putnam County (1825–1826), Fulton County (1823–1825), Pike County (1821–1823), Bond County (1817–1821), Madison County (1812–1821) and St. Clair County (1801–1812).

The County was named for Benjamin Stephenson, prominent pioneer, a Colonel of the Territorial militia, and Adjutant General of the Territory (1813–1814). The County Seat is Freeport (1837-Present).

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 565 square miles (1,463 km²), of which, 564 square miles (1,461 km²) of it is land and 1 square miles (1 km²) of it (0.10%) is water.

Neighboring Counties:

North: Green County, Wis.
East: Winnebago County
Southeast: Ogle County
Southwest: Carroll County
West: Jo Daviess County
Northwest: Lafayette County, Wis.

Cities and Towns:

- Buckeye	township
- Buena Vista	township
- Cedarville	village	Incorporated Area
- Dakota	village	Incorporated Area
- Davis	village	Incorporated Area
- Erin	township
- Florence	village	Incorporated Area
- Freeport (County Seat)	city	Incorporated Area
- German Valley	village	Incorporated Area
- Harlem	township
- Kent	township
- Lena	village	Incorporated Area
- Loran	township
- Oneco	township
- Orangeville	village	Incorporated Area
- Pearl City	village	Incorporated Area
- Ridott	village	Incorporated Area
- Rock City	village	Incorporated Area
- Rock Grove	township
- Rock Run	township
- Silver Creek	township
- Waddams	township
- Winslow	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."