Union County, Illinois

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

County Seat: Jonesboro
Year Organized: 1818
Square Miles: 416

Court House:

309 W Market
Room 100
Jonesboro, IL 62952-0478

Etymology - Origin of County Name

Federal Union of the American states.

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

County History

Union County was created on January 2, 1818 (Territorial Laws, 1817-1818, p. 15) and was formed from Johnson and Jackson Counties . Present area, or parts of it, formerly included in: Johnson County (1812–1818), Randolph County (1795–1812) and St. Clair County (1790–1795).

The County was named for the federal union of the American States. The County Seat is Jonesboro (1818-Present).

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 422 square miles (1,093 km²), of which, 416 square miles (1,078 km²) of it is land and 6 square miles (15 km²) of it (1.41%) is water.

Neighboring Counties:

Northeast: Williamson County
East: Johnson County
Southeast: Pulaski County
South: Alexander County
Southwest: Cape Girardeau County, Mo.
Northwest: Perry County, Mo.; Jackson County

Cities and Towns:

- Alto Pass	village	Incorporated Area
- Anna	city	Incorporated Area
- Cobden	village	Incorporated Area
- Dongola	village	Incorporated Area
- Jonesboro (County Seat)	city	Incorporated Area
- Mill Creek	village	Incorporated Area
- Saratoga	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."