Washington County, Illinois

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

County Seat: Nashville
Year Organized: 1818
Square Miles: 563

Court House:

101 E. St. Louis Street
County Courthouse
Nashville, IL 62263-2300

Etymology - Origin of County Name

President George Washington, Commander in Chief of the Army during the American Revolution.

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

County History

Washington County was created on January 2, 1818 (Territorial Laws, 1817-1818, p. 39) and was formed from St. Clair County. Present area, or parts of it, formerly included in: St. Clair County (1790–1818) and Randolph County (1803–1818).

The County was named for George Washington, a Revolutionary General, statesman, and first president of the United States. Commander in chief of the American forces during the Revolution (1775–1783), and president of the second Constitutional Convention, he was the first president of the newly independent United States (1789–1797). The County Seat is ? . Prior County Seats was Covington (1818–1831) and Nashville (1831-Present).

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 564 square miles (1,461 km²), of which, 563 square miles (1,457 km²) of it is land and 2 square miles (4 km²) of it (0.27%) is water. There are many lakes, rivers, streams, and creeks in this area.

Neighboring Counties:

North: Clinton County
Northeast: Marion County
East: Jefferson County
South: Perry County
Southwest: Randolph County
Northwest: St. Clair County

Cities and Towns:

- Addieville	village	Incorporated Area
- Ashley	city	Incorporated Area
- Beaucoup	township
- Bolo	township
- Covington	township
- Du Bois	village	Incorporated Area
- Hoyleton	village	Incorporated Area
- Irvington	village	Incorporated Area
- Johannisburg	township
- Lively Grove	township
- Nashville (County Seat)	city	Incorporated Area
- New Minden	village	Incorporated Area
- Oakdale	village	Incorporated Area
- Okawville	village	Incorporated Area
- Pilot Knob	township
- Plum Hill	township
- Radom	village	Incorporated Area
- Richview	village	Incorporated Area
- Venedy	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."