Woodford County, Illinois

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

County Seat: Eureka
Year Organized: 1841
Square Miles: 528

Court House:

115 N. Main Street, Suite 202
County Courthouse
Eureka, IL 61530-1287

Etymology - Origin of County Name

County in Kentucky.

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

County History

Woodford County was created on February 27, 1841 (Laws, 1841, p. 84) and was formed from McLean and Tazewell Counties. Present area, or parts of it, formerly included in: Eastern Part: McLean County (1831–1841), Tazewell County (1827–1831), Fayette County (1821–1827), Clark County (1819–1821), Crawford County (1816–1819) and Edwards County (1815–1816); Western Part: Tazewell County (1827–1841), 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 Woodford County in Kentucky through the influence of emigrants from that county. The County Seat is Eureka . Prior County Seats was Versailles—Temporary designation (1841–1843), Metamora—Named Hanover until February 21, 1845 (1843–1894) and Eureka (1894-Present).

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 543 square miles (1,406 km²), of which, 528 square miles (1,367 km²) of it is land and 15 square miles (38 km²) of it (2.73%) is water.

Neighboring Counties:

Northeast: La Salle County
East: Livingston County
Southeast: McLean County
Southwest: Tazewell County
West: Peoria County
Northwest: Marshall County

Cities and Towns:

- Bay View Gardens	village	Incorporated Area
- Benson	village	Incorporated Area
- Cazenovia	township
- Congerville	village	Incorporated Area
- Cruger	township
- El Paso	city	Incorporated Area
- Eureka (County Seat)	city	Incorporated Area
- Germantown Hills	village	Incorporated Area
- Goodfield	village	Incorporated Area
- Kappa	village	Incorporated Area
- Linn	township
- Metamora	village	Incorporated Area
- Minonk	city	Incorporated Area
- Olio	township
- Panola	village	Incorporated Area
- Partridge	township
- Roanoke	village	Incorporated Area
- Secor	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."