Jefferson County (Illinois)

The Jefferson County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. In 2010, the County had 38 827 inhabitants and a population density of 26.3 inhabitants per square kilometer. The administrative headquarters ( County Seat) is Mount Vernon.

• 2.1 Territorial Development

Geography

The County is located in southern Illinois. It has an area of 1512 km ², of which 33 km ² water surface are. In the south, the County share of the edge Lake, a reservoir of the Big Muddy River.

At the Jefferson County borders the following Nachbarcountys:

Rivers in the County

• Back Branch
• Bald Hill Creek
• Bear Creek

• Big Muddy River
• Buck Creek
• East Creek

• Hurricane Creek
• Poplar Branch
• Ward Branch

History

The Jefferson County was formed on March 26, 1819 from the western parts of the Edwars and the White County, a few months after Illinois became a state, and included 16 different settlements. It was named after Thomas Jefferson, the third President of the United States.

The first the county seat was Mount Pleasant, which was later renamed Mount Vernon. The first documented permanent settlement was in 1816 by Carter Wilkey, Daniel Crenshaw and Robert Cook instead.

On February 19, 1888 Mt Vernon was almost completely destroyed by a tornado, costing 37 people 's life. 450 buildings were totally destroyed.

Territorial Development

1821-1823

1823 to today

Demographic data

According to the census in 2010 lived in Jefferson County 38 827 people in 15,314 households. The population density was 26.3 inhabitants per square kilometer. In the 15,314 households lived statistically 2.41 per person.

The racial the population was composed of 88.7 percent white, 8.7 percent African American, 0.3 percent Native American, 0.7 percent Asian and other ethnic groups; 1.6 percent were descended from two or more races. Regardless of ethnicity, 2.2 percent of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.

22.1 percent of the population were under 18 years old, 61.7 percent were between 18 and 64 and 16.2 percent were 65 years or older. 48.5 percent of the population was female.

The median income for a household was $ 42,679. The per capita income was $ 22,032. 17.2 percent of the population lived below the poverty line.

Places in Jefferson County

Citys

• Centralia1
• Mount Vernon
• Nason

Villages

• Belle Rive
• Bluford
• Bonnie
• Dix

• Ina
• Waltonville
• Woodlawn

Census-designated place (CDP )

• Opdyke

Other Unincorporated communities

• Bakersville
• Boyd
• Campground
• Cravat
• Dare Ville
• Divide

• Drivers
• Emerson City
• Harmony
• Idlewood
• MarcoE
• Marlow

• Miller Lake
• Roaches
• Scheller
• Shields
• Shirley
• Spring Garden

• Stratton
• Summerville
• Texico
• Williamsburg

1 - partly in Washington, Clinton and Marion County

Structure

The Jefferson County is divided into 16 townships: