Clinton County, Illinois

Clinton County, Illinois
Location in the state of Illinois
Illinois's location in the U.S.
Founded	1824
Named for	DeWitt Clinton
Seat	Carlyle
Area  - Total  - Land  - Water	503.27 sq mi (1,303 km²) 474.08 sq mi (1,228 km²) 29.19 sq mi (76 km²), 5.80%
Population  - (2010)  - Density	37,762 77/sq mi (29.8/km²)
Time zone	Central: UTC-6/-5
Website	www.clintonco.illinois.gov

Clinton County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. In 1960, the U.S. Census Bureau placed the mean center of U.S. population in Clinton County.^[1] It is part of the St. Louis Metro Area. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 37,762, which is an increase of 6.3% from 35,535 in 2000.^[2] Its county seat is Carlyle.^[3]

History

In 1805, prior to the establishment of the county, the territorial government established a post road from its capital (Vincennes, Indiana) to St. Louis, Missouri, passing through the county.^[4] In 1808 a wagon road was laid out through what is now Clinton County. The road extended from the Goshen Settlement to the Ohio salt works and crossed the Kaskaskia River at Carlyle.^[5]

Clinton County was organized in 1824 out of Washington, Fayette, and Bond Counties. It was named in honor of the seventh Governor of New York, DeWitt Clinton, who helped build the Erie Canal.^[6]

Crossing the Kaskaskia became much easier when the bridge now known as the General Dean Suspension Bridge was built in 1859, at a cost of $40,000.^[7] Before the bridge was constructed travelers had been forced to cross by ferry or over a mud bridge.^[8][9] The Illinois General Assembly set aside $20,000 for bridge restoration in 1951 and in 1953 the bridge was named after William F. Dean.^[7]

Carlyle, Illinois
Climate chart (explanation)
J F M A M J J A S O N D     2.2   36 19     2.4   43 23     3.8   54 33     3.9   65 43     4.2   75 53     4.4   84 62     3.7   88 67     2.8   86 65     3.1   79 57     3   68 45     3.8   54 35     3.2   42 24 Average max. and min. temperatures in °F Precipitation totals in inches Source: The Weather Channel[10]
Metric conversion J F M A M J J A S O N D     55   2 -7     61   6 -5     97   12 1     99   18 6     107   24 12     113   29 17     94   31 19     72   30 18     77   26 14     76   20 7     98   12 2     82   6 -4 Average max. and min. temperatures in °C Precipitation totals in mm

Geography

According to the 2010 census, the county has a total area of 503.27 square miles (1,303.5 km²), of which 474.08 square miles (1,227.9 km²) (or 94.20%) is land and 29.19 square miles (75.6 km²) (or 5.80%) is water.^[11] Eldon Hazlet State Recreation Area and South Shore State Park are in Clinton County.

Climate and weather

In recent years, average temperatures in the county seat of Carlyle have ranged from a low of 19 °F (−7 °C) in January to a high of 88 °F (31 °C) in July, although a record low of −22 °F (−30 °C) was recorded in January 1994 and a record high of 104 °F (40 °C) was recorded in July 1980. Average monthly precipitation ranged from 2.17 inches (55 mm) in January to 4.44 inches (113 mm) in June.^[10]

Major highways

• Interstate 64
• US Route 50
• Illinois Route 127
• Illinois Route 160
• Illinois Route 161
• Illinois Route 177

Communities

Cities Breese Carlyle Centralia (the larger part, including downtown, is in Marion County) Trenton Villages Albers Aviston Bartelso Beckemeyer Damiansville Germantown Hoffman Keyesport (southwest half) Huey New Baden (partial)

Townships Clinton County is divided into fifteen townships: Breese Brookside Carlyle Clement East Fork Germantown Irishtown Lake Looking Glass Meridian Saint Rose Santa Fe Sugar Creek Wade Wheatfield

School districts

• Carlyle Community Unit School District 1
• Patoka Community Unit School District 100
• Sandoval Community Unit School District 501
• Wesclin Community Unit School District 3
• Central Community High School, Breese
• Mater Dei Catholic High School, Breese

Political districts

• Illinois' 19th congressional district
• State House District 102
• State House District 107
• State House District 115
• State Senate District 51
• State Senate District 54
• State Senate District 58

Adjacent counties

Demographics

Historical populations
Census	Pop.		%±
1900	19,824		—
1910	22,832		15.2%
1920	22,947		0.5%
1930	21,369		−6.9%
1940	22,912		7.2%
1950	22,594		−1.4%
1960	24,029		6.4%
1970	28,315		17.8%
1980	32,617		15.2%
1990	33,944		4.1%
2000	35,535		4.7%
Est. 2006	36,633		3.1%
IL Counties 1900-1990

2000 census age pyramid for Clinton County.

As of the census^[12] of 2000, there were 35,535 people, 12,754 households, and 9,221 families residing in the county. The population density was 75 people per square mile (29/km²). There were 13,805 housing units at an average density of 29 per square mile (11/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 94.19% White, 3.91% Black or African American, 0.33% Asian, 0.16% Native American,0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.84% from other races, and 0.54% from two or more races. 1.60% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 62.1% were of German and 11.0% American ancestry according to Census 2000. 96.8% spoke English, 2.0% Spanish and 1.0% German as their first language.

There were 12,754 households out of which 35.10% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.10% were married couples living together, 8.40% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.70% were non-families. 24.20% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.90% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.60 and the average family size was 3.10.

In the county the population was spread out with 24.90% under the age of 18, 9.30% from 18 to 24, 30.20% from 25 to 44, 21.30% from 45 to 64, and 14.40% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 106.60 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 106.80 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $44,618, and the median income for a family was $52,580. Males had a median income of $36,035 versus $23,506 for females. The per capita income for the county was $19,109. About 4.60% of families and 6.40% of the population were below the poverty line, including 7.80% of those under age 18 and 6.00% of those age 65 or over.

See also

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Clinton County, Illinois

References

General references

• United States Census Bureau 2007 TIGER/Line Shapefiles
• United States Board on Geographic Names (GNIS)
• United States National Atlas

Specific references

1. ^ "Mean Center of Population for the United States: 1790 to 2000". United States Census Bureau. http://www.census.gov/geo/www/cenpop/meanctr.pdf. Retrieved 2011-09-17. 
2. ^ "Clinton County QuickFacts". United States Census Bureau. http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/17/17027.html. Retrieved 2011-11-05. 
3. ^ "Find a County". National Association of Counties. http://www.naco.org/Counties/Pages/FindACounty.aspx. Retrieved 2011-06-07. 
4. ^ Douglas K. Meyer (2000). Making the Heartland Quilt. SIU Press. p. 58. ISBN 0809322897. http://books.google.com/books?id=NF33WbcUKgUC&pg=PA58. Retrieved 2011-09-11. 
5. ^ "" 1913 Commercial History of Clinton County, Illinois from clinton.ilgenweb.net. Retrieved 10 NOV 2010
6. ^ Allan H. Keith, Historical Stories: About Greenville and Bond County, IL. Retrieved August 15, 2007.
7. ^ ^{a b} Attractions & Outdoor Recreation, City of Carlyle, Official site
8. ^ "Suspension Bridge, Spanning Kaskaskia River, Carlyle, Clinton, IL". Historic American Buildings Survey. Library of Congress. http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/il0143/. Retrieved 2011-09-11. 
9. ^ Plaque on site, Photograph of plaque at Bridgemeister.
10. ^ ^{a b} "Monthly Averages for Carlyle, Illinois". The Weather Channel. http://www.weather.com/weather/wxclimatology/monthly/graph/USIL0188. Retrieved 2011-01-27. 
11. ^ "Census 2010 U.S. Gazetteer Files: Counties". United States Census. http://www.census.gov/geo/www/gazetteer/files/Gaz_counties_national.txt. Retrieved 2011-11-05. 
12. ^ "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31. 

External links

• Official website
• Clinton County from the Illinois State Archives
• Clinton County IL Genealogy Web Project at ilgenweb.net

Coordinates: 38°37′N 89°25′W / 38.61°N 89.42°W / 38.61; -89.42