Jefferson County, Illinois

Template:Short description Template:Use American English Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox U.S. county

Jefferson County is a county located in the southern part of the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 37,113.<ref name="QF">Template:Cite web</ref> The county seat is Mount Vernon.<ref name="GR6">Template:Cite web</ref> Jefferson County contains the Mount Vernon, Illinois micropolitan area. It is located in the southern portion known locally as "Little Egypt". The western border of the county adjoins the Greater St. Louis consolidated metropolitan statistical area, the Metro-East region, and the St. Louis commuter region and market and viewing area.

History

The first settler in Jefferson County is believed to have been Andrew Moore. In 1810, he settled near the southeast corner of the county, near where the Goshen Road emerges from the forest of Hamilton County into what is now known as Moore's Prairie. Moore arrived from the Goshen Settlement, near Edwardsville. His migration was therefore retrograde, from the west toward the interior of the State.

In 1814, Andrew Moore departed with his eight-year-old son for Jordan's settlement, a journey from which he never returned. A skull that was believed to have been Moore's was found several years later about two miles from his cabin. Jordan's Settlement, also called Jordan's Fort, was southeast of modern Thompsonville, Illinois, about twenty miles south of Moore's cabin. This episode occurred during the War of 1812 when many of the Indian tribes were allied with the British.

In 1816, Carter Wilkey, Daniel Crenshaw and Robert Cook settled in Moore's Prairie. Daniel Crenshaw moved into Moore's cabin. This settlement is believed to be the first permanent settlement in the county.

Jefferson County was organized in 1819, out of parts of White, Edwards and Franklin Counties. It was named in honor of Thomas Jefferson, principal draftsman of the Northwest Ordinance, among other things.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The baseline along the northern border of the County crosses the Third Principal Meridian at the northwest corner of the county.

Jefferson County between the time of its creation and 1821

Jefferson County between the time of its creation and 1821
Jefferson County between 1821 and 1823

Jefferson County between 1821 and 1823
Jefferson County in 1823, reduced to its current size

Jefferson County in 1823, reduced to its current size

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of Template:Convert, of which Template:Convert is land and Template:Convert (2.2%) is water.<ref name="census-density"/>

Climate and weather

Template:Climate chart In recent years, average temperatures in the county seat of Mount Vernon have ranged from a low of Template:Convert in January to a high of Template:Convert in July, although a record low of Template:Convert was recorded in January 1994 and a record high of Template:Convert was recorded in July 1936. Average monthly precipitation ranged from Template:Convert in January to Template:Convert in May.<ref name="weather"/>

Major highways

Transit

Adjacent counties

Marion County – north
Wayne County – northeast
Hamilton County – southeast
Franklin County – south
Perry County – southwest
Washington County – west

Demographics

Template:US Census population Template:Stack

2020 census

**Jefferson County, Illinois – Racial and ethnic composition**
Template:Nobold
Race / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic)	Pop 1980<ref name=1980Census>Template:Cite web</ref>	Pop 1990<ref name=1990Census>Template:Cite web</ref>	Pop 2000<ref name=2000CensusP004>Template:Cite web</ref>	Pop 2010<ref name=2010CensusP2>Template:Cite web</ref>	Pop 2020<ref name=2020CensusP2>Template:Cite web</ref>	% 1980	% 1990	% 2000	% 2010	% 2020
White alone (NH)	34,676	34,756	35,709	33,919	31,182	94.87%	93.88%	89.17%	87.36%	84.02%
Black or African American alone (NH)	1,588	1,917	3,093	3,194	2,783	4.34%	5.18%	7.72%	8.23%	7.50%
Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)	31	52	77	69	77	0.08%	0.14%	0.19%	0.18%	0.21%
Asian alone (NH)	66	126	188	246	352	0.18%	0.34%	0.47%	0.63%	0.95%
Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone (NH)	x <ref>included in the Asian category in the 1980 Census</ref>	x <ref>included in the Asian category in the 1990 Census</ref>	2	7	7	x	x	0.00%	0.02%	0.02%
Other race alone (NH)	11	12	28	44	68	0.03%	0.03%	0.07%	0.11%	0.18%
Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)	x <ref>not an option in the 1980 Census</ref>	x <ref>not an option in the 1990 Census</ref>	417	549	1,745	x	x	1.04%	1.41%	4.70%
Hispanic or Latino (any race)	180	157	531	799	899	0.49%	0.42%	1.33%	2.06%	2.42%
Total	36,552	37,020	40,045	38,827	37,113	100.00%	100.00%	100.00%	100.00%	100.00%

2010 census

As of the 2010 United States census, there were 38,827 people, 15,365 households, and 10,140 families residing in the county.<ref name="census-dp1">Template:Cite web</ref> The population density was Template:Convert. There were 16,954 housing units at an average density of Template:Convert.<ref name="census-density">Template:Cite web</ref> The racial makeup of the county was 88.4% white, 8.4% black or African American, 0.6% Asian, 0.2% American Indian, 0.8% from other races, and 1.6% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 2.1% of the population.<ref name="census-dp1"/> In terms of ancestry, 24.3% were German, 15.8% were Irish, 13.6% were English, and 10.2% were American.<ref name="census-dp2">Template:Cite web</ref>

Of the 15,365 households, 30.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.0% were married couples living together, 11.4% had a female householder with no husband present, 34.0% were non-families, and 29.1% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.38 and the average family size was 2.92. The median age was 40.6 years.<ref name="census-dp1"/>

The median income for a household in the county was $41,161 and the median income for a family was $51,262. Males had a median income of $41,193 versus $29,645 for females. The per capita income for the county was $21,370. About 12.4% of families and 17.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 24.8% of those under age 18 and 10.7% of those age 65 or over.<ref name="census-dp3">Template:Cite web</ref>

Agencies

In 2015 the county police department announced that the words "In God We Trust" will be on police squad cars.<ref>"'In God We Trust' to be placed on Jefferson Co., IL squad cars" (Archive). KFVS. August 1, 2015. Retrieved on August 2, 2015.</ref>

Jeff Bullard is the current Sheriff of Jefferson County.

Politics

Jefferson is politically a fairly typical “anti-Yankee” Southern Illinois county. Opposition to the “Yankee” Republican Party and that party's Civil War meant that Jefferson County voted solidly Democratic until Theodore Roosevelt carried the county in his 1904 landslide. It was to again vote Republican in the greater landslides of 1920 and 1928, but otherwise was firmly Democratic until World War II.

Following the New Deal, Jefferson became something of a bellwether county, voting for every winning presidential candidate between 1928 and 2004 except in the Catholicism-influenced 1960 election, and that of 1988 which was heavily influenced by a major Midwestern drought. Disagreement with the Democratic Party's liberal views on social issues since the 1990s has caused a powerful swing to the GOP in the past quarter-century:<ref>Cohn, Nate; ‘Demographic Shift: Southern Whites’ Loyalty to G.O.P. Nearing That of Blacks to Democrats’ Template:Webarchive, The New York Times, April 24, 2014</ref> as is typical of the Upland South, Barack Obama in 2012 and Hillary Clinton did far worse than any previous Democrat.