Mason County, Illinois

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

Mason County is a county in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2020 census, it had a population of 13,086.<ref name="QF">Template:Cite web</ref> Its county seat is Havana.<ref name="GR6">Template:Cite web</ref> The county is named in honor of George Mason, a member of the Virginia legislature who campaigned for the adoption of the United States Bill of Rights.

History

Mason County was created in 1841 out of portions of Tazewell and Menard counties.

Mason County at the time of its creation in 1841

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has an area of Template:Convert, of which Template:Convert is land and Template:Convert (4.3%) is water.<ref name="census-density"/>

Mason County is bound on the south by the Sangamon River, and on the west by the Illinois River. These rivers join at the county's southwest tip.

The soil covering much of Mason County is very sandy. This was formed during the melting of the Wisconsin Glacier about 10,000 years ago. Meltwater from the glacier deposited large amounts of sand in a delta region near at the junction of the Sangamon and Illinois Rivers.

The sandy soil does not hold water well, quickly exposing crops to drought conditions as the water table drops during periods of low precipitation. However, the soil is very good for growing vegetables that are otherwise not common in Illinois. Modern irrigation has made this a highly productive agricultural area.

A sand wetland on the Illinois River is managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as the Chautauqua National Wildlife Refuge.

National protected area

Chautauqua National Wildlife Refuge (part)

State Forest

Sand Ridge State Forest - Containing 7,200 acres (2,900 ha), it is the largest state forest in Illinois.

State Fish & Wildlife Areas

Sanganois State Fish & Wildlife Area (part)

Climate and weather

Template:Climate chart In recent years, average temperatures in the county seat of Havana 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 1999 and a record high of Template:Convert was recorded in July 1983. Average monthly precipitation ranged from Template:Convert in January to Template:Convert in May.<ref name="weather"/>

Adjacent counties

Fulton County - northwest
Tazewell County - northeast
Logan County - southeast
Menard County - south
Cass County - southwest
Schuyler County - west

Transportation

Public Transportation

SHOW Bus

Major highways

Demographics

Template:US Census population

2020 census

**Mason 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)	19,327	16,137	15,799	14,296	12,339	99.15%	99.19%	98.51%	97.48%	94.29%
Black or African American alone (NH)	1	8	19	53	49	0.01%	0.05%	0.12%	0.36%	0.37%
Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)	19	26	32	31	24	0.10%	0.16%	0.20%	0.21%	0.18%
Asian alone (NH)	38	38	32	40	26	0.19%	0.23%	0.20%	0.27%	0.20%
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>	0	0	1	x	x	0.00%	0.00%	0.01%
Other race alone (NH)	16	2	3	3	11	0.08%	0.01%	0.02%	0.02%	0.08%
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>	73	126	452	x	x	0.46%	0.86%	3.45%
Hispanic or Latino (any race)	91	58	80	117	184	0.47%	0.36%	0.50%	0.80%	1.41%
Total	19,492	16,269	16,038	14,666	13,086	100.00%	100.00%	100.00%	100.00%	100.00%

2010 census

As of the 2010 United States census, there were 14,666 people, 6,079 households, and 4,060 families living in the county.<ref name="census-dp1">Template:Cite web</ref> The population density was Template:Convert. There were 7,077 housing units at an average density of Template:Convert.<ref name="census-density">Template:Cite web</ref> The racial makeup of the county was 98.1% white, 0.4% black or African American, 0.3% Asian, 0.2% American Indian, 0.1% from other races, and 0.9% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 0.8% of the population.<ref name="census-dp1"/> In terms of ancestry, 33.8% were German, 15.6% were American, 11.1% were English, and 10.3% were Irish.<ref name="census-dp2">Template:Cite web</ref>

Of the 6,079 households, 28.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.1% were married couples living together, 10.3% had a female householder with no husband present, 33.2% were non-families, and 28.4% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.38 and the average family size was 2.87. The median age was 44.0 years.<ref name="census-dp1"/>

The median income for a household in the county was $42,461 and the median income for a family was $51,348. Males had a median income of $43,448 versus $31,087 for females. The per capita income for the county was $23,427. About 13.8% of families and 15.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 23.6% of those under age 18 and 7.5% of those age 65 or over.<ref name="census-dp3">Template:Cite web</ref>

Mason County was identified as a “sundown” county which “has remained all white for many decades, despite its location between Springfield and Peoria...”.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Communities

Politics

Although it voted for the Whig Party in the three elections from 1840 to 1848, Mason County was to be solidly Democratic for the next sixty to seventy years due to its anti-Yankee German-American heritage. It was not until the 1920 election when bitter resentment was felt by German-Americans at Woodrow Wilson’s postwar policies that Mason supported a GOP candidate.

In the following eighty years, Mason was a Republican-leaning swing county, although isolationist sentiment did cause it to vote narrowly for Wendell Willkie in 1940 and more convincingly for Thomas E. Dewey in 1944.

Education

K-12 school districts include:<ref name=SDMap2020>Template:Cite web - Text list</ref>

It also includes portions of an elementary school district, New Holland-Middletown Elementary School District 88, and a secondary school district, Lincoln Community High School District 404.<ref name=SDMap2020/>

References

Template:Reflist

Template:Geographic Location Template:Mason County, Illinois Template:US state navigation box Template:Authority control Template:Coord

Mason County, Illinois

Contents

History