Edgar County is a county located in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sov ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockfo ...

. As of the

2020 United States Census The United States census of 2020 was the twenty-fourth decennial United States census. Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2020. Other than a pilot study during the 2000 census, this was the first U.S. census to off ...

, the population was 16,866. Its county seat is

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

History

Edgar County was formed out of Clark County in 1823. It was named for John Edgar, an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

-born officer in the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

who resigned rather than fight against the Americans in the Revolutionary War. Edgar moved to

Kaskaskia, Illinois Kaskaskia is a village in Randolph County, Illinois. Having been inhabited by indigenous peoples, it was settled by France as part of the Illinois Country. It was named for the Kaskaskia people. Its population peaked at about 7,000 in the 18th ...

, in 1784, becoming a miller and merchant in that town. File:Edgar County Illinois 1823.png, Edgar County (1823), with unorganized territory attached to it. File:Edgar County Illinois 1825.png, Edgar County (1825–1826) File:Edgar County Illinois 1826.png, Edgar County (1826–1830) File:Edgar County Illinois 1830.png, Edgar County (1830–present), with the additional territory incorporated into Coles County

Geography

According to the

US Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal Statistical System of the United States, U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the Americans, Ame ...

, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (0.1%) is water. There is one recreational area in the county, on the north edge of

. Twin Lakes Park and Reservoir began in 1895 upon completion of the dam compounding the Twin Lakes Reservoir.

Climate and weather

In recent years, average temperatures in the county seat of Paris have ranged from a low of in January to a high of in July, although a record low of was recorded in January 1930 and a record high of was recorded in July 1936. Average monthly precipitation ranged from in January to in July.

Adjacent counties

* Vermilion County – north *

Vermillion County, Indiana Vermillion County lies in the western part of the U.S. state of Indiana between the Illinois border and the Wabash River. As of the 2010 census, the population was 16,212. The county seat is Newport. It was officially established in 1824 and w ...

– northeast *

Vigo County, Indiana Vigo County ( ) is a county on the western border of the U.S. state of Indiana. According to the 2020 United States Census, it had a population of 105,994 . Its county seat is Terre Haute. Vigo County is included in the Terre Haute metropolita ...

– southeast * Clark County – south *

Coles County Coles County is a county in Illinois. As of the 2020 census, the population was 46,863. Its county seat is Charleston, which is also the home of Eastern Illinois University. Coles County is part of the Charleston- Mattoon, IL Micropolitan St ...

– southwest * Douglas County – west * Champaign County – northwest

Transportation

Major highways

US Route 36 U.S. Route 36 (US 36) is an east–west United States highway that travels approximately from Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado to Uhrichsville, Ohio. The highway's western terminus is at Deer Ridge Junction, an intersection in ...

US Route 150 U.S. Route 150 (US 150) is a 571-mile (919 km) long northwest-southeast United States highway, signed as east–west. It runs from U.S. Route 6 outside of Moline, Illinois to U.S. Route 25 in Mount Vernon, Kentucky. Route description ...

Illinois Route 1 Illinois Route 1 (IL 1) is a state highway in the U.S. state of Illinois. Running parallel to the Indiana border, the highway starts at the free ferry crossing to Kentucky at Cave-in-Rock on the Ohio River and runs north to the south sid ...

Illinois Route 16 Illinois Route 16 (IL 16) is an east–west highway in central Illinois. Its western terminus is at the Joe Page Bridge over the Illinois River in Hardin, while its eastern terminus is at Paris at Illinois Route 1 and U.S. Route 150, with ...

Illinois Route 49 Illinois Route 49 (IL 49) is a north–south state highway in east-central Illinois. It runs from Willow Hill at IL 33 north to the beginning of the U.S. Route 45/ 52 concurrency near Ashkum. Route description Illinois 49 runs f ...

Illinois Route 133 Illinois Route 133 is an east–west state highway in east-central Illinois. It runs from Illinois Route 32 in Lovington to U.S. Route 150 and Illinois Route 1 in Paris. Illinois Route 16 terminates with Illinois 133 at this point.Sarjeant, C ...

Rail

Three railroad lines run through the county. Two are operated by

CSX Transportation CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The railroad operates approximately 21,000 route miles () of track. ...

and the third by the Eastern Illinois Railroad Company.

Airport

The county contains one public-use airport: Edgar County Airport (PRG), six miles (10 km) north of Paris.

Demographics

As of the

2010 United States Census The United States census of 2010 was the twenty-third United States national census. National Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2010. The census was taken via mail-in citizen self-reporting, with enumerators servin ...

, there were 18,576 people, 7,839 households, and 5,148 families residing in the county. The population density was . There were 8,803 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 98.3% white, 0.3% black or African American, 0.2% Asian, 0.1% American Indian, 0.3% from other races, and 0.7% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 1.0% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 23.6% were German, 15.3% were

, 13.0% were

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

, and 12.3% were American. Of the 7,839 households, 28.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.3% were married couples living together, 10.7% had a female householder with no husband present, 34.3% were non-families, and 29.5% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.33 and the average family size was 2.84. The median age was 43.2 years. The median income for a household in the county was $39,904 and the median income for a family was $51,588. Males had a median income of $38,945 versus $29,951 for females. The per capita income for the county was $22,175. About 9.7% of families and 13.5% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...

, including 19.2% of those under age 18 and 7.9% of those age 65 or over.

Communities

Cities

* Chrisman *

(seat)

Villages

* Brocton * Hume *

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the w ...

* Metcalf * Redmon *

Vermilion Vermilion (sometimes vermillion) is a color, color family, and pigment most often made, since antiquity until the 19th century, from the powdered mineral cinnabar (a form of mercury sulfide, which is toxic) and its corresponding color. It is ...

Unincorporated communities

* Borton *

Edgar Edgar is a commonly used English given name, from an Anglo-Saxon name ''Eadgar'' (composed of '' ead'' "rich, prosperous" and ''gar'' "spear"). Like most Anglo-Saxon names, it fell out of use by the later medieval period; it was, however, rev ...

Isabel Isabel is a female name of Spanish origin. Isabelle is a name that is similar, but it is of French origin. It originates as the medieval Spanish form of '' Elisabeth'' (ultimately Hebrew ''Elisheva''), Arising in the 12th century, it became popul ...

* Logan * Nevins * Oliver * Patton *

Raven A raven is any of several larger-bodied bird species of the genus ''Corvus''. These species do not form a single taxonomic group within the genus. There is no consistent distinction between "crows" and "ravens", common names which are assigned t ...

* Scottland * Woodyard

Former communities

* Bell Ridge * Bloomfield *

Catfish Catfish (or catfishes; order Siluriformes or Nematognathi) are a diverse group of ray-finned fish. Named for their prominent barbels, which resemble a cat's whiskers, catfish range in size and behavior from the three largest species alive ...

* Cherry Point * Clays Prairie * Conlogue *

Dudley Dudley is a large market town and administrative centre in the county of West Midlands, England, southeast of Wolverhampton and northwest of Birmingham. Historically an exclave of Worcestershire, the town is the administrative centre of the ...

* Ferrel *

Garland A garland is a decorative braid, knot or wreath of flowers, leaves, or other material. Garlands can be worn on the head or around the neck, hung on an inanimate object, or laid in a place of cultural or religious importance. Etymology From the ...

* Grandview *

Harris Harris may refer to: Places Canada * Harris, Ontario * Northland Pyrite Mine (also known as Harris Mine) * Harris, Saskatchewan * Rural Municipality of Harris No. 316, Saskatchewan Scotland * Harris, Outer Hebrides (sometimes called the Isl ...

* Hildreth *

Horace Quintus Horatius Flaccus (; 8 December 65 – 27 November 8 BC), known in the English-speaking world as Horace (), was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus (also known as Octavian). The rhetorician Quintilian regarded his ' ...

* Huffmanville * Hughes * Illiana *

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to ...

* Kidley * Logan *

Mabel Mabel is an English female given name derived from the Latin ''amabilis'', "lovable, dear".Reclams Namensbuch, 1987, History Amabilis of Riom (died 475) was a French male saint who logically would have assumed the name Amabilis upon entering th ...

* Marley * Mays * McCown *

Melwood Melwood, in West Derby, Liverpool, was Liverpool Football Club's training ground from the 1950s until November 2020. It was not attached to The Liverpool F.C. Academy, which is at Kirkby. Melwood was bought by affordable housing development c ...

Mortimer Mortimer () is an English surname, and occasionally a given name. Norman origins The surname Mortimer has a Norman origin, deriving from the village of Mortemer, Seine-Maritime, Normandy. A Norman castle existed at Mortemer from an early point ...

* New Athens *

Palermo Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The city is noted for its h ...

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abili ...

* Scotts *

Warrington Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The population in 2019 was esti ...

''Warrington, Edgar County IL'' Google Maps (accessed 30 December 2018)
/ref> * West Sandford * Wetzel

Townships

* Brouilletts Creek * Buck *

* Elbridge * Embarrass * Grandview *

Hunter Hunting is the human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products (fur/hide (skin), hide, ...

Prairie Prairies are ecosystems considered part of the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome by ecologists, based on similar temperate climates, moderate rainfall, and a composition of grasses, herbs, and shrubs, rather than trees, as the ...

Ross Ross or ROSS may refer to: People * Clan Ross, a Highland Scottish clan * Ross (name), including a list of people with the surname or given name Ross, as well as the meaning * Earl of Ross, a peerage of Scotland Places * RoSS, the Republic of Sout ...

* Shiloh * Stratton * Symmes * Young America

Notable people

* Basil Bennett, Bronze Medalist in the Hammer Throw at the 1920 Olympics *

Offa Neal Theophilus Fountain Neal (June 5, 1876 – April 25, 1950), was a Major League Baseball third baseman for the New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants ...

, professional baseball player with the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

Edward Adelbert Doisy Edward Adelbert Doisy (November 13, 1893 – October 23, 1986) was an American biochemist. He received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1943 with Henrik Dam for their discovery of vitamin K (K from "Koagulations-Vitamin" in German) an ...

, biochemist and Nobel Prize winner * Frank Fletcher (baseball), professional baseball player with the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has been Citizen ...

Politics

A swing county in the first eight decades after the Civil War, Edgar County has since become powerfully Republican. It has been carried by only two Democrats since 1940 –

Lyndon Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...

in 1964 by just 139 votes, and Bill Clinton in 1992 by a 41.1 percent plurality.

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States senat ...

’s 22.7 percent vote share in 2016 was by 9.3 percent the worst ever by a Democrat in the county.

References

US Census Bureau 2007 TIGER/Line Shapefiles

US Board on Geographic Names (GNIS)

US National Atlas

External links

{{Coord, 39.68, -87.75, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-IL_source:UScensus1990 Illinois counties 1823 establishments in Illinois Populated places established in 1823