Piatt County is a county in

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 ...

. According to 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 ...

, it had a population of 16,673. Its county seat is

Monticello Monticello ( ) was the primary plantation of Founding Father Thomas Jefferson, the third president of the United States, who began designing Monticello after inheriting land from his father at age 26. Located just outside Charlottesville, V ...

. Piatt County is part of the

Champaign Champaign ( ) is a city in Champaign County, Illinois, United States. The population was 88,302 at the 2020 census. It is the tenth-most populous municipality in Illinois and the fourth most populous city in Illinois outside the Chicago metropo ...

– Urbana, IL

Metropolitan Statistical Area In the United States, a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) is a geographical region with a relatively high population density at its core and close economic ties throughout the area. Such regions are neither legally Incorporated town, incorporate ...

History

The first settler was George Haworth, a

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 ...

, followed by James Martin, Abraham Hanline, Solomon Carter and William Cordell. Piatt County was formed in 1841 from Macon and Dewitt counties. Two local residents, James A. Piatt and Jesse Warner, were instrumental in forming the county. It was named after James A. Piatt after winning a coin flip against Jesse Warner. File:Piatt County Illinois 1841.png, Piatt County at the time of its creation in 1841

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation throu ...

practiced law in Piatt County as a circuit lawyer. Lincoln and

Stephen A. Douglas Stephen Arnold Douglas (April 23, 1813 – June 3, 1861) was an American politician and lawyer from Illinois. A senator, he was one of two nominees of the badly split Democratic Party for president in the 1860 presidential election, which wa ...

planned their presidential debates in Piatt County in 1858, one of which is ornamented by a marker just south of Monticello. The first courthouse was built in 1843. It was replaced by the current courthouse in 1904. Illinois Power Company was a major electric utility in Central Illinois, centered in Decatur, to the west of Piatt County. At one time, Illinois had a "personal property tax", an

ad valorem tax An ''ad valorem'' tax (Latin for "according to value") is a tax whose amount is based on the value of a transaction or of property. It is typically imposed at the time of a transaction, as in the case of a sales tax or value-added tax (VAT). An ...

levied by the counties on property that was not real estate. The personal property tax was a major expense for the electric utilities, since their generators and transmission lines were "personal property". Under Illinois law, a corporation, such as Illinois Power, paid personal property tax to the county in which the corporate headquarters was located. Because Piatt County offered a low tax rate, Illinois Power moved its corporate headquarters to that county. This allowed Piatt County to tax utility assets over half of the state, providing a rich source of revenue which was responsible for much of the wealth of this tiny 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 (0.06%) is water.

Climate and weather

In recent years, average temperatures in the county seat of Monticello have ranged from a low of in January to a high of in July, although a record low of was recorded in January 1999 and a record high of was recorded in July 1966. Average monthly precipitation ranged from in January to in August.

Major highways

Interstate 72 Interstate 72 (I-72) is an Interstate Highway in the midwestern United States. Its western terminus is in Hannibal, Missouri, at an intersection with U.S. Route 61 (US 61); its eastern terminus is at Country Fair Drive in Champai ...

Interstate 74 } Interstate 74 (I-74) is an Interstate Highway in the Midwestern and Southeastern United States. Its western end is at an interchange with I-80 in Davenport, Iowa ( Quad Cities); the eastern end of its Midwest segment is at an interchan ...

* U.S. Route 36 * U.S. Route 150 *

Illinois Route 10 Illinois Route 10 (IL 10) is an arterial east–west state highway that runs from rural Mason County east to Champaign, a distance of . Route description Illinois 10 starts at US 136 about 12 miles east of Havana. The highway heads south to ...

Illinois Route 32 Illinois Route 32 (IL 32) is a north–south highway with its southern terminus at U.S. Route 40 and Illinois Route 33 in Effingham and its northern terminus at Illinois Route 48 at Cisco, a few hundred feet south of Interstate 72. Illinoi ...

Illinois Route 48 Illinois Route 48 (IL 48) is an north–south state highway with its southern terminus at Interstate 55 (I-55) and IL 127 in Raymond and its northern terminus at IL 54 east of Clinton. Route description IL 48 t ...

Illinois Route 105 Illinois Route 105 (IL-105) is a highway in the U.S. state of Illinois. It is an east–west highway that runs from Illinois Route 48 in Decatur to Interstate 72 near Monticello. Illinois 105 is long. Route description The state highw ...

Adjacent counties

* McLean County - north * Champaign County - east * Douglas County - southeast * Moultrie County - south * Macon County - southwest * De Witt County - west

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 16,729 people, 6,782 households, and 4,823 families residing in the county. The population density was . There were 7,269 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 98.0% white, 0.3% black or African American, 0.3% Asian, 0.2% American Indian, 0.2% from other races, and 0.9% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 1.0% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 26.1% were German, 21.9% were American, 15.2% 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 13.4% were

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 ...

. Of the 6,782 households, 32.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.4% were married couples living together, 8.0% had a female householder with no husband present, 28.9% were non-families, and 24.5% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.46 and the average family size was 2.92. The median age was 42.6 years. The median income for a household in the county was $55,752 and the median income for a family was $65,850. Males had a median income of $50,425 versus $32,304 for females. The per capita income for the county was $26,492. About 5.1% of families and 7.6% 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 10.8% of those under age 18 and 4.5% of those age 65 or over.

Communities

City

(seat)

Villages

* Atwood (partial) * Bement * Cerro Gordo *

Cisco Cisco Systems, Inc., commonly known as Cisco, is an American-based multinational digital communications technology conglomerate corporation headquartered in San Jose, California. Cisco develops, manufactures, and sells networking hardware, ...

* De Land * Hammond *

Mansfield Mansfield is a market town and the administrative centre of Mansfield District in Nottinghamshire, England. It is the largest town in the wider Mansfield Urban Area (followed by Sutton-in-Ashfield). It gained the Royal Charter of a market town ...

Census-designated places

* La Place * White Heath

Other unincorporated communities

* Amenia * Galesville * Lodge * Milmine * Pierson * Voorhies

Former places

* Blue Ridge

Townships

* Bement * Blue Ridge * Cerro Gordo * Goose Creek *

* Sangamon *

Unity Unity may refer to: Buildings * Unity Building, Oregon, Illinois, US; a historic building * Unity Building (Chicago), Illinois, US; a skyscraper * Unity Buildings, Liverpool, UK; two buildings in England * Unity Chapel, Wyoming, Wisconsin, US; ...

* Willow Branch

Politics

References

{{Coord, 40.01, -88.59, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-IL_source:UScensus1990 Illinois counties 1841 establishments in Illinois Populated places established in 1841