Adams County is the westernmost

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

in the U.S. state of

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 Rock ...

. As of the 2020 census, the population was 65,737. Its

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US ...

is Quincy. Adams County is part of the Quincy, IL– MO Micropolitan Statistical Area.

History

Adams County was formed in 1825 out of Pike County. Its name is in honor of the sixth

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal gove ...

, John Quincy Adams. File:Adams County Illinois 1825.png, When it was created, Hancock County was temporarily attached to Adams until it could organize a county government. File:Adams County Illinois 1829.png, Adams County reduced to its current borders in 1829.

Geography

According to the

U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...

, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (1.9%) is water.

Adjacent counties

* Hancock County - north * Brown County - east * Schuyler County - east * Pike County - south * Marion County, Missouri - west * Lewis County, Missouri - west

Public transit

* Quincy Transit Lines * Quincy station * Burlington Trailways * List of intercity bus stops in Illinois

Major highways

* Interstate 172 * US Route 24 * US Route 36 * Illinois Route 57 * Illinois Route 61 * Illinois Route 94 * Illinois Route 96 *

Illinois Route 104 Illinois Route 104 is a state highway in central and western Illinois. It extends from Illinois Route 29 near Taylorville, west over the Illinois River at Meredosia to its western terminus in downtown Quincy. This is a distance of . Route de ...

* Illinois Route 336

National protected area

* Great River National Wildlife Refuge (part)

Climate and weather

In recent years, average temperatures in the county seat of Quincy have ranged from a low of in January to a high of in July, although a record low of was recorded in January 1979 and a record high of was recorded in July 2005. Average monthly precipitation ranged from in January to in May.

Demographics

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 ...

, there were 65,737 people, 27,199 households, and 17,398 families residing in the county. The population density was . There were 30,235 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 89.5% white, 3.8% black or African American, 0.8% Asian, 0.2% American Indian, 0.8% from other races, and 4.9% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 2.0% of the population. The most common reported ancestries were,

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

(35.9%), Irish (11.1%),

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 ...

(8.1%), and

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

(7.4%). Of the 27,199 households, 25.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.2% were married couples living together, 9.8% had a female householder with no husband present, 36.0% were non-families. 30.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 15.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.36 and the average family size was 2.95. In the county, the population was spread out, with 22.6% under the age of 18, 7.5% from 18 to 24, 23.7% from 25 to 44, 25.9% from 45 to 64, and 20.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41.4 years. For every 100 females, there were 96.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.5 males. The median income for a household in the county was $55,052 and the median income for a family was $72,091. Males had a median income of $41,852 versus $29,404 for females. The per capita income for the county was $31,035. About 9.4% of families and 12.5% 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 ...

, including 17.7% of those under age 18 and 9.9% of those age 65 or over.

2020 Census

Communities

City

* Quincy (seat)

Villages

Camp Point Camp Point is a village in Adams County, Illinois, United States. The population was 1,121 at the 2020 census, down from 1,132 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Quincy, IL– MO Micropolitan Statistical Area. Geography Camp Point i ...

* Clayton * Coatsburg *

Columbus Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to: * Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), the Italian explorer * Columbus, Ohio, capital of the U.S. state of Ohio Columbus may also refer to: Places ...

* Golden * La Prairie *

Liberty Liberty is the ability to do as one pleases, or a right or immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant (i.e. privilege). It is a synonym for the word freedom. In modern politics, liberty is understood as the state of being free within society fr ...

Lima Lima ( ; ), originally founded as Ciudad de Los Reyes (City of The Kings) is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of the central coastal part of ...

* Loraine * Mendon * Payson * Plainville * Ursa

Unincorporated communities

* Adams * Beverly * Bigneck * Blacks * Bloomfield * Burton *

Chatton Chatton is a village in Northumberland, in England. It is roughly to the east of Wooler. History Chatton has been occupied for many centuries. There has been a church on the site since the twelfth century. There is evidence of occupation i ...

* Cliola * Country Meadows * Ewbanks * Fall Creek * Fowler * Hickory Grove * Kellerville * Kingston * Marblehead * Marcelline * Meyer * North Quincy * Paloma * Richfield * Rock Creek * Sheridan Estates * Spring Valley * Woodville

Townships

Adams County is divided into twenty-three townships: * Beverly * Burton *

* Clayton *

Concord Concord may refer to: Meaning "agreement" * Pact or treaty, frequently between nations (indicating a condition of harmony) * Harmony, in music * Agreement (linguistics), a change in the form of a word depending on grammatical features of other ...

Ellington Ellington may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Ellington, Cambridgeshire *Ellington, Northumberland * Ellington High and Low, a civil parish in North Yorkshire **High Ellington ** Low Ellington United States *Ellington Airport (Texas), Ho ...

* Fall Creek * Gilmer * Honey Creek *

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 ...

* Keene *

* McKee *

Melrose Melrose may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Melrose, Scottish Borders, a town in the Scottish Borders, Scotland ** Melrose Abbey, ruined monastery ** Melrose RFC, rugby club Australia * Melrose, Queensland, a locality in the South Burnett R ...

* Mendon *

Northeast The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sep ...

* Payson * Quincy * Richfield * Riverside * Ursa

Politics

Adams County, positioned in a primarily

rural In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry typically are de ...

section of

is culturally isolated from Chicago, and therefore more conservative than the state's northeastern corner. Quincy, the county seat, holds a high number of socially conservative

Catholics The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

and likewise is the home to the campus of

Quincy University Quincy University (formerly known as St. Francis Solanus College, and today abbreviated as QU) is a private Franciscan university in Quincy, Illinois. It was founded in 1860 and enrolls about 1,100 students. History A small group of Francisca ...

, a

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...

Catholic

liberal arts Liberal arts education (from Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as La ...

college, and the Western Catholic Union. The county is part of the historic belt of German settlement extending into the Missouri Rhineland. Since it was antagonistic to the

Yankee The term ''Yankee'' and its contracted form ''Yank'' have several interrelated meanings, all referring to people from the United States. Its various senses depend on the context, and may refer to New Englanders, residents of the Northern United S ...

northeast of Illinois, it voted solidly Democratic until 1892. After being a swing county in the first half of the twentieth century, Adams County has been a Republican stronghold. It has gone Republican in all but five presidential elections since 1920. The county last supported a Democrat in 1964, when it voted for Lyndon Johnson. The county regularly rejects Democrats at the state level as well; it has not supported a Democrat for Governor of Illinois since Adlai Stevenson II in 1948, and there are no elected Democrats above the county level. Notably, while it voted for

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...

in his 2004 Senate campaign, he lost it by wide margins in both of his presidential bids. The county is part of Illinois's 18th congressional district, currently represented by Republican Darin LaHood. For the

Illinois House of Representatives The Illinois House of Representatives is the lower house of the Illinois General Assembly. The body was created by the first Illinois Constitution adopted in 1818. The House under the current constitution as amended in 1980 consists of 118 re ...

, the county is located in the 94th district, represented by Republican

Randy Frese Randy Frese is a Republican member of the Illinois House of Representatives who represents the 94th district. The 94th district, located in Western Illinois along the Mississippi River, includes all or parts of Adams, Henderson, Hancock and ...

. The county is located in the 47th district of the Illinois Senate, represented by Republican Jil Tracy.

Education

Unified school districts

* Central Community Unit School District 3 * Liberty Community Unit School District 2 * Mendon Community Unit School District 4 * Payson Community Unit School District 1 * Quincy Public School District 172

Private schools

* Blessed Sacrament Catholic Schoo

* Chaddock Schoo

* Quincy Christian School *

Quincy Notre Dame High School Quincy Notre Dame High School is a private, Roman Catholic co-educational high school in Quincy, Illinois, United States, founded in 1867, serving upper school students in grades 9- 12. It is located in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfie ...

* St. Dominic Catholic Schoo

* St. Francis Solanus Catholic Schoo

* St. James Lutheran Schoo

* St. Peter Catholic Schoo

Colleges and universities

* Blessing-Rieman College of Nursing *

John Wood Community College John Wood Community College (JWCC) is a public community college in Quincy, Illinois. It is one of 48, two-year, open-admission colleges of the Illinois Community College System organized under the Illinois Public Community College Act. History ...

Attractions

* Adams County Fairbr>
*

Bayview Bridge The Bayview Bridge is a cable-stayed bridge bringing westbound U.S. Route 24 (US 24) over the Mississippi River. It connects the cities of West Quincy, Missouri and Quincy, Illinois. Quincy Memorial Bridge serves Eastbound US-24. The ...

* Burton Cavebr>
* Fall Creek Scenic Park * Golden Windmillbr>
* John Wood Mansion * Saukenauk Scout Reservationbr>
* Siloam Springs State Park * Spirit Knob Winerybr>
* Villa Katharinebr>
* Wavering Parkbr>

References

External links

Adams County website

Adams County GIS Website

Great River Genealogical Society

United States Board on Geographic Names (GNIS)

United States National Atlas
{{Coord, 39.99, -91.19, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-IL_source:UScensus1990 Illinois counties 1825 establishments in Illinois Illinois counties on the Mississippi River Populated places established in 1825 Quincy–Hannibal area Quincy, Illinois micropolitan area