Bureau County, Illinois

Bureau County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 33,244. Its county seat is Princeton. Bureau County is part of the Ottawa, Illinois, Micropolitan Statistical Area, and the Hennepin Canal Parkway State Park is located partly in this county.

History

Bureau County was created from a portion of Putnam County in 1837. It is named for brothers Michel and Pierre Bureau, French Canadians who ran a trading post from 1776 until the 1780s near the conjunction of Big Bureau Creek with Illinois River. Their actual surname most likely was Belleau, but the local American Indians had difficulty pronouncing the "l" sound, which was not found in some local languages.

An early settler of this area was Bulbona, a man of mixed French and Native American descent with a Native American wife. Unlike most of the other Native Americans in the area, Bulbona remained after the area was settled by Euro-Americans and ran a trading post, where he sold whiskey among other necessities.

The founders of Princeton, the area's oldest town, were settlers from New England, descendants of the English Puritans who settled New England in the 17th century. They were part of a wave of New England farmers who moved to the Northwest Territory in the early 19th century. Most of them came soon after of the completion of the Erie Canal.

In recent years, average temperatures in the county seat of Princeton have ranged from a low of in January to a high of in July, although a record low of was recorded in February 1996 and a record high of was recorded in June 1988. Average monthly precipitation ranged from in February to in August.

|align-fn=center

|footnote=US Decennial Census 1790-1960 1900-1990 1990-2000 2010-2013

!Pop 1990

!Pop 2000

!Pop 2010

!style="background-color: #ffffb3;" | Pop 2020

!% 1980

!% 1990

!% 2000

!% 2010

!style="background-color: #ffffb3;" |% 2020

|White alone (NH)

|38,085

|34,389

|33,196

|31,473

|style='background: #ffffe6; |28,511

|97.37%

|96.36%

|93.50%

|89.98%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |85.76%

|Black or African American alone (NH)

|43

|50

|110

|191

|style='background: #ffffe6; |259

|0.11%

|0.14%

|0.31%

|0.55%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.78%

|Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)

|125

|61

|53

|63

|style='background: #ffffe6; |49

|0.32%

|0.17%

|0.15%

|0.18%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.15%

|Asian alone (NH)

|52

|182

|181

|220

|style='background: #ffffe6; |298

|0.13%

|0.51%

|0.63%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.90%

|Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone (NH)

|10

|style='background: #ffffe6; |21

|0.03%

|0.02%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.06%

|Other race alone (NH)

|style='background: #ffffe6; |51

|0.00%

|0.01%

|0.02%

|0.01%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.15%

|Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)

|215

|326

|style='background: #ffffe6; |960

|0.61%

|0.93%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |2.89%

|Hispanic or Latino (any race)

|809

|1,003

|1,732

|2,695

|style='background: #ffffe6; |3,095

|2.07%

|2.81%

|4.88%

|7.70%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |9.31%

|Total

|39,114

|35,688

|35,503

|34,978

|style='background: #ffffe6; |33,244

|100.00%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |100.00%

As of the 2020 census, the county had a population of 33,244. The median age was 44.8 years. 21.2% of residents were under the age of 18 and 22.4% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 97.6 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 95.5 males age 18 and over.

The racial makeup of the county was 88.3% White, 0.8% Black or African American, 0.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9% Asian, 0.1% Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, 3.3% from some other race, and 6.2% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race comprised 9.3% of the population.

There were 14,179 households in the county, of which 26.4% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 47.4% were married-couple households, 19.4% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 25.5% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 31.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The population density was . There were 15,720 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 94.2% white, 0.7% Asian, 0.6% black or African American, 0.3% American Indian, 3.0% from other races, and 1.3% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 7.7% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 32.8% were German, 13.8% were Irish, 12.1% were English, 9.2% were American, 8.8% were Italian, 7.6% were Swedish, and 5.8% were Polish.

Of the 14,262 households, 29.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.6% were married couples living together, 9.2% had a female householder with no husband present, 32.7% were non-families, and 28.0% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.42 and the average family size was 2.94. The median age was 42.5 years.

The median income for a household in the county was $45,692 and the median income for a family was $55,217. Males had a median income of $42,327 versus $29,210 for females. The per capita income for the county was $24,103. About 8.6% of families and 11.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 15.3% of those under age 18 and 7.5% of those age 65 or over.

Communities

{| class="wikitable sortable"

! Community

! Community type

! Population

! Total Area

! Water Area

! Land Area

! Pop. Density

|Arlington || village || 169 || 0.40 || 0.00 || 0.40 || 427.85 ||

|Buda || village || 482 || 1.01 || 0.00 || 1.01 || 475.35 ||

|Bureau Junction || village || 281 || 1.51 || 0.07 || 1.45 || 190 ||

|Cherry || village || 435 || 0.51 || 0.00 || 0.51 || 850 ||

|Dalzell (part) || village || 663 || 0.83 || 0.01 || 0.82 || 808.54 ||

|DePue || village || 1,633 || 2.55 || 0.11 || 2.45 || 667.35 ||

|Dover || village || 135 || 0.29 || 0.00 || 0.28 || 470 ||

|Hollowayville || village || 36 || 0.05 || 0.00 || 0.05 || 734.69 ||

|La Moille || village || 679 || 1.16 || 0.00 || 1.16 || 590 ||

|Ladd || village || 1,263 || 1.21 || 0.00 || 1.21 || 1,000 ||

|Malden || village || 318 || 0.27 || 0.00 || 0.27 || 1,164.84 ||

|Manlius || village || 298 || 0.32 || 0.00 || 0.32 || 934.17 ||

|Mineral || village || 206 || 0.553 || 0.00 || 0.553 || 370 ||

|Neponset || village || 427 || 1.016 || 0.00 || 1.016 || 420 ||

|New Bedford || village || 76 || 0.155 || 0.00 || 0.155 || 490 ||

|Ohio || village || 465 || 0.753 || 0.00 || 0.753 || 620 ||

|Princeton (seat) || city || 7,832 || 8.24 || 0.00 || 8.24 || 950.49 ||

|Seatonville || village || 321 || 0.511 || 0.015 || 0.496 || 630 ||

|Sheffield || village || 821 || 1.169 || 0.00 || 1.169 || 700 ||

|Spring Valley || city || 5,582 || 7.40 || 0.04 || 7.36 || 750 ||

|Tiskilwa || village || 740 || 0.517 || 0.00 || 0.517 || 1,400 ||

|Walnut || village || 1,311 || 0.801 || 0.00 || 0.801 || 1,600 ||

|Wyanet || village || 886 || 0.946 || 0.00 || 0.946 || 940 ||

|Bureau County || county || 33,244 || 874 || 4.5 || 869 || 38 ||

Unincorporated communities

Coal Hollow
Clarion
Greenoak
Kasbeer
Langley
Limerick
Lone Tree
Marquette
Milo
Normandy
Ottville
Providence
Thomas
Van Orin
Webster Park
Wendel
Whitefield
Yorktown
Zearing

Townships

Arispie
Berlin
Bureau
Clarion
Concord
Dover
Fairfield
Gold
Greenville
Hall
Indiantown
Lamoille
Leepertown
Macon
Manlius
Milo
Mineral
Neponset
Ohio
Princeton
Selby
Walnut
Westfield
Wheatland
Wyanet

Education

K-12 school districts include:

Annawan Community Unit School District 226
Bureau Valley Community Unit School District 340
Bradford Community Unit School District 1
Depue Community Unit School District 103
Henry-Senachwine Consolidated Unit School District 5
Kewanee Community Unit School District 229
La Moille Community Unit School District 303
Prophetstown-Lyndon-Tampico Community Unit School District 3
Wethersfield Community Unit School District 230

Secondary school districts include:

References

;Specific

;General

US Census Bureau 2007 TIGER/Line Shapefiles
US Board on Geographic Names (GNIS)
US National Atlas