Clark County, Illinois

Clark County is a county located in the southeastern part of U.S. state of Illinois, along the Indiana state line. As of the 2020 census, the population was 15,455. Its county seat is Marshall. The county was named for George Rogers Clark, an officer who served in the American Revolution.

History

Clark County was formed in 1819 out of Crawford County. At the time of its formation, Clark County included about a third of Illinois, and extended as far north as the present state of Wisconsin. In 1821 the northern part of Clark County became part of the newly created Pike County on January 31, and the newly created Fayette County took the western part of Clark County on February 14. Edgar County was created from the northern part of Clark County on January 3, 1823. The creation of Coles County occupied additional land from western Clark County, effective December 25, 1830. The boundaries of Clark County have been unchanged since.

Clark County was named for George Rogers Clark (older brother of William Clark of the Lewis and Clark Expedition), an officer of the army of Virginia that captured the Northwest Territory from the British during the Revolutionary War.

File:Clark County Illinois 1819.png|Clark County from the time of its creation to 1821

File:Clark County Illinois 1821.png|Clark between 1821 and 1823

File:Clark County Illinois 1823.png|Clark between 1823 and 1830

File:Clark County Illinois 1830.png|Clark reduced to its current size in 1830 by the creation of Coles County

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The county seat was located in Darwin Township in 1823. A county-wide referendum was held In 1839 to determine whether Auburn or Marshall would be designated as the new seat. Marshall won the election and has remained the county seat since then.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (0.7%) is water.

Adjacent counties

Edgar County - north
Vigo County, Indiana - northeast
Sullivan County, Indiana - southeast
Crawford County - south
Jasper County - southwest
Cumberland County - west
Coles County - northwest

Transit

Rides Mass Transit District

Major highways

25px Interstate 70
25px U.S. Route 40
25px Illinois Route 1
25px Illinois Route 49

Climate and weather

In recent years, average temperatures in the county seat of Marshall 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.

|align-fn=center

|footnote=U.S. Decennial Census<br />1790-1960 1900-1990<br />1990-2000 2010

| align = right

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, the county had a population of 15,455. The median age was 43.4 years. 22.4% of residents were under the age of 18 and 20.9% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 98.3 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 96.5 males age 18 and over.

The racial makeup of the county was 95.7% White, 0.3% Black or African American, 0.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% Asian, <0.1% Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, 0.6% from some other race, and 2.8% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race comprised 1.6% of the population.

<0.1% of residents lived in urban areas, while 100.0% lived in rural areas.

There were 6,506 households in the county, of which 27.8% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 50.8% were married-couple households, 18.3% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 24.0% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 29.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

!Pop 2010

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

!% 1980

!% 1990

!% 2000

!% 2010

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

|White alone (NH)

|16,820

|15,808

|16,766

|15,925

|style='background: #ffffe6; |14,680

|99.45%

|99.29%

|98.58%

|97.49%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |94.99%

|Black or African American alone (NH)

|10

|33

|48

|style='background: #ffffe6; |54

|0.03%

|0.06%

|0.19%

|0.29%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.35%

|Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)

|10

|25

|30

|24

|style='background: #ffffe6; |28

|0.06%

|0.16%

|0.18%

|0.15%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.18%

|Asian alone (NH)

|11

|36

|22

|54

|style='background: #ffffe6; |52

|0.07%

|0.23%

|0.13%

|0.33%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.34%

|Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone (NH)

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0

|0.01%

|0.02%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.00%

|Other race alone (NH)

|15

|style='background: #ffffe6; |30

|0.09%

|0.00%

|0.04%

|0.02%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.19%

|Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)

|95

|106

|style='background: #ffffe6; |365

|0.56%

|0.65%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |2.36%

|Hispanic or Latino (any race)

|52

|42

|54

|172

|style='background: #ffffe6; |246

|0.31%

|0.26%

|0.32%

|1.05%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |1.59%

|Total

|16,913

|15,921

|17,008

|16,335

|style='background: #ffffe6; |15,455

|100.00%

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

2010 census

As of the 2010 United States census, there were 16,335 people, 6,782 households, and 4,593 families residing in the county. The population density was . There were 7,772 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 98.1% white, 0.3% black or African American, 0.3% Asian, 0.2% American Indian, 0.3% from other races, and 0.7% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 1.1% of the population.

Of the 6,782 households, 30.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.5% were married couples living together, 9.7% had a female householder with no husband present, 32.3% were non-families, and 27.7% 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 42.3 years.

Education

There are four school districts with territory in Clark County: Casey-Westfield Community Unit School District 4C, Marshall Community Unit School District 2C, Martinsville Community Unit School District 3C, and Hutsonville Community Unit School District 1.

They have a total enrollment (2004) of 3,014 students. Each district has one high school (grades 9–12) and one junior high school (grades 7–8). Marshall has two elementary schools and the other districts have one each.

:See [[List of school districts in Illinois#Clark County|List of school districts in

Clark County]]

Communities

Cities

Casey
Marshall (seat)
Martinsville

Village

Westfield

Census designated places

West Union

Unincorporated communities

Adenmoor
Allright
Castle Fin
Choctaw
Clark Center
Clarksville
Cleone
Darwin
Dennison
Doyles
Ernst
Farrington
Hogue Town
Livingston
McKeen
Melrose
Moonshine
Moriah
Neadmore
Oak Point
Oakcrest
Oilfield
Orange
Patton
Snyder
Walnut Prairie
Weaver
Weir
York

Townships

Clark County is divided into fifteen townships:

Anderson
Auburn
Casey
Darwin
Dolson
Douglas
Johnson
Marshall
Martinsville
Melrose
Orange
Parker
Wabash
Westfield
York

Former Settlement

Griffin

Politics

In its early days, Clark County favored the Democratic Party, not supporting a Republican presidential candidate until Theodore Roosevelt’s 1904 landslide. Since 1920, it has been a strongly Republican county: the last Democrat to win a majority being Lyndon Johnson in 1964, and only Bill Clinton by plurality in 1992 has won the county since.

Sources

Perrin, William Henry, ed.. History of Crawford and Clark Counties, Illinois Chicago, Illinois. O. L. Baskin & Co. (1883).

References

;Specific

;General

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

External links

Clark County, Illinois History and Genealogy