Mason County, Illinois

Mason County is a county in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2020 census, it had a population of 13,086. Its county seat is Havana. The county is named in honor of George Mason, a member of the Virginia legislature who campaigned for the adoption of the United States Bill of Rights.

History

Mason County was created in 1841 out of portions of Tazewell and Menard counties.

File:Mason County 1841.png|Mason County at the time of its creation in 1841

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Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has an area of , of which is land and (4.3%) is water.

In recent years, average temperatures in the county seat of Havana 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 1983. Average monthly precipitation ranged from in January to in May.

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|footnote=U.S. Decennial Census<br />1790-1960 1900-1990<br />1990-2000 2010-2013

The racial makeup of the county was 94.9% White, 0.4% Black or African American, 0.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% Asian, <0.1% Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, 0.3% from some other race, and 3.9% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race comprised 1.4% of the population.

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

There were 5,657 households in the county, of which 25.2% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 46.9% were married-couple households, 19.6% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 24.9% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 31.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

!Pop 1990

!Pop 2000

!Pop 2010

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

!% 1980

!% 1990

!% 2000

!% 2010

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

|White alone (NH)

|19,327

|16,137

|15,799

|14,296

|style='background: #ffffe6; |12,339

|99.15%

|99.19%

|98.51%

|97.48%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |94.29%

|Black or African American alone (NH)

|19

|53

|style='background: #ffffe6; |49

|0.01%

|0.05%

|0.12%

|0.36%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.37%

|Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)

|19

|26

|32

|31

|style='background: #ffffe6; |24

|0.10%

|0.16%

|0.20%

|0.21%

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

|Asian alone (NH)

|38

|32

|40

|style='background: #ffffe6; |26

|0.19%

|0.23%

|0.20%

|0.27%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.20%

|Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone (NH)

|style='background: #ffffe6; |1

|0.00%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.01%

|Other race alone (NH)

|16

|style='background: #ffffe6; |11

|0.08%

|0.01%

|0.02%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.08%

|Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)

|73

|126

|style='background: #ffffe6; |452

|0.46%

|0.86%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |3.45%

|Hispanic or Latino (any race)

|91

|58

|80

|117

|style='background: #ffffe6; |184

|0.47%

|0.36%

|0.50%

|0.80%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |1.41%

|Total

|19,492

|16,269

|16,038

|14,666

|style='background: #ffffe6; |13,086

|100.00%

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

2010 census

As of the 2010 United States census, there were 14,666 people, 6,079 households, and 4,060 families living in the county. The population density was . There were 7,077 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 98.1% white, 0.4% black or African American, 0.3% Asian, 0.2% American Indian, 0.1% from other races, and 0.9% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 0.8% of the population.

Of the 6,079 households, 28.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.1% were married couples living together, 10.3% had a female householder with no husband present, 33.2% were non-families, and 28.4% 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 44.0 years.

Mason County was identified as a “sundown” county which “has remained all white for many decades, despite its location between Springfield and Peoria...”.

Communities

Cities

Havana (seat)
Mason City

Villages

Bath
Easton
Forest City
Kilbourne
Manito
San Jose
Topeka

Census-designated place

Goofy Ridge

Other unincorporated communities

Biggs
Bishop
Lakewood
Matanzas Beach

Townships

Allens Grove
Bath
Crane Creek
Forest City
Havana
Kilbourne
Lynchburg
Manito
Mason City
Pennsylvania
Quiver
Salt Creek
Sherman

Politics

Although it voted for the Whig Party in the three elections from 1840 to 1848, Mason County was to be solidly Democratic for the next sixty to seventy years due to its anti-Yankee German-American heritage. It was not until the 1920 election when bitter resentment was felt by German-Americans at Woodrow Wilson’s postwar policies that Mason supported a GOP candidate.

In the following eighty years, Mason was a Republican-leaning swing county, although isolationist sentiment did cause it to vote narrowly for Wendell Willkie in 1940 and more convincingly for Thomas E. Dewey in 1944.

Education

K-12 school districts include:

Havana Community Unit School District 126
Illini Central Community Unit School District 189
Midwest Central Community Unit School District 191

It also includes portions of an elementary school district, New Holland-Middletown Elementary School District 88, and a secondary school district, Lincoln Community High School District 404.