Pope County is the southeasternmost county in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2020 census, it had a population of 3,763, making it the second-least populous county in Illinois. Its county seat is Golconda. The county was organized in 1816 from portions of Gallatin and Johnson counties and named after Nathaniel Pope, a politician and jurist from the Illinois Territory and State of Illinois.

History

The first permanent settlement in future Pope County was established in 1798 at the modern-day site of Golconda, then a part of the Northwest Territory which operated as a ferry point across the Ohio River. The county was formed in 1816 from portions of Gallatin and Johnson Counties.

<gallery>

File:Pope County Illinois 1816.png|Pope County from the time of its creation in 1816 to 1839

File:Pope County Illinois 1839.png|Pope County between 1839 and 1843

File:Pope County Illinois 1843.png|Pope County between 1843 and 1847

File:Pope County Illinois 1847.png|In 1847, Pope's border with Hardin County was adjusted, bringing both to their present borders

</gallery>

thumb|left|150px|[[Nathaniel Pope, a politician and jurist from the Illinois Territory and State of Illinois was the Pope County namesake.]]

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (1.5%) is water.

In recent years, average temperatures in the county seat of Golconda have ranged from a low of in January to a high of in July, although a record low of was recorded in January 1994 and a record high of was recorded in August 2007. Average monthly precipitation ranged from in October to in May.

|align-fn=center

|footnote=U.S. Decennial Census<br />1790-1960 1900-1990<br />1990-2000 2010-2017

The racial makeup of the county was 93.4% White, 1.1% Black or African American, 0.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% Asian, less than 0.1% Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, 0.5% from some other race, and 4.4% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race comprised 1.9% of the population.

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

There were 1,694 households in the county, of which 25.1% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 49.1% were married-couple households, 21.8% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 23.6% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 31.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 16.7% 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)

|4,168

|4,036

|4,104

|4,055

|style='background: #ffffe6; |3,491

|94.64%

|92.29%

|93.00%

|90.72%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |92.77%

|-

|Black or African American alone (NH)

|180

|260

|158

|269

|style='background: #ffffe6; |38

|4.09%

|5.95%

|3.58%

|6.02%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |1.01%

|-

|Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)

|8

|14

|30

|28

|style='background: #ffffe6; |1

|0.18%

|0.32%

|0.68%

|0.63%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.03%

|-

|Asian alone (NH)

|8

|6

|12

|11

|style='background: #ffffe6; |16

|0.18%

|0.14%

|0.27%

|0.25%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.43%

|-

|Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone (NH)

|x

|x

|0

|1

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0

|x

|x

|0.00%

|0.02%

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

|-

|Other race alone (NH)

|9

|0

|8

|3

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0

|0.20%

|0.00%

|0.18%

|0.07%

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

|-

|Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)

|x

|x

|61

|39

|style='background: #ffffe6; |146

|x

|x

|1.38%

|0.87%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |3.88%

|-

|Hispanic or Latino (any race)

|31

|57

|40

|64

|style='background: #ffffe6; |71

|0.70%

|1.30%

|0.91%

|1.43%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |1.89%

|-

|Total

|4,404

|4,373

|4,413

|4,470

|style='background: #ffffe6; |3,763

|100.00%

|100.00%

|100.00%

|100.00%

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

|}

2010 census

As of the 2010 census, there were 4,470&nbsp;people, 1,829&nbsp;households, and 1,209&nbsp;families living in the county. The population density was . There were 2,491 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 91.7% white, 6.0% black or African American, 0.6% American Indian, 0.2% Asian, 0.5% from other races, and 0.9% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 1.4% of the population.

Of the 1,829&nbsp;households, 23.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.9% were married couples living together, 7.8% had a female householder with no husband present, 33.9% were non-families, and 29.8% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.23 and the average family size was 2.72. The median age was 46.6 years.

Politics

In its early days Pope County, being strongly Southern in its culture and opposed to Northern Illinois, was powerfully Democratic, giving a majority to that party in every pre-war Presidential election.

However, during the Civil War, under the influence of Congressman John A. Logan, this region of dubious initial loyalty was to provide a number of Union soldiers rivalled on a per capita basis only by a few fiercely Unionist counties in Appalachia.

Stephen A. Douglas in 1860 remains the last Democrat to win a majority of the county's vote, although Bill Clinton won pluralities in both 1992 and 1996 due to Ross Perot siphoning votes from Republican opponents George Bush senior and Bob Dole. Hillary Clinton in 2016 fared extremely poorly, carrying fewer than eighteen percent of Pope County's votes.

<!-- PresRow should be -->

Communities

City

  • Golconda

Village

  • Eddyville

Unincorporated communities

  • Allens Spring
  • Bay City
  • Brownfield
  • Dixon Springs
  • Glendale
  • Hamletsburg
  • Herod
  • Homberg
  • Lusk's Ferry
  • McCormick
  • New Liberty
  • Rising Sun
  • Robbs

Notable people

  • James Lusk Alcorn (1816-1894), born near Golconda, American Civil War general in the Confederate Army
  • John R. Hodge (1893-1963), born in Golconda; Military Governor of South Korea preceding the Korean War and Commanding General of the U.S. Third Army
  • C. L. McCormick (1919-1987), born in McCormick, Illinois state representative and businessman
  • Green B. Raum (1820-1909), born in Golconda, American Civil War general in the Union Army
  • James A. Rose (1850-1912), born in Golconda, Illinois Secretary of State
  • Mason Ramsey (born 2006), raised in Golconda, country singer
  • Victor Belenko (1947-2023) born in the USSR, served in the Soviet Air Force until he stole a MiG-25 and flew to Japan providing the West with invaluable intelligence. He became an American and settled in the town of Rosebud, where he died in 2023.

See also

  • Dixon Springs State Park
  • Ku Klux Klan in Southern Illinois
  • National Register of Historic Places listings in Pope County
  • Ohio River
  • Shawnee National Forest

References

  • http://genealogytrails.com/ill/pope/cohist.htm
  • http://www.fs.fed.us/r9/forests/shawnee