Randolph County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2020 census, it had a population of 30,163. Its county seat is Chester.

Owing to its role in the state's history, the county motto is "Where Illinois Began." It contains the historically important village of Kaskaskia, Illinois's first capital.

The county is part of Southern Illinois in the southern portion of the state known locally as "Little Egypt", and includes fertile river flats, part of the American Bottom; it is near the Greater St. Louis area.

History

Randolph County, organized in 1795, was the second county formed in what ultimately became the state of Illinois, but which was then Illinois Territory after Virginia and Pennsylvania ceded their land claims and the Continental Congress passed the Northwest Ordinance on July 13, 1787. St. Clair County to the north had been formed in 1790 after adoption of the U.S. Constitution, and named after the first Territorial Governor, General Arthur St. Clair, who before his federal appointment, had resided in Pennsylvania. Its name honored former Virginia Governor Edmund Randolph, who as Virginia's governor had ceded that state's land claims allowing the Northwest Ordinance, and later became U.S. Attorney General. General George Rogers Clark and Virginia militiamen with the assistance of Chief Jean Baptiste De Coigne had captured the area from the British on July 4, 1778, near the end of the Revolutionary War. Virginia then administered the vast area, which it had called Illinois County, Virginia after the populated areas of Kentucky County, Virginia south of the Ohio River were admitted to the union as the state of Kentucky, which allowed slavery. However, slavery was not permitted in the Northwest Territory. Moreover, exposure to European diseases, as well as conflict, had decimated the indigenous peoples of the area. After more heavily settled areas in the east had formed first the State of Ohio, the remaining area became the Indiana Territory, and in 1803 territorial governor William Henry Harrison (of a distinguished Virginia family who later became U.S. President) signed a treaty with Chief Jean Baptiste De Coigne representing the Kaskaskia and allied indigenous peoples. After Congress admitted the State of Indiana the remaining land east of the Mississippi had become the Illinois Territory. In 1809 its first Territorial Secretary, former Kentuckian Nathaniel Pope, in his capacity as acting governor, issued a proclamation establishing Randolph as one of the Illinois' two original counties. The county's boundaries were last changed in 1827, when land to the east formed Perry County.

The Mississippi River has played a prominent role in the county's history. The first two capitals of Illinois were Cahokia (declared a town by George Rogers Clark) and Kaskaskia (also captured by Clark and which became the Randolph County seat), and both nearly abandoned after course alterations. In 1881, the flooding Mississippi severed the isthmus that connected Kaskaskia to the Illinois mainland, destroying the original village of and forcing its historic cemetery to be relocated across the river to Fort Kaskaskia. Crains Island, southeast of Chester, is another enclave of Illinois west of the Mississippi that was created by a change in the river's course.

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File:Randolph County Illinois 1809.png|Randolph County as it was re-established in 1809. This diagonal border line had been drawn by the Indiana Territorial government in 1803.

File:Randolph County Illinois 1812.png|Randolph County between 1812 and 1813

File:Randolph County Illinois 1813.png|Randolph County between 1813 and 1816

File:Randolph County Illinois 1816.png|Randolph County between 1816 and 1827

File:Randolph County Illinois 1827.png|Randolph County in 1827, reduced to its existing borders

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Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (3.6%) is water.

In recent years, average temperatures in the county seat of Chester have ranged from a low of in January to a high of in July, although a record low of was recorded in January 1985 and a record high of was recorded in July 2012. 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 2010–20132020 United States census

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2020 census

As of the 2020 census, the county had a population of 30,163. The median age was 43.1 years. 19.8% of residents were under the age of 18 and 20.3% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 113.4 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 115.9 males age 18 and over.

The racial makeup of the county was 85.0% White, 7.9% Black or African American, 0.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% Asian, <0.1% Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, 2.3% from some other race, and 4.3% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race comprised 3.4% of the population.

21.0% of residents lived in urban areas, while 79.0% lived in rural areas.

There were 11,693 households in the county, of which 27.4% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 48.7% were married-couple households, 18.4% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 26.0% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 30.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.7% 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)

|33,022

|31,243

|29,860

|28,933

|style='background: #ffffe6; |25,460

|92.62%

|90.34%

|88.10%

|86.43%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |84.41%

|-

|Black or African American alone (NH)

|2,261

|2,844

|3,132

|3,245

|style='background: #ffffe6; |2,381

|6.34%

|8.22%

|9.24%

|9.69%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |7.89%

|-

|Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)

|37

|53

|43

|43

|style='background: #ffffe6; |48

|0.10%

|0.15%

|0.13%

|0.13%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.16%

|-

|Asian alone (NH)

|51

|83

|81

|102

|style='background: #ffffe6; |86

|0.14%

|0.24%

|0.24%

|0.30%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.29%

|-

|Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone (NH)

|x

|x

|8

|9

|style='background: #ffffe6; |7

|x

|x

|0.02%

|0.03%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.02%

|-

|Other race alone (NH)

|52

|15

|5

|15

|style='background: #ffffe6; |72

|0.15%

|0.04%

|0.01%

|0.04%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.24%

|-

|Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)

|x

|x

|243

|262

|style='background: #ffffe6; |1,078

|x

|x

|0.72%

|0.78%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |3.57%

|-

|Hispanic or Latino (any race)

|229

|345

|521

|867

|style='background: #ffffe6; |1,031

|0.64%

|1.00%

|1.54%

|2.59%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |3.42%

|-

|Total

|35,652

|34,583

|33,893

|33,476

|style='background: #ffffe6; |30,163

|100.00%

|100.00%

|100.00%

|100.00%

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

|}

2010 census

As of the 2010 United States census, there were 33,476&nbsp;people, 12,314&nbsp;households, and 8,188&nbsp;families residing in the county. The population density was . There were 13,707 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 87.6% white, 9.7% black or African American, 0.3% Asian, 0.2% American Indian, 1.2% from other races, and 0.9% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 2.6% of the population.

Of the 12,314&nbsp;households, 29.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.0% were married couples living together, 10.1% had a female householder with no husband present, 33.5% were non-families, and 28.9% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.37 and the average family size was 2.90. The median age was 41.0 years.

Government and infrastructure

The Illinois Department of Corrections Menard Correctional Center is located in Chester. Prior to the January 11, 2003, commutation of death row sentences, male death row inmates were housed in Menard, Tamms, and Pontiac correctional centers. After that date, only Pontiac continued to host the male death row.

Politics

Randolph is a rural conservative county in southern Illinois that has trended Republican since 2000 in presidential elections.

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Media

There are two AM radio stations licensed in the county — WHCO 1230AM in Sparta and KSGM 980AM in Chester.

Weekly newspapers in the county are The Randolph County Herald Tribune located in Chester, The County Journal, which is based in Percy and also covers Perry and Jackson Counties, the North County News in Red Bud, and the Sparta News-Plaindealer.

The area is also served by the on-line newspaper based in Chester which is SunTimesNews.com

Communities

Cities

  • Chester
  • Red Bud
  • Sparta

Villages

  • Baldwin
  • Coulterville
  • Ellis Grove
  • Evansville
  • Kaskaskia
  • Percy
  • Prairie du Rocher
  • Rockwood
  • Ruma
  • Steeleville
  • Tilden

Unincorporated communities

  • Blair
  • Bremen
  • Dozaville
  • Eden
  • Fort Gage
  • Grigg
  • Houston
  • Leanderville
  • Marigold
  • Menard
  • Modoc
  • New Palestine
  • Prairie
  • Preston
  • Reily Lake
  • Schuline
  • Shiloh Hill
  • Walsh
  • Welge
  • Wine Hill

Forts

  • Fort de Chartres

See also

  • National Register of Historic Places listings in Randolph County, Illinois

References

  • KBDZ 93.1 FM Radio
  • KSGM AM 980 Radio
  • Randolph County Government
  • SunTimesNews.com
  • Randolph County Herald-Tribune
  • North County News
  • Sparta News-Plaindealer