St. Clair County, Illinois

thumb|right|House in Lebanon, Il historic district

thumb|right|Mermaid House Hotel, Lebanon, Illinois

St. Clair County is the ninth most populous county in Illinois. Located directly east of St. Louis, the county is part of the Metro East region of the Greater St. Louis metropolitan area in southern Illinois. As of the 2020 United States census, St. Clair County had a population of 257,400, making it the second most populous county in Illinois outside the Northern Third. Belleville is the county seat and largest city.

Along the Mississippi River, Cahokia Village was founded in 1697 by French settlers and served as a Jesuit mission to convert tribes of the Illinois Confederation to Christianity. The area became the center of the French Illinois Country. Prior to the establishment of Illinois as a state, the government of the Northwest Territory created St. Clair County in 1790. In 1809, the county became the administrative center of the Illinois Territory and one of the two original counties of Illinois, alongside Randolph County. In 1970, the United States Census Bureau placed the mean center of U.S. population, which generally has moved west every decennial census, in St. Clair County.

History

This area was occupied for thousands of years by cultures of indigenous peoples. The first modern explorers and colonists of the area were French and French Canadians, founding a mission settlement in 1697 now known as Cahokia Village. After Great Britain defeated France in the Seven Years' War in 1763 and absorbed its territory in North America east of the Mississippi River, British-American colonists began to move into the area. Many French Catholics moved to settlements west of the river rather than live under British Protestant rule.

After the United States achieved independence in the late 18th century, St. Clair County was the first county established in present-day Illinois; it antedates Illinois' existence as a separate jurisdiction. The county was established in 1790 by a proclamation of Arthur St. Clair, first governor of the Northwest Territory, who named it after himself.

The original boundary of St. Clair county covered a large area between the Mackinaw and Ohio rivers. In 1801, Governor William Henry Harrison re-established St. Clair County as part of the Indiana Territory, extending its northern border to Lake Superior and the international border with Rupert's Land.

When the Illinois Territory was created in 1809, Territorial Secretary Nathaniel Pope, in his capacity as acting governor, issued a proclamation establishing St. Clair and Randolph County as the two original counties of Illinois.

File:St. Clair County Illinois 1809.png|St. Clair County as it was re-established in 1809. This diagonal border line had been drawn by the Indiana Territorial government in 1803. Because the riots were racial terrorism, the Equal Justice Initiative has included these deaths among the lynchings of African Americans in the state of Illinois in its 2017 3rd edition of its report, Lynching in America.

The riots had disrupted East St. Louis, which had seemed to be on the rise as a flourishing industrial city. In addition to the human toll, they cost approximately $400,000 in property damage (over $8 million, in 2017 US Dollars). They have been described as among the worst labor and race-related riots in United States history, and they devastated the African-American community.

Rebuilding was difficult as workers were being drafted to fight in World War I. When the veterans returned, they struggled to find jobs and re-enter the economy, which had to shift down to peacetime.

In the late 20th century, national restructuring of heavy industry cost many jobs, hollowing out the city, which had a marked decline in population. Residents who did not leave have suffered high rates of poverty and crime. In the early 21st century, East St. Louis is a site of urban decay. Swathes of deteriorated housing were demolished and parts of the city have become urban prairie. In 2017 the city marked the centennial of the riots that had so affected its residents.

Other cities in St. Clair County border agricultural or vacant lands. Unlike the suburbs on the Missouri side of the metro area, those in Metro-East are typically separated by agriculture, or otherwise undeveloped land left after the decline of industry. The central portion of St. Clair county is located on a bluff along the Mississippi River. This area is being developed with suburban housing, particularly in Belleville, and its satellite cities. The eastern and southern portion of the county is sparsely populated. The older small communities and small tracts of newer suburban villages are located between large areas of land devoted to corn and soybean fields, the major commodity crops of the area.

According to the St. Clair County Historical Society, the county flag was designed in 1979 by Kent Zimmerman, a senior at O'Fallon Township High School. Zimmerman's flag won first place in a contest against submissions by more than 40 grade school and high school students from throughout the county. The winning entry features the outline of St. Clair County with an orange moon, a stalk of corn, and a pickaxe against a background of three stripes alternating green, yellow, and green.

Geography

According to the US Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (2.4%) is water.

In recent years, average temperatures in the county seat of Belleville have ranged from a low of in January to a high of in July, although a record low of was recorded in January 1977 and a record high of at East St. Louis, Illinois was recorded in July 1954. Average monthly precipitation ranged from in January to in May.

|align-fn=center

|footnote=US Decennial Census 1790-1960 1900-1990 1990-2000 2010-2019

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2020 census

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center;"

|+St. Clair County, Illinois – Racial and ethnic composition

!Race / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic)

!Pop 1980

!Pop 1990

!Pop 2000

!Pop 2010

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

!% 1980

!% 1990

!% 2000

!% 2010

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

|White alone (NH)

|188,772

|185,410

|171,151

|169,858

|style='background: #ffffe6; |150,496

|70.56%

|70.54%

|66.83%

|62.90%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |58.47%

|Black or African American alone (NH)

|73,095

|70,971

|73,282

|81,860

|style='background: #ffffe6; |76,013

|27.32%

|27.00%

|28.62%

|30.31%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |29.53%

|Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)

|374

|542

|577

|539

|style='background: #ffffe6; |490

|0.14%

|0.21%

|0.23%

|0.20%

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

|Asian alone (NH)

|1,302

|1,929

|2,257

|3,213

|style='background: #ffffe6; |3,623

|0.49%

|0.73%

|0.88%

|1.19%

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

|Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone (NH)

|105

|213

|style='background: #ffffe6; |181

|0.04%

|0.08%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.07%

|Other race alone (NH)

|597

|139

|265

|361

|style='background: #ffffe6; |1,152

|0.22%

|0.05%

|0.10%

|0.13%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.45%

|Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)

|2,841

|5,227

|style='background: #ffffe6; |12,863

|1.11%

|1.94%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |5.00%

|Hispanic or Latino (any race)

|3,391

|3,861

|5,604

|8,785

|style='background: #ffffe6; |12,582

|1.27%

|1.47%

|2.19%

|3.25%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |4.89%

|Total

|267,531

|262,852

|256,082

|270,056

|style='background: #ffffe6; |257,400

|100.00%

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

As of the 2020 census, the county had a population of 257,400. The median age was 39.3 years, 23.4% of residents were under the age of 18, and 16.6% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 93.8 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 90.4 males age 18 and over.

As of the 2020 census, the racial makeup of the county was 59.6% White, 29.7% Black or African American, 0.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.4% Asian, 0.1% Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, 2.1% from some other race, and 6.8% from two or more races, while Hispanic or Latino residents of any race comprised 4.9% of the population.

As of the 2020 census, 85.8% of residents lived in urban areas while 14.2% lived in rural areas.

As of the 2020 census, there were 103,134 households, of which 30.6% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 42.7% were married-couple households, 18.9% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 31.9% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 29.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The population density was . There were 116,249 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 64.6% white, 30.5% black or African American, 1.2% Asian, 0.2% American Indian, 0.1% Pacific islander, 1.2% from other races, and 2.2% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 3.3% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 27.5% were German, 11.1% were Irish, 7.4% were English, and 4.6% were American.

Of the 105,045 households, 34.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.6% were married couples living together, 17.7% had a female householder with no husband present, 32.7% were non-families, and 27.5% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.53 and the average family size was 3.09. The median age was 36.9 years.

The median income for a household in the county was $48,562 and the median income for a family was $61,042. Males had a median income of $47,958 versus $34,774 for females. The per capita income for the county was $24,770. About 12.3% of families and 15.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 24.7% of those under age 18 and 9.7% of those age 65 or over.

Government and infrastructure

The Southwestern Illinois Correctional Center, operated by the Illinois Department of Corrections, is near East St. Louis.

Also located in St. Clair County is Scott Air Force Base, which is home to U.S. Transportation Command, the Air Force's Air Mobility Command, and the U.S. Army Transportation Command.

Politics

St. Clair County is a reliably Democratic county, having voted for the Democratic presidential candidate in every presidential election since 1928, with the exception of the 1972 United States presidential election.

Communities

Cities

Belleville
Cahokia Heights
Collinsville (partial) (mostly in Madison County)
Columbia (partial) (mostly in Monroe County)
East St. Louis
Fairview Heights
Lebanon
Madison
Mascoutah
O'Fallon

Villages

Brooklyn
Caseyville
Dupo
East Carondelet
Fairmont City
Fayetteville
Freeburg
Hecker
Lenzburg
Marissa
Millstadt
New Athens
New Baden
Sauget
Shiloh
Smithton
St. Libory
Summerfield
Swansea
Washington Park

Census-designated places

Darmstadt
Floraville
Paderborn
Rentchler
Scott AFB

Unincorporated communities

Douglas
Imbs
North Dupo
Signal Hill
State Park Place
Westview

Townships

Canteen
Caseyville
Centreville
East St. Louis
Engelmann
Fayetteville
Freeburg
Lebanon
Lenzburg
Marissa
Mascoutah
Millstadt
New Athens
O'Fallon
Prairie du Long
St. Clair
Shiloh Valley
Smithton
Stites
Stookey
Sugarloaf

Former Township

Belleville

Former Communities

Alorton
Cahokia
Centreville
National City

Islands

Bloody Island

Education

Here is a list of school districts with any territory in the county, no matter how slight, even if the schools and/or administrative offices are located in other counties:

; K-12 school districts

Brooklyn Community Unit School District 188
Cahokia Community Unit School District 187
Collinsville Community Unit School District 10
Columbia Community Unit School District 4
Dupo Community Unit School District 196
East St. Louis School District 189
Lebanon Community Unit School District 9
Marissa Community Unit School District 40
Mascoutah Community Unit School District 19
New Athens Community Unit School District 60
Red Bud Community Unit School District 132
Waterloo Community Unit School District 5
Wesclin Community Unit School District 3

; Secondary school districts

Belleville Township High School District 201
Freeburg Community High School District 77
O'Fallon Township High School District 203

; Elementary school districts

Belle Valley School District 11
Belleville School District 118
Central School District 104
Harmony Emge School District 175
Freeburg Community Consolidated School District 70
Grant Community Consolidated School District 110
High Mount School District 116
Millstadt Consolidated Community School District 160
O'Fallon Community Consolidated School District 90
Pontiac-William Holliday School District 105
Shiloh Village School District 85
Signal Hill School District 181
Smithton Community Consolidated School District 130
St. Libory Consolidated School District 30
Whiteside School District 115
Wolf Branch School District 113

References

External links

A Brief History of St. Clair County, Illinois from rootsweb.com
St. Clair County Historical Society & Research Library