Editing Iroquois County, Illinois (section)

==History==
Iroquois County was created on February 26, 1833, out of a portion of [[Vermilion County, Illinois|Vermilion County]]. It was named for the [[Iroquois River (Indiana-Illinois)|Iroquois River]], which was itself named for the Iroquois people.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ | title=The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States | publisher=Govt. Print. Off. | author=Gannett, Henry | year=1905 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ/page/n155 166]}}</ref><ref>{{cite book
  |title=Place Names of Illinois
  |publisher=University of Illinois Press
  |location=Urbana
  |year=2009
  |first=Edward
  |last=Callary
  |isbn=978-0-252-03356-8
  |page=173
}}</ref>  The first county seat was established at the town of Iroquois in 1837, though no official buildings were constructed there and offices were rented. Several other sites for the county seat were examined, and in 1839 it was moved to Middleport; a court house and jail were built there. There was a long battle between Middleport and Watseka (also known as South Middleport) as to which should be the county seat; in 1865, it was finally moved to Watseka.<ref>Kern 1907, p. 677.</ref>  The town of Middleport no longer exists, but there is a township of that name. A courthouse was built in Watseka in 1866 at a cost of $28,000 and included a jail in the basement; this building was expanded in 1881, and a new jail was built in 1893 just east of the courthouse.<ref>Kern 1907, p. 678.</ref>

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File:Iroquois County Illinois 1833.png|Iroquois County from the time of its creation to 1836
File:Iroquois County Illinois 1836.png|Iroquois County between 1836 and 1853
File:Iroquois County Illinois 1853.png|Iroquois County in 1853, when the creation of Kankakee County reduced it to its current size.
</gallery>