Peoria County, Illinois: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 01:35, 24 February 2025

Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox U.S. county Peoria County is located in the U.S. state of Illinois. The 2020 United States census listed its population at 181,830.<ref name="QF">Template:Cite web</ref> Its county seat is Peoria.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Peoria County is part of the Peoria metropolitan area.

History

Template:Expand section Peoria County was formed in 1825 out of Fulton County. It was named for the Peoria, an Illiniwek people who lived there. It included most of the western valley of the Illinois River up to the Chicago river portage.

Gallery timeline

Peoria County at creation, with unorganized territory attached to it.<ref name="CI">White, Jesse. Origin and Evolution of Illinois Counties. State of Illinois, March 2010. [1]</ref>

Peoria County at creation, with unorganized territory attached to it.<ref name="CI">White, Jesse. Origin and Evolution of Illinois Counties. State of Illinois, March 2010. [1]</ref>
Peoria County 1826–1827. The newly created Mercer and Warren Counties were temporarily attached to Peoria.<ref name=CI/>

Peoria County 1826–1827. The newly created Mercer and Warren Counties were temporarily attached to Peoria.<ref name=CI/>
Peoria County 1827–1830. The creation of Tazewell County left Peoria with only a small tract of unorganized territory east of the Illinois River, whose border was not defined.

Peoria County 1827–1830. The creation of Tazewell County left Peoria with only a small tract of unorganized territory east of the Illinois River, whose border was not defined.
In 1830, Warren County organized a government.

In 1830, Warren County organized a government.
In 1831, Peoria County's present borders were established and Mercer County was attached to Warren.

In 1831, Peoria County's present borders were established and Mercer County was attached to Warren.

Geography

According to the US Census Bureau, the county has a total area of Template:Convert, of which Template:Convert is land and Template:Convert (1.8%) is water.<ref name=CD/> The county is drained by Spoon River, Kickapoo Creek, Elbow Creek, and Copperas Creek.<ref>Template:Cite AmCyc</ref>

Climate and weather

Template:Climate chart In recent years, average temperatures in the county seat of Peoria have ranged from a low of Template:Convert in January to a high of Template:Convert in July, although a record low of Template:Convert was recorded in January 1884 and a record high of Template:Convert was recorded in July 1936. Average monthly precipitation ranged from Template:Convert in January to Template:Convert in May.<ref name=WX/>

Adjacent counties

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Knox County – northwest
Stark County – north
Marshall County – northeast
Woodford County – east
Tazewell County – south
Fulton County – southwest

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Transportation

Transit

Major highways

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Defunct highways

Airports

General Wayne A. Downing Peoria International Airport (PIA), formerly Greater Peoria Regional Airport
Mount Hawley Auxiliary Airport (3MY) – Peoria, Illinois<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Demographics

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As of the 2020 United States Census, there were 181,830 people, including 73,253 households. The population density was Template:Convert. There were 83,034 housing units at an average density of Template:Convert.<ref name="CD">Template:Cite web</ref>

The racial makeup of the county was 73.5% white alone, 18.8% black or African American alone, 4.1% Asian alone, 0.4% American Indian alone, .1% Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone, 3.1% listed two or more races, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, and 69.4% were white and not of Hispanic or Latino origin.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In terms of ancestry, per the 2010 US Census, 28.3% were German, 14.8% were Irish, 10.4% were English, and 5.5% were American.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Of the 75,793 households, 30.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.1% were married couples living together, 14.1% had a female householder with no husband present, 37.7% were non-families, and 31.0% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.39 and the average family size was 3.00. The median age was 36.8 years.<ref name="DP1">Template:Cite web</ref>

The median income for a household in the county was $49,747 and the median income for a family was $63,163. Males had a median income of $51,246 versus $32,881 for females. The per capita income for the county was $28,157. About 10.3% of families and 14.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 21.8% of those under age 18 and 7.8% of those age 65 or over.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Points of interest

Glasford crater
Jubilee College State Park
WMBD World's Most Beautiful Drive (Grandview Drive/Prospect)<ref>Grandview Drive Google Maps (accessed 27 December 2018)</ref>
Forest Park Nature Center<ref>Forest Park Nature Center Google Maps (accessed 27 December 2018)</ref>
Peoria Heights Tower Park<ref>Peoria Heights Tower Park Google Maps (accessed 27 December 2018)</ref>
Rock Island Trail

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Communities

Cities

Villages

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Census-designated places

Unincorporated communities

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Townships

The cities of Peoria and West Peoria are considered independent from all of the townships within this county. Template:Div col

Akron
Brimfield
Chillicothe
Elmwood
Hallock
Hollis
Jubilee
Kickapoo
Limestone
Logan
Medina
Millbrook
Princeville
Radnor
Richwoods
Rosefield
Timber
Trivoli
West Peoria (former, now defunct and part of West Peoria)

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School districts

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Notable residents

Template:See also People from Peoria County other than in the city of Peoria:

Chris Brackett, host of Arrow Affliction on The Sportsman Channel
Mike Dunne, pitcher for several Major League Baseball teams
Mary Emma Holmes (1839-1937), reformer, suffragist, and educator
Bill Krieg, Major League Baseball player
Lance (Henry) LeGault, TV and movie actor: Colonel Roderick Decker on The A-Team
Zach McAllister, Major League Baseball player: Cleveland Indians pitcher
Johnston McCulley, pulp fiction author: creator of Zorro
Richard Pryor, Actor, Comedian
David Ogden Stiers, actor, Major Charles Emerson Winchester III on M*A*S*H
Josh Taylor, TV actor: Chris Kostichek on the soap opera Days of Our Lives
Jim Thome, first baseman for several Major League Baseball teams

Government

Peoria County is governed by an 18-member County Board which meets on the second Thursday of each month. Each member represents a district with roughly 10,000 residents.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

District	Board Member	Residence	In office since	Party
1	Sharon K. Williams	Peoria	2012	Democratic
2	Camille Coates	Peoria	2022	Democratic
3	Betty Duncan	Peoria	2020	Democratic
4	Brandy Bryant	Peoria	2019	Democratic
5	James C. Dillon (Chair)	West Peoria	2006	Democratic
6	Dr. Eden Blair	Peoria	2019	Democratic
7	Phillip Salzer	Peoria	unknown	Democratic
8	Nathan Hoerr	Peoria	2022	Republican
9	Danny Phelan	Peoria Heights	2022	Democratic
10	Rob Reneau	Peoria	2018	Democratic
11	Linda E. Daley	Peoria	2019	Republican
12	Daniel Kelch	Edwards	2022	Republican
13	Terry Ruthland	Chillicothe	2022	Republican
14	Brian Elsasser	Princeville	1998	Republican
15	Steven B. Rieker	Peoria	2016	Republican
16	Matt Windish	Brimfield	2018	Republican
17	Jennifer Groves Allison	Peoria	2019	Democratic
18	Paul Rosenbohm	Peoria	2010	Republican

The County also elects an Auditor, Circuit Clerk, Coroner, County Clerk, Sheriff, State's Attorney, Regional Superintendent (Education), and Treasurer to four-year terms.

Office	Current Holder	In office since	Party
Auditor	Jessica Thomas	2018	Democratic
Circuit Clerk	Bobby Spears	2002	Democratic
Coroner	Jamie Harwood	2016	Democratic
County Clerk	Rachael Parker	2019	Democratic
Sheriff	Chris Watkins	2022	Republican
State's Attorney	Jodi Hoos	2019	Democratic
Regional Superintendent	Elizabeth Crider	2014	Democratic
Treasurer	Nicole Bjerke	2017	Republican

Politics

Prior to 1992, Peoria County, like most of central Illinois, was powerfully Republican. Usually, it only voted for Democratic Party presidential candidates when they won nationally by a landslide. It began trending away from the GOP in the mid-1980s, as evidenced when Ronald Reagan only carried it with 55 percent of the vote in 1984 even as he was winning reelection in a landslide nationally.

From 1992 onward, the county has backed the Democratic candidate in every presidential election, though never by a margin greater than 10 percent aside from 2008 when Illinoisan Barack Obama won it by nearly 14 points. This relative closeness in results was most evident in 2004 when the county backed John Kerry over George W. Bush by only 70 votes.

In Congress, Peoria County is represented by Democrat Eric Sorensen of Illinois's 17th congressional district and Republican Darin LaHood of the Illinois's 18th congressional district.

In the Illinois Senate, Peoria County is represented by Republican Win Stoller of the 37th Legislative District and Democrat Dave Koehler of the 46th Legislative District. In the Illinois House of Representatives, Peoria County is represented by Republican Ryan Spain of the 73rd Representative District, Republican Travis Weaver of the 91st Representative District and Democrat Jehan Gordon-Booth of the 92nd Representative District.