Hancock County, Illinois: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 15:12, 5 April 2025

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Hancock County is a county in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 17,620.<ref name="QF">Template:Cite web</ref> Its county seat is Carthage,<ref name="GR6">Template:Cite web</ref> and its largest city is Hamilton. The county is composed of rural towns with many farmers.

Hancock County is part of the Fort Madison-Keokuk, IA-IL-MO Micropolitan Statistical Area.

History

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Hancock County at the time of its creation in 1825

Hancock County was part of the "Military Tract" set aside by Congress to reward veterans of the War of 1812. Actual settlement of the interior of the county was delayed by concerns about hostile American Indians. After their defeat in the Blackhawk War in 1832, settlement proceeded quickly.

Hancock County was formed, on January 13, 1825, out of Pike County. It was named in honor of John Hancock, who signed the Declaration of Independence.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

For a brief period in the 1840s Hancock had one of Illinois' most populous cities: Nauvoo, which was then headquarters for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The movement's founder Joseph Smith was killed in the county seat of Carthage in 1844. Most Mormons left Hancock County in the 1840s. Today, Latter Day Saints come in increasing numbers to important Latter Day Saint sites in Hancock County, partly for vacation and partly for religious pilgrimage.

The original courthouse was at Montebello. Montebello no longer exists but was between Nauvoo and Hamilton. In 1833 the state commissioned the formation of the county seat at Carthage, which was centrally located but not well developed. A log cabin was built to serve as the courthouse and served that purpose until 1839 when the second Carthage Courthouse was built. The original log cabin continued to serve as a school and other purposes until 1945 when it was removed.

The second courthouse cost $3,700 to build and served from 1839 until 1906. It served as a location for Stephen A. Douglas (October 11, 1858) and Abraham Lincoln (October 22, 1858) to speak to residents as they were running against each other for the US Senate. In 1906 it was removed to make room for the current courthouse.

The current courthouse was dedicated October 21, 1908.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of Template:Convert, of which Template:Convert is land and Template:Convert (2.5%) is water.<ref name="census-density"/>

Climate and weather

Template:Climate chart In recent years, average temperatures in the county seat of Carthage 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 February 1905 and a record high of Template:Convert was recorded in August 1934. Average monthly precipitation ranged from Template:Convert in January to Template:Convert in May.<ref name="weather"/>

Major highways

Adjacent counties

Lee County, Iowa - northwest
Henderson County - northeast
McDonough County - east
Schuyler County - southeast
Adams County - south
Lewis County, Missouri - southwest
Clark County, Missouri - west

Demographics

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As of the 2010 United States census, there were 19,104 people, 8,040 households, and 5,427 families residing in the county.<ref name="census-dp1">Template:Cite web</ref> The population density was Template:Convert. There were 9,274 housing units at an average density of Template:Convert.<ref name="census-density">Template:Cite web</ref> The racial makeup of the county was 98.0% white, 0.3% black or African American, 0.2% Asian, 0.2% American Indian, 0.1% Pacific islander, 0.3% from other races, and 0.9% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 1.0% of the population.<ref name="census-dp1"/> In terms of ancestry, 34.7% were German, 13.8% were English, 13.2% were American, and 12.1% were Irish.<ref name="census-dp2">Template:Cite web</ref>

Of the 8,040 households, 27.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.3% were married couples living together, 8.3% had a female householder with no husband present, 32.5% were non-families, and 28.2% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.35 and the average family size was 2.85. The median age was 44.6 years.<ref name="census-dp1"/>

The median income for a household in the county was $42,857 and the median income for a family was $55,162. Males had a median income of $41,609 versus $27,648 for females. The per capita income for the county was $22,885. About 8.9% of families and 12.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 17.8% of those under age 18 and 9.9% of those age 65 or over.<ref name="census-dp3">Template:Cite web</ref>

Politics

Hancock County is in Illinois's 15th Congressional District and is currently represented by Republican Mary Miller. For the Illinois House of Representatives, the county is in the 94th district and is represented by Republican Randy Frese. The county is in the 47th district of the Illinois Senate, and is represented by Republican Jil Tracy.

Communities

Forts

Fort Johnson<ref name="warsawilparks.com">Template:Cite web</ref>
Fort Edwards<ref name="warsawilparks.com"/>

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Townships

Hancock County is divided into twenty-four townships:

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Education

The following is a list of all school districts with any territory in Hancock County, no matter how slight, even if the schools and/or administrative headquarters are in other counties.<ref>Template:Cite map - Text list</ref>

K-12:

Community Unit School District 4
Hamilton Community Consolidated School District 328
Nauvoo-Colusa Community Unit School District 325 - A K-12 district, but it has an arrangement with Warsaw district where Nauvoo-Colusa sends its high schoolers to Warsaw while Warsaw sends its junior high school students to Nauvoo-Colusa<ref name=Endres>Template:Cite news</ref>
Southeastern Community Unit School District 337
Warsaw Community Unit School District 316 - A K-12 district, but it has an arrangement with Warsaw district where Warsaw sends its junior high school students to Nauvoo-Colusa while Nauvoo-Colusa sends its high schoolers to Warsaw<ref name=Endres/>
West Prairie Community Unit School District 103

Secondary:

Illini West High School District 307

Elementary:

References

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External links

Office site

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