Ford County, Illinois

Ford County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2020 United States census, it had a population of 13,534.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Its county seat is Paxton.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Ford County was part of the Champaign-Urbana Metropolitan Area until 2018, when the Office of Management and Budget removed the county from the area.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

History

Ford County was formed February 17, 1859, making it Illinois's "newest" county. It was created at the behest of some residents of Vermilion County, who complained to the General Assembly that they lived too far from the county seat. Ford County was named after Thomas Ford, the Governor of Illinois from 1842 to 1846.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

• The creation of Douglas and Ford Counties in 1859 resulted in Illinois's current county map.
  The creation of Douglas and Ford Counties in 1859 resulted in Illinois's current county map.

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 (0.1%) is water.<ref name=CD/>

Climate and weather

Template:Climate chart In recent years, average temperatures in the county seat of Paxton 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 1999 and a record high of Template:Convert was recorded in June 1988. Average monthly precipitation ranged from Template:Convert in February to Template:Convert in May.<ref name=WX/>

Adjacent counties

• Kankakee County – north
• Iroquois County – east
• Vermilion County – southeast
• Champaign County – south
• McLean County – southwest
• Livingston County – west

Transit

• SHOW Bus

Major highways

• File:I-57.svg Interstate 57
• File:US 24.svg US Route 24
• File:US 45.svg US Route 45
• File:Illinois 9.svg Illinois Route 9
• File:Illinois 47.svg Illinois Route 47
• File:Illinois 54.svg Illinois Route 54
• File:Illinois 115.svg Illinois Route 115
• File:Illinois 116.svg Illinois Route 116

Demographics

As of the 2010 United States census, there were 14,081 people, 5,676 households, and 3,798 families living in the county.<ref name="census-dp1">Template:Cite web</ref> The population density was Template:Convert. There were 6,282 housing units at an average density of Template:Convert.<ref name=CD>Template:Cite web</ref> The racial makeup of the county was 97.1% white, 0.6% black or African American, 0.3% Asian, 0.2% American Indian, 0.6% from other races, and 1.1% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 2.1% of the population.<ref name="census-dp1"/> In terms of ancestry, 35.7% were German, 15.5% were Irish, 13.6% were American, and 10.4% were English.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Of the 5,676 households, 30.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.8% were married couples living together, 9.8% had a female householder with no husband present, 33.1% were non-families, and 29.2% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.41 and the average family size was 2.95. The median age was 42.4 years.<ref name="census-dp1"/>

The median income for a household in the county was $48,667 and the median income for a family was $62,819. Males had a median income of $43,849 versus $30,136 for females. The per capita income for the county was $23,401. About 5.4% of families and 8.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 8.3% of those under age 18 and 8.8% of those age 65 or over.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Communities

File:Map of Ford County Illinois.png

Map of Ford County

Cities

• Gibson City
• Paxton

Villages

• Cabery
• Elliott
• Kempton
• Melvin
• Piper City
• Roberts
• Sibley

Unincorporated communities

• Clarence
• Guthrie
• Perdueville
• Stelle

Extinct settlements

• Ten Mile Grove

Townships

• Brenton
• Button
• Dix
• Drummer
• Lyman
• Mona
• Patton
• Peach Orchard
• Pella
• Rogers
• Sullivant
• Wall

Politics

Ford County is one of the state's most consistently Republican counties; since its 1859 organization it has voted for Republican presidential candidates in all but two elections. In 1912, the GOP was divided and Progressive Theodore Roosevelt carried the county over the more conservative official nominee William Howard Taft; in 1932, at the height of the Great Depression, Franklin D. Roosevelt in the first of his four campaigns became and has remained the only Democrat to carry Ford County. Since 1968 no Democratic presidential candidate has topped 36% of the county's vote, and since the county first formed only three Democrats – all in landslide national victories – have managed 40% of Ford County's votes.

After the Libertarian Party's success in the 1998 election for Ford County Sheriff and other countywide offices, it achieved established party status. At the time this made Ford County the only county in Illinois with three established parties. Due to its second place showing over the then-dormant Democratic Party in that election, the Libertarians received the minority party's seat on the Board of Review and one of the five seats on the Sheriff's Merit Commission.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> This status was lost by 2002 after the Libertarian Party failed to field any candidates in the 2002 general election.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

President Gerald Ford visited Ford County on October 24, 1974, to mark the retirement of Congressman Leslie C. Arends of Melvin who served in Congress for 40 years, including over 30 years as Republican Minority Whip.<ref>Welcome to Paxton Template:Webarchive, accessed February 15, 2011.</ref>

See also

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

References

• United States Census Bureau 2007 TIGER/Line Shapefiles
• United States Board on Geographic Names (GNIS)
• United States National Atlas

External links

• History of Ford County Template:Webarchive - Information from Centurama Celebrating The First 100 Years of Ford County, Illinois 1859-1959