Henry County, Illinois
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Henry County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. The 2020 United States census, listed its population at 49,284.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Its county seat is Cambridge.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Henry County is included in the Davenport-Moline-Rock Island, IA-IL Metropolitan Statistical Area.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
History
[edit]Henry County was formed on January 13, 1825, out of Fulton County, Illinois. It is named for Revolutionary War figure Patrick Henry.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The county was settled by people from New England and western New York, descendants of English Puritans who settled New England in the colonial era. The New England settlers founded the five towns of Andover, Wethersfield, Geneseo, Morristown and La Grange.<ref>The expansion of New England: the spread of New England settlement and institutions to the Mississippi River, 1620-1865, pp. 215-216</ref>
The settlement of Cambridge came about in 1843, when the owner of the land in that area (Rev. Ithamar Pillsbury) dedicated a section of his properties to a town council; lots were sold to incoming settlers, and construction of the town proper began on June 9, 1843. The incoming "Yankee" settlers made Henry County culturally similar to early New England culture.<ref>History Henry County, Illinois H.F. Kett & Company (1877) pp. 177-178</ref><ref>The expansion of New England: the spread of New England settlement and institutions to the Mississippi River, 1620-1865 by Louis Kimball Matthews, pp. 215-216</ref>
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Henry County from the time of its creation to 1827
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The county between 1827 and 1831
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Henry between 1831 and 1836
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Henry in 1836, after Whiteside County was created
Geography
[edit]According to the US Census Bureau, the county has a total area of Template:Convert, of which Template:Convert is land and Template:Convert (0.3%) is water.<ref name=CD/> It is the 29th largest of Illinois' 102 counties. The area is fairly flat, with elevations ranging from 650 feet above sea level in the northwest to 850 in the southeast. About Template:Convert or 86.7% of the county's land area, is used for agriculture.<ref>Henry County website</ref>
Climate and weather
[edit]Template:Climate chart In recent years, average temperatures in the county seat of Cambridge 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 1996 and a record high of Template:Convert was recorded in July 1983. Average monthly precipitation ranged from Template:Convert in January to Template:Convert in August.<ref name=WX/>
Major highways
[edit]- File:I-74.svg Interstate 74
- File:I-80.svg Interstate 80
- File:I-280.svg Interstate 280
- File:US 6.svg U.S. Highway 6
- File:US 34.svg U.S. Highway 34
- File:US 150.svg U.S. Highway 150
- File:Illinois 17.svg Illinois Route 17
- File:Illinois 78.svg Illinois Route 78
- File:Illinois 81.svg Illinois Route 81
- File:Illinois 82.svg Illinois Route 82
- File:Illinois 84.svg Illinois Route 84
- File:Illinois 91.svg Illinois Route 91
- File:Illinois 92.svg Illinois Route 92
Adjacent counties
[edit]- Rock Island County - northwest
- Whiteside County - northeast
- Bureau County - east
- Stark County - southeast
- Knox County - south
- Mercer County - west
Demographics
[edit]Template:US Census population Template:Stack
As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 50,486 people, 20,373 households, and 14,149 families residing in the county.<ref name=DP1>Template:Cite web</ref> The population density was Template:Convert. There were 22,161 housing units at an average density of Template:Convert.<ref name=CD>Template:Cite web</ref> The racial makeup of the county was 94.8% white, 1.6% black or African American, 0.4% Asian, 0.2% American Indian, 1.6% from other races, and 1.4% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 4.8% of the population.<ref name=DP1/> In terms of ancestry, 30.0% were German, 14.6% were Irish, 12.3% were Swedish, 11.5% were English, and 7.2% were American.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Of the 20,373 households, 31.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.9% were married couples living together, 9.5% had a female householder with no husband present, 30.6% were non-families, and 26.1% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.44 and the average family size was 2.92. The median age was 41.8 years.<ref name=DP1/>
The median income for a household in the county was $49,164 and the median income for a family was $61,467. Males had a median income of $44,589 versus $30,992 for females. The per capita income for the county was $24,915. About 6.8% of families and 10.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 16.9% of those under age 18 and 8.7% of those age 65 or over.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Communities
[edit]Cities
[edit]Towns
[edit]Villages
[edit]Unincorporated communities
[edit]- Aliceville
- Briar Bluff
- Brook Lawn
- Dayton
- German Corner
- Green River
- Green Rock
- Hickory Hills
- Level Acres
- Lynn Center
- Morristown
- Nekoma
- Opheim
- Osco
- Shady Beach
- Sunny Hill
- Sunny Hill Estates
- Timber Ridge
- Ulah
- Warner
- Woodcrest
Former communities
[edit]Townships
[edit]- Alba
- Andover
- Annawan
- Atkinson
- Burns
- Cambridge
- Clover
- Colona
- Cornwall
- Edford
- Galva
- Geneseo
- Hanna
- Kewanee
- Loraine
- Lynn
- Munson
- Osco
- Oxford
- Phenix
- Weller
- Western
- Wethersfield
- Yorktown
Politics
[edit]Template:Unreferenced section Henry County's political history is fairly typical of many Yankee-settled rural counties in Illinois. After being largely Democratic in its first few elections, the county turned powerfully Republican for the 110 years following the formation of that party. The only time it did not vote Republican between 1856 and 1960 was in 1912 when the GOP was mortally divided and Progressive Theodore Roosevelt won a majority of the county's ballots. In 1964, when the Republican Party nominated the Southern-oriented Barry Goldwater, Henry County voted Democratic for the first time since 1852, but as was typical for Yankee counties it returned to the Republicans with the selection of the more moderate Richard Nixon.
In the 1980s, the transition of the Republican Party into a party largely based around Southern Evangelicals severely alienated its historic Yankee base: Henry County turned to Democrat Michael Dukakis in 1988, and voted Democratic in every election between 1988 and 2012 except that of 2004 when George W. Bush carried the county by 5.1 percent. However, concern with unemployment and trade deals in the “Rust Belt” resulted in a powerful swing to Republican Donald Trump in 2016 – the worst Democratic result in the county since Jimmy Carter in 1980. In 2020, Trump built on his win in 2016, capturing 60% of the vote - the highest Republican percentage in 40 years.
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See also
[edit]References
[edit]External links
[edit]- Template:Official website
- Template:GNIS
- Template:Usurped
- Illinois Ancestors Henry County
- Henry County Historical Society
Template:Geographic Location Template:Henry County, Illinois Template:Quad Cities Template:Illinois Template:Authority control Template:Coord