Henry County, Illinois

History

Henry County was formed on January 13, 1825 out of Fulton County, Illinois. It is named in honor of Patrick Henry, Revolutionary War firebrand and champion of individual rights, to whom the slogan "give me liberty, or give me death" is attributed. The county was originally settled by "Yankees" (immigrants from New England and the western part of New York descended from the English Puritans whose ancestors settled New England in the colonial era). The New England settlers founded the five towns of Andover, Wethersfield, Geneseo, Morristown and La Grange. Before 1843, the land where Cambridge is currently located was the private property of a man named Rev. Ithamar Pillsbury, who was very well known amongst the Yankee settlers who were moving to Henry County in large numbers at that time. Reverend Pillsbury deeded a large portion of his land to the town council and they immediately agreed it was a good place to lay out a town. Lots were sold to incoming migrants and on June 9 of 1843 (after some quarreling among the town founders about how to finance it) construction began on the town. Roads were laid out, post routes established, public buildings erected and people were invited to move there. The original settlers were entirely of New England origins or were Yankees from upstate New York whose families had moved to that place from New England only one generation earlier, in the aftermath of the Revolutionary War. This resulted in Henry County being culturally very contiguous with early New England culture.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 826 square miles (2,140 km²), of which 823 square miles (2,130 km²) is land and 2.7 square miles (7.0 km²) (0.3%) is water. 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. The land is mostly used for agriculture, about 456,596 acres (1,847.78 km²) or 86.7% of the county's land area. [1].

Climate and weather

In recent years, average temperatures in the county seat of Cambridge have ranged from a low of 13 °F (−11 °C) in January to a high of 86 °F (30 °C) in July, although a record low of −24 °F (−31 °C) was recorded in February 1996 and a record high of 103 °F (39 °C) was recorded in July 1983. Average monthly precipitation ranged from 1.52 inches (39 mm) in January to 4.32 inches (110 mm) in August.

Adjacent counties

Demographics

As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 50,486 people, 20,373 households, and 14,149 families residing in the county. The population density was 61.3 inhabitants per square mile (23.7/km²). There were 22,161 housing units at an average density of 26.9 per square mile (10.4/km²). 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. 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.

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.

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.

Cities

Towns

Townships

Henry County is divided into twenty-four townships: