Adams County, Illinois

Adams County, Illinois
Location in the state of Illinois
Illinois's location in the U.S.
Founded	1825
Seat	Quincy
Largest city	Quincy
Area  - Total  - Land  - Water	871.34 sq mi (2,257 km²) 855.20 sq mi (2,215 km²) 16.14 sq mi (42 km²), 1.85%
Population  - (2010)  - Density	67,103 80/sq mi (31/km²)
Time zone	Central: UTC-6/-5
Website	www.co.adams.il.us

Adams County is the westernmost county of the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 67,103, which is a decrease of 1.7% from 68,277 in 2000.^[1] Its county seat is Quincy.^[2]

Adams County is part of the Quincy, IL–MO Micropolitan Statistical Area.

Geography

According to the 2010 census, the county has a total area of 871.34 square miles (2,256.8 km²), of which 855.20 square miles (2,215.0 km²) (or 98.15%) is land and 16.14 square miles (41.8 km²) (or 1.85%) is water.^[3]

Adjacent counties

• Hancock County - north
• Brown County - east
• Schuyler County - east
• Pike County - south
• Marion County, Missouri - west
• Lewis County, Missouri - west

Major highways

• Interstate 172
• US Route 24
• US Route 36
• Illinois Route 57
• Illinois Route 61
• Illinois Route 94
• Illinois Route 96
• Illinois Route 104
• Illinois Route 336

National protected area

• Great River National Wildlife Refuge (part)

History

Adams County was formed in 1825 out of Pike County. Its name is in honor of the sixth President of the United States, John Quincy Adams.

• 

  When it was created, Hancock County was temporarily attached to Adams until it could organize a county government.^[4]

• 

  Adams County reduced to its current borders in 1829.

Demographics

2000 Census Age Pyramid for Adams County.

As of the census^[5] of 2000, there were 68,277 people, 26,860 households, and 17,996 families residing in the county. The population density was 80 people per square mile (31/km²). There were 29,386 housing units at an average density of 34 per square mile (13/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 95.10% White, 3.07% Black or African American, 0.16% Native American, 0.40% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.31% from other races, and 0.95% from two or more races. 0.83% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 48.4% were of German, 22.4% English and 8.6% Irish ancestry according to Census 2000. 97.2% spoke English and 1.3% Spanish as their first language.

There were 26,860 households out of which 31.10% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.20% were married couples living together, 9.80% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.00% were non-families. 28.50% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.20% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.44 and the average family size was 3.00.

In the county the population was spread out with 24.90% under the age of 18, 8.80% from 18 to 24, 26.40% from 25 to 44, 22.40% from 45 to 64, and 17.60% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 92.70 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.70 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $34,784, and the median income for a family was $44,133. Males had a median income of $31,171 versus $21,083 for females. The per capita income for the county was $17,894. About 7.40% of families and 10.00% of the population were below the poverty line, including 12.00% of those under age 18 and 8.90% of those age 65 or over.

Politics

Adams County, positioned in a primarily rural section of Illinois is culturally isolated from other regions in the state, and therefore is more conservative than most of the state's counties. Quincy, the county seat, holds a high number of social conservative catholics^[6] and likewise is the home to the campus of Quincy University, a private catholic liberal arts college, and the Western Catholic Union.

In the 2008 Presidential election, the county supported Republican candidate John McCain 61-38% over the state's favorite son, Barack Obama.^[7]

Presidential Election Results (Adams County, IL):1960–present (U.S. winner is represented by (W)), IL winner is represented by (I)), Adams County winner is represented by italicized number of votes received in the county

Communities

City

• Quincy: county seat

Villages

• Camp Point
• Clayton
• Coatsburg
• Columbus
• Golden
• La Prairie
• Liberty
• Lima
• Loraine
• Mendon
• Payson
• Plainville
• Ursa

Adams County, Illinois.

Unincorporated

• Beverly
• Bigneck
• Burton
• Fall Creek
• Fowler
• Hickory Grove
• Kellerville
• Kingston (2 villages in Illinois share this name)
• Marblehead
• Marcelline
• Meyer
• North Quincy
• Paloma
• Richfield

Townships

Adams County is divided into twenty-three townships:

Attractions

• Adams County Fair [2]
• Bayview Bridge
• Burton Cave [3]
• Fall Creek Scenic Park
• Golden Windmill [4]
• John Wood Mansion
• Saukenauk Scout Reservation [5]
• Siloam Springs State Park
• Spirit Knob Winery [6]
• Villa Katharine [7]
• Wavering Park [8]

Education

Unified school districts

• Central Community Unit School District 3
• Liberty Community Unit School District 2
• Mendon Community Unit School District 4
• Payson Community Unit School District 1
• Quincy Public School District 172

Private schools

• Blessed Sacrament Catholic School [9]
• Chaddock School [10]
• Quincy Christian School
• Quincy Notre Dame High School
• St. Dominic Catholic School [11]
• St. Francis Solanus Catholic School [12]
• St. James Lutheran School [13]
• St. Peter Catholic School [14]

Colleges and universities

• Blessing-Rieman College of Nursing
• John Wood Community College
• Quincy University

Climate and weather

In recent years, average temperatures in the county seat of Quincy have ranged from a low of 16 °F (−9 °C) in January to a high of 88 °F (31 °C) in July, although a record low of −21 °F (−29 °C) was recorded in January 1979 and a record high of 105 °F (41 °C) was recorded in July 2005. Average monthly precipitation ranged from 1.36 inches (35 mm) in January to 4.61 inches (117 mm) in May.^[11]

See also

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

References

1. ^ "Adams County QuickFacts". United States Census Bureau. http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/17/17001.html. Retrieved 2011-11-05. 
2. ^ "Find a County". National Association of Counties. http://www.naco.org/Counties/Pages/FindACounty.aspx. Retrieved 2011-06-07. 
3. ^ "Census 2010 U.S. Gazetteer Files: Counties". United States Census. http://www.census.gov/geo/www/gazetteer/files/Gaz_counties_national.txt. Retrieved 2011-11-05. 
4. ^ White, Jesse. Origin and Evolution of Illinois Counties. State of Illinois, March 2010. [1]
5. ^ "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31. 
6. ^ http://www.thearda.com/mapsReports/reports/counties/17001_2000.asp
7. ^ "Local and National Election Results - Election Center 2008 - Elections & Politics from CNN.com". CNN. http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/results/individual/#mapPIL. 
8. ^ "CNN.com Election 2004". CNN. http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2004/pages/results/states/IL/P/00/county.000.html. 
9. ^ http://www.uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/statesub.php?year=2000&fips=17001&f=0&off=0&elect=0
10. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j} http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/
11. ^ ^{a b} "Monthly Averages for Quincy, Illinois". The Weather Channel. http://www.weather.com/weather/wxclimatology/monthly/graph/USIL0974. Retrieved 2011-01-27. 

External links

• Adams County GIS Website
• Register of Historic Places
• Adams County Website
• Liberty School History
• Great River Genealogical Society
• United States Census Bureau 2007 TIGER/Line Shapefiles
• United States Board on Geographic Names (GNIS)
• United States National Atlas

		Hancock County
	Marion County, Missouri and Lewis County, Missouri		Brown County and Schuyler County
		Adams County, Illinois
		Pike County

v d e Municipalities and communities of Adams County, Illinois, United States County seat: Quincy City Quincy Villages Camp Point Clayton Coatsburg Columbus Golden La Prairie Liberty Lima Loraine Mendon Payson Plainville Ursa Townships Beverly Burton Camp Point Clayton Columbus Concord Ellington Fall Creek Gilmer Honey Creek Houston Keene Liberty Lima McKee Melrose Mendon Northeast Payson Richfield Riverside Ursa Unincorporated communities Adams Beverly Bigneck Blacks Bloomfield Burton Chatton Chestline Country Meadows Ewbanks Fall Creek Fowler Hickory Grove Kellerville Kingston Marblehead Marcelline Meyer North Quincy Paloma Richfield Rock Creek Sheridan Estates Spring Valley Woodville

v d e  State of Illinois Springfield (capital) Topics Index Buildings and structures Communications Culture Delegations Economy Education Environment Geography Government Health History Music People Portal Society Sports Tourism Transportation Windmills Regions American Bottom Central Illinois Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area Chicago metropolitan area Driftless Area Forgottonia Fox Valley Illinois–Indiana–Kentucky Tri-State Area Metro East Mississippi Alluvial Plain North Shore Northern Illinois Northwestern Illinois Peoria metropolitan area Quad Cities River Bend Rockford metropolitan area Southern Illinois Streatorland Wabash Valley Major cities, towns and villages Alton/Granite City/Edwardsville Arlington Heights/Palatine Aurora/Naperville/Oswego/Plainfield Bartlett/Hanover Park/Streamwood Belleville/East St. Louis/Collinsville/O'Fallon Berwyn/Cicero Bloomington/Normal Bolingbrook/Romeoville Buffalo Grove/Wheeling Calumet City Canton Carbondale Carol Stream/Glendale Heights Centralia Champaign/Urbana Charleston/Mattoon Chicago Chicago Heights Crystal Lake/Algonquin Danville Decatur DeKalb/Sycamore Des Plaines/Mount Prospect/Park Ridge Dixon Downers Grove/Woodridge Effingham Elgin/Carpentersville Elmhurst/Lombard/Addison Evanston/Skokie Freeport Galesburg Glenview/Northbrook Harrisburg Jacksonville Joliet Kankakee/Bradley/Bourbonnais Lincoln Macomb Marion/Herrin Moline/East Moline/Rock Island Mount Vernon Mundelein Oak Lawn Oak Park Orland Park/Tinley Park Ottawa/Streator/LaSalle/Peru Peoria/Pekin/East Peoria/Morton Pontiac Quincy Rochelle Rockford/Belvidere/Machesney Park/Loves Park St. Charles Schaumburg/Hoffman Estates/Elk Grove Village Springfield Sterling/Rock Falls Taylorville Waukegan/North Chicago/Gurnee Wheaton Counties Adams Alexander Bond Boone Brown Bureau Calhoun Carroll Cass Champaign Christian Clark Clay Clinton Coles Cook Crawford Cumberland DeKalb DeWitt Douglas DuPage Edgar Edwards Effingham Fayette Ford Franklin Fulton Gallatin Greene Grundy Hamilton Hancock Hardin Henderson Henry Iroquois Jackson Jasper Jefferson Jersey Jo Daviess Johnson Kane Kankakee Kendall Knox LaSalle Lake Lawrence Lee Livingston Logan Macon Macoupin Madison Marion Marshall Mason Massac McDonough McHenry McLean Menard Mercer Monroe Montgomery Morgan Moultrie Ogle Peoria Perry Piatt Pike Pope Pulaski Putnam Randolph Richland Rock Island Saline Sangamon Schuyler Scott Shelby St. Clair Stark Stephenson Tazewell Union Vermilion Wabash Warren Washington Wayne White Whiteside Will Williamson Winnebago Woodford

Coordinates: 39°59′N 91°11′W / 39.99°N 91.19°W / 39.99; -91.19