Jersey County is a

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

located in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

. At the 2020 census, it had a population of 21,512. The

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...

and largest community is Jerseyville, with a population of 8,337 in 2010. The county's smallest incorporated community is Otterville, with a population of 87. Jersey County is included in the

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

, MO-IL

Metropolitan Statistical Area In the United States, a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) is a geographical region with a relatively high population density at its core and close economic ties throughout the area. Such regions are neither legally Incorporated town, incorporate ...

History

Jersey County lies just northeast of where the great

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

and

rivers meet. It is the former home of the Kickapoo,

Menomini The Menominee (; mez, omǣqnomenēwak meaning ''"Menominee People"'', also spelled Menomini, derived from the Ojibwe language word for "Wild Rice People"; known as ''Mamaceqtaw'', "the people", in the Menominee language) are a federally recog ...

Potawatomi The Potawatomi , also spelled Pottawatomi and Pottawatomie (among many variations), are a Native American people of the western Great Lakes region, upper Mississippi River and Great Plains. They traditionally speak the Potawatomi language, a m ...

, and Illiniwek Confederation American Indians. The first European explorers to visit the area,

Father Marquette Jacques Marquette S.J. (June 1, 1637 – May 18, 1675), sometimes known as Père Marquette or James Marquette, was a French Jesuit missionary who founded Michigan's first European settlement, Sault Sainte Marie, and later founded Saint Igna ...

and

Louis Jolliet Louis Jolliet (September 21, 1645after May 1700) was a French-Canadian explorer known for his discoveries in North America. In 1673, Jolliet and Jacques Marquette, a Jesuit Catholic priest and missionary, were the first non-Natives to explore an ...

, arrived in 1673,Jersey County description & history
, retrieved August 24, 2007 where they encountered the fearsome painting of the

Piasa The Piasa ( ) or Piasa Bird is a creature from Native American mythology depicted in one of two murals painted by Native Americans on cliffsides above the Mississippi River. Its original location was at the end of a chain of limestone bluffs in ...

bird. The present day

Pere Marquette State Park Pere Marquette State Park is an protected area in southwestern Jersey County, Illinois, United States. It is located near the city of Grafton, Illinois, at the confluence of the Mississippi River and the Illinois River. The park is located on ...

, located near Grafton, is named in Father Marquette's honor, and a monument to him is located at the park. Jersey County was founded on February 28, 1839, and was formed out of Greene County. The county was named for the state of

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

, from which many of the early settlers emigrated - which was itself named for the

Channel Island The Channel Islands ( nrf, Îles d'la Manche; french: îles Anglo-Normandes or ''îles de la Manche'') are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two Crown Dependencies: the Bailiwick of Jersey, ...

Jersey Jersey ( , ; nrf, Jèrri, label=Jèrriais ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey (french: Bailliage de Jersey, links=no; Jèrriais: ), is an island country and self-governing Crown Dependencies, Crown Dependency near the coast of north-west F ...

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

. The area quickly evolved into several small agricultural communities. As the area soon began to flourish, a county government was established and a courthouse was built in Jerseyville, the county seat. The Jersey County Courthouse was designed by architect Henry Elliott who also designed the courthouses in nearby Greene County,

Edgar County, Illinois Edgar County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 16,866. Its county seat is Paris. History Edgar County was formed out of Clark County in 1823. It was named for John Edgar ...

DeWitt County, Illinois DeWitt County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. As of the 2010 census, the population was 16,561. Its county seat is Clinton. The county was formed on March 1, 1839, from Macon and McLean counties. The county was named in ho ...

(later demolished in 1987) and

Pike County, Illinois Pike County is a county in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2010 United States Census, it had a population of 16,430. Its county seat is Pittsfield. History Pike County was formed in January 1821 out of Madison County. It was named ...

. The cornerstone for the courthouse was laid on July 4, 1893. The Romanesque Revival style courthouse is a magnificent architectural structure of limestone quarried from the nearby town of Grafton, Illinois. File:Jersey County Illinois 1839.png, Jersey County at the time of its creation in 1839

Recent history

Today, while the county maintains its agricultural base, it is also within commuting distance of jobs and industry in

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

and the surrounding area. A large portion of the population works outside of Jersey County and benefits from being "Near the crowd, but not in it.", the official slogan of th
Jersey County Business Association's
advertising campaign. The bordering rivers play an important part in Jersey County's economy by supporting agricultural producers and

agribusiness Agribusiness is the industry, enterprises, and the field of study of value chains in agriculture and in the bio-economy, in which case it is also called bio-business or bio-enterprise. The primary goal of agribusiness is to maximize profit w ...

, and by creating a strong tourist market. Education, manufacturing, and retail are also among the county's largest industries.

Geography

According to the

U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...

, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (2.1%) is water. Jersey County is bordered by three bodies of water: the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...

to the south, the

Illinois River The Illinois River ( mia, Inoka Siipiiwi) is a principal tributary of the Mississippi River and is approximately long. Located in the U.S. state of Illinois, it has a drainage basin of . The Illinois River begins at the confluence of the D ...

to the west, and

Macoupin Creek Macoupin Creek is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed May 13, 2011 tributary of the Illinois River, which it joins near the village of Hardin, Illinois. The word ''macoup ...

to the northwest.

Climate

Typically, the county's climate reflects most

Midwest The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four Census Bureau Region, census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of ...

areas, located in the transitional zone between the

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and freezing ...

type and the

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a zone of climate characterized by hot and humid summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between latitudes 25° and 40° ...

type (

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author and ...

''Dfa'' and ''Cfa'', respectively), with neither large mountains nor large bodies of water to moderate its temperature. Spring is the wettest season and produces severe weather ranging from tornadoes to snow or ice storms. Summers are hot and humid, and the humidity often makes the

heat index The heat index (HI) is an index that combines air temperature and relative humidity, in shaded areas, to posit a human-perceived equivalent temperature, as how hot it would feel if the humidity were some other value in the shade. The result is als ...

rise to temperatures feeling well above . Fall is mild with lower humidity and can produce intermittent bouts of heavy rainfall with the first

snow flurries A snow flurry is a light snowfall that results in little or no snow accumulation. The US National Weather Service defines snow flurries as intermittent light snow that produces no measurable precipitation (trace amounts). In contrast, bursts of s ...

usually forming in late November. Winters can be cold at times with periodic light snow and temperatures below freezing. In recent years, average temperatures in Jerseyville have ranged from a low of in January to a high of in July. The record low temperature of was recorded in January 1977 and the record high temperature of was recorded in July 1954. Average monthly precipitation ranges from in January to in April.

Major highways

U.S. Route 67 U.S. Route 67 is a major north–south U.S. highway which extends for 1,560 miles (2,511 km) in the Central United States. The southern terminus of the route is at the United States-Mexico border in Presidio, Texas, where it continues so ...

Illinois Route 3 Illinois Route 3 (IL 3) is a major north–south arterial state highway in southwestern Illinois. It has its southern terminus at Cairo Junction (about north of Cairo) at the intersection of U.S. Route 51 (US 51) and Illinois Ro ...

Illinois Route 16 Illinois Route 16 (IL 16) is an east–west highway in central Illinois. Its western terminus is at the Joe Page Bridge over the Illinois River in Hardin, while its eastern terminus is at Paris at Illinois Route 1 and U.S. Route 150, with ...

Illinois Route 100 Illinois Route 100 (IL-100) is a state highway in the southwest Illinois. It generally parallels the Illinois River. Starting in downtown Alton, it trends northward to Buckheart Township near Canton. It makes up much of the Illinois River Roa ...

Illinois Route 109 Illinois Route 109 (IL 109) is a minor north–south state road in southwest Illinois. It runs from Illinois Route 3 east of Newbern north to U.S. Route 67 in Jerseyville. Route description Illinois 109 is a two-lane, undivided surfac ...

Illinois Route 111 Illinois Route 111 (IL 111) is an north–south state highway in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of Illinois. It travels from Short Street (near Lake Drive and northwest of Interstate 255) in Centreville to IL 104 ...

Illinois Route 267 Illinois Route 267 (IL 267) is a north–south highway in the U.S. state of Illinois. It runs from U.S. Route 67 (US 67) and Illinois Route 111 in Godfrey north to Illinois Route 104 and Business Interstate 72 (abbreviated BL 72) ...

Adjacent counties

State protected areas

* Mississippi River State Fish and Wildlife Area *

National protected areas

Two Rivers National Wildlife Refuge The Two Rivers National Wildlife Refuge is located on the Illinois River and the Mississippi River in parts of Calhoun County, Illinois, Calhoun, Jersey County, Illinois, Jersey, and Greene County, Illinois, Greene counties in Illinois, and St. Cha ...

(eastern portion)

Demographics

As of the

2010 United States Census The United States census of 2010 was the twenty-third United States national census. National Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2010. The census was taken via mail-in citizen self-reporting, with enumerators servin ...

, there were 22,985 people, 8,828 households, and 6,228 families residing in the county. The population density was . There were 9,848 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 97.6% white, 0.4% black or African American, 0.3% Asian, 0.3% American Indian, 0.2% from other races, and 1.2% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 1.0% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 42.8% were

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

, 14.7% were

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

, 10.6% were

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

, and 8.6% were

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

. Of the 8,828 households, 31.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.4% were married couples living together, 9.7% had a female householder with no husband present, 29.5% were non-families, and 25.0% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.51 and the average family size was 2.98. The median age was 40.5 years. The median income for a household in the county was $53,470 and the median income for a family was $64,773. Males had a median income of $48,750 versus $31,789 for females. The per capita income for the county was $24,368. About 5.6% of families and 8.5% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...

, including 8.4% of those under age 18 and 7.1% of those age 65 or over.

Communities

Municipality map of Jersey County, Illinois

Cities

* Grafton * Jerseyville

Villages

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

* Elsah *

Fidelity Fidelity is the quality of faithfulness or loyalty. Its original meaning regarded duty in a broader sense than the related concept of ''fealty''. Both derive from the Latin word ''fidēlis'', meaning "faithful or loyal". In the City of London f ...

* Fieldon

Town

* Otterville

Unincorporated communities

* Beltrees *

Chautauqua Chautauqua ( ) was an adult education and social movement in the United States, highly popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Chautauqua assemblies expanded and spread throughout rural America until the mid-1920s. The Chautauqua bro ...

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

Dow Dow or DOW may refer to: Business * Dow Jones Industrial Average, or simply the Dow, a stock market index * Dow Inc., an American commodity chemical company ** Dow Chemical Company, a subsidiary, an American multinational chemical corporation ...

* East Newbern * Kemper * Lake Piasa * Lockhaven * McClusky * Newbern *

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House ...

* Nutwood * Reardon *

Reddish Reddish is an area in Metropolitan Borough of Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. south-east of Manchester city centre. At the 2011 Census, the population was 28,052. Historically part of Lancashire, Reddish grew rapidly in the Industrial ...

* Rosedale * Spankey

Townships

Jersey County is divided into eleven

townships A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Ca ...

: * Elsah Township * English Township * Fidelity Township * Jersey Township * Mississippi Township * Otter Creek Township * Piasa Township * Quarry Township * Richwood Township * Rosedale Township * Ruyle Township

Population ranking

The population ranking of the following table is based on the 2020 census of Jersey County. † ''county seat''

Education

Unified school districts

Alton Community Unit School District 11 Alton Community Unit School District #11 in Madison County, Illinois is a public school district consisting of seven elementary schools, one high school, one middle school, an early childhood center, and an alternative education school. They hav ...

- serves a very small portion of southern Jersey County (east of Elsah), along with northwestern Madison County.
Greenfield Community Unit School District 10
- serves a very small portion of northeastern Jersey County (west of Kemper), along with eastern Greene County. *

Jersey Community Unit School District 100 Jersey Community Unit School District 100 is a public K-12 school district based in Jerseyville, Illinois. The school district consists of five attendance centers in two municipalities, serving students in most of Jersey County, Illinois, and ...

- serves most of Jersey County, and a small portion of southern Greene County.
Southwestern Community Unit School District 9
- serves the northeastern and southeastern portions of Jersey County, along with southwestern Macoupin County.

High schools

Jersey Community High School Jersey Community High School is a public high school in Jerseyville, Illinois. It is part of the Jersey Community Unit School District 100. Jersey Community High School has an enrollment of approximately 1,100 students and currently employs 96 tea ...

, located in Jerseyville.

Colleges and universities

Principia College Principia College (Principia or Prin) is a private liberal arts college in Elsah, Illinois. It was founded in 1912 by Mary Kimball Morgan with the purpose of "serving the Cause of Christian Science." "Although the College is not affiliated wit ...

, located near Elsah.

Government

Local

The Republican Party holds five of eight countywide elected positions as of 2022 as well as an eleven to one majority on the county board. Jersey County is part of Regional Office of Education #40 which includes neighboring Macoupin,

Calhoun John C. Calhoun (1782–1850) was the 7th vice president of the United States. Calhoun can also refer to: Surname * Calhoun (surname) Inhabited places in the United States *Calhoun, Georgia *Calhoun, Illinois * Calhoun, Kansas * Calhoun, Kentuc ...

and

Greene Greene may refer to: Places United States *Greene, Indiana, an unincorporated community *Greene, Iowa, a city *Greene, Maine, a town ** Greene (CDP), Maine, in the town of Greene *Greene (town), New York ** Greene (village), New York, in the town ...

counties. The office operates a facility in Jerseyville.

State

Jersey County is divided into two legislative districts in the

Illinois House of Representatives The Illinois House of Representatives is the lower house of the Illinois General Assembly. The body was created by the first Illinois Constitution adopted in 1818. The House under the current constitution as amended in 1980 consists of 118 re ...

: * District 100 - Currently represented by

C. D. Davidsmeyer C.D. Davidsmeyer (born 1979) is a member of the Illinois House of Representatives who has served in the Illinois House of Representatives since his appointment in December 2012. He represents the 100th district which includes all or parts of C ...

(R-

Jacksonville Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...

) and consists of the majority of the county and includes the cities of Jerseyville and Grafton. * District 111 - Currently represented by

Amy Elik Amy Elik is a Republican member of the Illinois House from the 111th district since January 13, 2021. The 111th district, located in the Metro East, includes all or parts of Alton, Bethalto, East Alton, Edwardsville, Elsah, Godfrey, Grani ...

(R- Fosterburg) and consists of the southern portion of the county and includes the village of Elsah. The county is also divided into two legislative districts in the

Illinois Senate The Illinois Senate is the Upper house, upper chamber of the Illinois General Assembly, the legislative branch of the government of the U.S. state, State of Illinois in the United States. The body was created by the first state constitution adop ...

: * District 50 - Currently represented by

Steve McClure Steve McClure (born 25 July 1970) is a British rock climber and climbing author, who is widely regarded as Britain's leading and most important sport climber for a period that extends for over two decades, starting from the late 1990s. In 2017, h ...

(R-

Springfield Springfield may refer to: * Springfield (toponym), the place name in general Places and locations Australia * Springfield, New South Wales (Central Coast) * Springfield, New South Wales (Snowy Monaro Regional Council) * Springfield, Queenslan ...

) and consists of the majority of the county and includes the cities of Jerseyville and Grafton. * District 56 - Currently represented by Kristopher Tharp (D-

Wood River Wood River may refer to: Rivers In Canada * Wood River (British Columbia), a tributary of the Columbia River via Kinbasket Lake * Wood River (Saskatchewan), a river in south-west Saskatchewan In Ireland * Wood River (County Clare), Kilru ...

) and consists of the southern portion of the county and includes the village of Elsah.

Federal

Jersey County's federal political history is fairly typical of “anti-Yankee” Southern Illinois counties. It voted solidly Democratic until

Warren G. Harding Warren Gamaliel Harding (November 2, 1865 – August 2, 1923) was the 29th president of the United States, serving from 1921 until his death in 1923. A member of the Republican Party, he was one of the most popular sitting U.S. presidents. A ...

carried the county in his record 1920 landslide. It voted Republican again in

Herbert Hoover Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964) was an American politician who served as the 31st president of the United States from 1929 to 1933 and a member of the Republican Party, holding office during the onset of the Gr ...

's landslide of 1920 and 1928, but otherwise was firmly Democratic until

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, when opposition to US involvement turned the county to

Wendell Willkie Wendell Lewis Willkie (born Lewis Wendell Willkie; February 18, 1892 – October 8, 1944) was an American lawyer, corporate executive and the 1940 Republican nominee for President. Willkie appealed to many convention delegates as the Republican ...

and then

Thomas E. Dewey Thomas Edmund Dewey (March 24, 1902 – March 16, 1971) was an American lawyer, prosecutor, and politician who served as the 47th governor of New York from 1943 to 1954. He was the Republican candidate for president in 1944 and 1948: although ...

. Between 1948 and 2004, Jersey County became something of a

bellwether A bellwether is a leader or an indicator of trends.bellwether
" ''Cambridge Dictionary''. Ret ...

county, voting for every winning Presidential candidate except in the Catholicism-influenced 1960 election, and that of 1988 which was heavily influenced by a major Midwestern drought. Disagreement with the Democratic Party’s liberal views on social issues since the 1990s has caused a powerful swing back to the Republicans in the past quarter-century. As is typical of the

Upland South The Upland South and Upper South are two overlapping cultural and geographic subregions in the inland part of the Southern and lower Midwestern United States. They differ from the Deep South and Atlantic coastal plain by terrain, history, econom ...

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...

in 2016 did far worse than any previous Democrat, while Joe Biden performed marginally better in the 2020 election. Jersey County is located in

Illinois's 15th congressional district The 15th congressional district of Illinois is currently located in central Illinois. It was located in eastern and southeastern Illinois until 2022. It is currently represented by Republican Mary Miller. With a Cook Partisan Voting Index r ...

and is currently represented by Mary Miller (R-

Oakland Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay A ...

) in the

U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

References

Jersey County, Illinois Jersey County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. At the 2020 census, it had a population of 21,512. The county seat and largest community is Jerseyville, with a population of 8,337 in 2010. The county's smallest incorporated c ...

Illinois counties on the Mississippi River