Randolph County is a county 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 sov ...

of Illinois. According to the 2020 census, it had a population of 30,163. Its county seat is

Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...

. Owing to its role in the state's history, the county motto is "Where Illinois Began." It contains the historically important village of Kaskaskia, Illinois's first capital. The county is part of

Southern Illinois Southern Illinois, also known as Little Egypt, is the southern third of Illinois, principally along and south of Interstate 64. Although part of a Midwestern state, this region is aligned in culture more with that of the Upland South than the Mi ...

in the southern portion of the state known locally as " Little Egypt", and includes fertile river flats, part of the

American Bottom The American Bottom is the flood plain of the Mississippi River in the Metro-East region of Southern Illinois, extending from Alton, Illinois, south to the Kaskaskia River. It is also sometimes called "American Bottoms". The area is about , most ...

; it is near the

Greater St. Louis Greater St. Louis is a bi-state metropolitan area that completely surrounds and includes the independent city of St. Louis, the principal city. It includes parts of both Missouri and Illinois. The city core is on the Mississippi Riverfront on t ...

area.

History

Randolph County was organized in 1795 out of a part of St. Clair County. It was named in honor of Edmund Randolph, Governor of Virginia.

George Rogers Clark George Rogers Clark (November 19, 1752 – February 13, 1818) was an American surveyor, soldier, and militia officer from Virginia who became the highest-ranking American patriot military officer on the northwestern frontier during the Amer ...

of the army of Virginia captured the area from the British on July 4, 1778, near the end of the Revolutionary War. The area then became the seat, for several years, of Illinois County, Virginia, although the Congress of the Confederation legislated the existence of the Northwest Territory on July 13, 1787. Edmund Randolph was Governor of Virginia at the time Virginia ceded the Northwest Territory to the United States. In 1809, when Illinois became a separate territory, Territorial Secretary

Nathaniel Pope Nathaniel W. Pope (January 5, 1784 – January 23, 1850) was an American government leader in the early history of the State of Illinois. He served as the Secretary of the Illinois Territory, then as a Delegate to the United States House of Repr ...

, in his capacity as acting governor, issued a proclamation establishing Randolph as one of the Illinois' two original counties. The county's boundaries were last changed in 1827, when land was taken to form

Perry County Perry County may refer to: United States * Perry County, Alabama * Perry County, Arkansas *Perry County, Illinois * Perry County, Indiana * Perry County, Kentucky * Perry County, Mississippi * Perry County, Missouri *Perry County, Ohio *Perr ...

. The Mississippi River has played a prominent role in the county's history, altering its boundaries in 1881 when it severed the

isthmus An isthmus (; ; ) is a narrow piece of land connecting two larger areas across an expanse of water by which they are otherwise separated. A tombolo is an isthmus that consists of a spit or bar, and a strait is the sea counterpart of an isthmu ...

that connected Kaskaskia to the Illinois mainland, destroying the original village of Kaskaskia and forcing its historic cemetery to be relocated across the river to

Fort Kaskaskia Fort Kaskaskia State Historic Site is a 200-acre (0.8 km²) park near Chester, Illinois, on a blufftop overlooking the Mississippi River. It commemorates the vanished frontier town of '' Old Kaskaskia'' and the support it gave to George ...

. Crains Islan

southeast of

, is another enclave of Illinois west of the Mississippi that was created by a change in the river's course. File:Randolph County Illinois 1809.png, Randolph County as it was re-established in 1809. This diagonal border line had been drawn by the Indiana Territorial government in 1803. File:Randolph County Illinois 1812.png, Randolph County between 1812 and 1813 File:Randolph County Illinois 1813.png, Randolph County between 1813 and 1816 File:Randolph County Illinois 1816.png, Randolph County between 1816 and 1827 File:Randolph County Illinois 1827.png, Randolph County in 1827, reduced to its current borders

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 (3.6%) is water. The Kaskaskia River flows into the Mississippi River in Randolph County. At this point the Mississippi, which usually defines the border between Illinois and Missouri, is entirely in Illinois. The Mississippi changed its course in the late-nineteenth century, leaving Kaskaskia, the former state capital, on the west side of the river. The boundary of the State, however, follows the old course of the river, leaving Illinois with an exclave on the western shore of the Mississippi River. A smaller enclave, Crains Island, is a few miles further down the river.

Climate and weather

In recent years, average temperatures in the county seat of Chester have ranged from a low of in January to a high of in July, although a record low of was recorded in January 1985 and a record high of was recorded in July 2012. Average monthly precipitation ranged from in January to in May.

Major highways

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 4 Illinois Route 4 is a major north–south highway that runs south from the Interstate 55 business loop around the state capital of Springfield, south to Illinois Route 13 just north of Murphysboro. This is a distance of . Route description Ill ...

Illinois Route 13 Illinois Route 13 (IL 13) is a major east–west state route in southern Illinois. Illinois 13 has its western terminus at Centreville at Illinois Route 157 and its eastern terminus at the Kentucky state line and the Ohio River, at Kentucky ...

Illinois Route 150 Illinois Route 150 (IL 150) is a east–west state road in southern Illinois. It runs from the Chester Bridge, a truss bridge over the Mississippi River to Route 51 in the state of Missouri, to IL 154 in rural Perry County well west of Pinck ...

Illinois Route 153 Illinois Route 153 is a north–south state road in southern Illinois. It runs from Illinois Route 154 in Eden to Illinois Route 15 in rural Washington County. This is a distance of . Route description Illinois 153 runs northeast from Eden t ...

Illinois Route 154 Illinois Route 154 is an east–west state road in southern Illinois. It runs from Illinois Route 3 in Red Bud to Illinois Route 37 in Whittington. This is a distance of . Route description Illinois 154 is the main east–west road ...

* Illinois Route 155 *

Illinois Route 159 Illinois Route 159 is a north–south state road in southwestern Illinois. Its southern terminus is at Illinois Route 3 and Illinois Route 154 in Red Bud, Illinois, Red Bud and its northern terminus at Illinois Route 16 in Royal Lakes, Illinois, R ...

Adjacent counties

* Monroe County (northwest) * St. Clair County (north) * Washington County (northeast) *

(east) * Jackson County (southeast) *

, Missouri (south) * Ste. Genevieve County, Missouri (southwest) Randolph County is among the few counties in the United States to border two counties with the same name (Perry County in Missouri and Illinois).

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 33,476 people, 12,314 households, and 8,188 families residing in the county. The population density was . There were 13,707 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 87.6% white, 9.7% black or African American, 0.3% Asian, 0.2% American Indian, 1.2% from other races, and 0.9% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 2.6% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 40.3% 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 **Ge ...

, 11.3% 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 ...

, 9.4% were English, and 5.7% 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 12,314 households, 29.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.0% were married couples living together, 10.1% had a female householder with no husband present, 33.5% were non-families, and 28.9% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.37 and the average family size was 2.90. The median age was 41.0 years. The median income for a household in the county was $45,020 and the median income for a family was $55,113. Males had a median income of $43,359 versus $28,376 for females. The per capita income for the county was $19,950. About 7.0% of families and 10.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 11.9% of those under age 18 and 9.9% of those age 65 or over.

Government and infrastructure

The

Illinois Department of Corrections The Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC) is the code department of the Illinois state government that operates the adult state prison system. The IDOC is led by a director appointed by the Governor of Illinois, and its headquarters are in Sp ...

Menard Correctional Center Menard Correctional Center, known prior to 1970 as Southern Illinois Penitentiary, is an Illinois state prison located in the town of Chester in Randolph County, Illinois. It houses maximum-security and high medium-security adult males. The aver ...

is located in

. Prior to the January 11, 2003 commutation of death row sentences, male death row inmates were housed in Menard, Tamms, and

Pontiac Pontiac may refer to: *Pontiac (automobile), a car brand *Pontiac (Ottawa leader) ( – 1769), a Native American war chief Places and jurisdictions Canada *Pontiac, Quebec, a municipality ** Apostolic Vicariate of Pontiac, now the Roman Catholic D ...

correctional centers. After that date, only Pontiac continued to host the male death row.DOC Report Online
"

. Retrieved on September 1, 2010.

Politics

Randolph is a rural conservative county in southern Illinois that has trended Republican since 2000 in presidential elections.

Media

There are two AM radio stations licensed in the county — WHCO 1230AM in Sparta and KSGM 980AM in Chester. Weekly newspapers in the county are ''The Randolph County Herald Tribune'' located in Chester, ''The County Journal'', which is based in Percy and also covers Perry and Jackson Counties, the ''North County News'' in Red Bud, and the ''Sparta News-Plaindealer''. The area is also served by the on-line newspaper based in Chester which is SunTimesNews.com

Communities

Cities

* Red Bud * Sparta

Villages

* Baldwin * Coulterville * Ellis Grove *

Evansville Evansville is a city in, and the county seat of, Vanderburgh County, Indiana, United States. The population was 118,414 at the 2020 census, making it the state's third-most populous city after Indianapolis and Fort Wayne, the largest city in ...

* Kaskaskia * Percy * Prairie du Rocher * Rockwood *

Ruma Ruma (; hu, Árpatarló) is a town and municipality in the Srem District of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, Serbia. As of 2011, the town has a population of 30,076, while the municipality has a population of 54,339. History Traces of org ...

* Steeleville * Tilden

Unincorporated communities

Blair Blair is an English-language name of Scottish Gaelic origin. The surname is derived from any of the numerous places in Scotland called ''Blair'', derived from the Scottish Gaelic ''blàr'', meaning "plain", "meadow" or "field", frequently a “ba ...

Bremen Bremen ( Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie Hansestadt Bremen''), a two-city-state con ...

* Dozaville * Eden * Fort Gage * Grigg * Houston * Leanderville * Marigold * Menard * Modoc * New Palestine *

Prairie Prairies are ecosystems considered part of the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome by ecologists, based on similar temperate climates, moderate rainfall, and a composition of grasses, herbs, and shrubs, rather than trees, as the ...

Preston Preston is a place name, surname and given name that may refer to: Places England *Preston, Lancashire, an urban settlement **The City of Preston, Lancashire, a borough and non-metropolitan district which contains the settlement **County Boro ...

* Reily Lake * Schuline * Shiloh Hill * Walsh * Welge * Wine Hill

Forts

* Fort de Chartres

References

External links

KBDZ 93.1 FM Radio

KSGM AM 980 Radio

Randolph County Government

SunTimesNews.com

Randolph County Herald-Tribune

North County News

{{Coord, 38.05, -89.82, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-IL_source:UScensus1990 1795 establishments in the Northwest Territory Illinois counties Illinois counties on the Mississippi River Southern Illinois Populated places established in 1795