Saline County is a county in Southern Illinois. At the 2020 census, it had a population of 23,768. The largest city and county seat is Harrisburg. This area of Southern Illinois is known locally as " Little Egypt". Three major towns in Saline County are connected by U.S. Route 45, and formerly by the now-abandoned Cairo and Vincennes/

Big Four Big Four or Big 4 may refer to: Groups of companies * Big Four accounting firms: Deloitte, Ernst & Young, KPMG, PwC * Big Four (airlines) in the U.S. in the 20th century: American, Eastern, TWA, United * Big Four (banking), several groupings ...

New York Central The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected greater New York and Boston in the east with Chicago and St. Louis in the Midw ...

Line, from north to south: Eldorado, Harrisburg, and Carrier Mills.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (1.8%) is water. The Saline County area is mostly rolling hills throughout gradually rising to the Hills of the Shawnee National Forest. The

Saline River Saline River may refer to: United States *Saline River (Little River tributary), in southwestern Arkansas *Saline River (Ouachita River tributary), in southern Arkansas *Saline River (Illinois), a tributary of the Ohio River * Saline River (Kansas) ...

flows through the central point of the county in three forks: North, Middle, and South. To the north of Eldorado there are flat lowlands.

Climate and weather

In recent years, average temperatures in the county seat of Harrisburg have ranged from a low of in January to a high of in July, although a record low of was recorded in February 1951 and a record high of was recorded in July 1936. Average monthly precipitation ranged from in September to in May.

Adjacent counties

* Hamilton County (north) * White County (northeast) * Gallatin County (east) * Hardin County (southeast) * Pope County (south) * Johnson County (southwest) * Williamson County (west) * Franklin County (northwest)

National protected area

* Shawnee National Forest (part)

State protected areas

* Sahara Woods State Fish and Wildlife Area * Saline County State Fish and Wildlife Area

Transportation

Major highways

U.S. Highway 45 U.S. Route 45 (US 45) is a major north-south United States highway and a border-to-border route, from Lake Superior to the Gulf of Mexico. A sign at the highway's northern terminus notes the total distance as . US 45 is notable for incorporatin ...

* Illinois Route 13 * Illinois Route 34 * Illinois Route 142 * Illinois Route 145

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 24,913 people, 10,379 households, and 6,631 families residing in the county. The population density was . There were 11,697 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 93.0% white, 4.0% black or African American, 0.4% Asian, 0.4% American Indian, 0.1% Pacific islander, 0.4% from other races, and 1.8% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 1.4% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 17.8% were Irish, 16.6% were German, 12.9% were American, and 11.1% were English. Of the 10,379 households, 29.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.4% were married couples living together, 11.7% had a female householder with no husband present, 36.1% were non-families, and 31.9% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.32 and the average family size was 2.89. The median age was 41.7 years. The median income for a household in the county was $35,644 and the median income for a family was $46,314. Males had a median income of $41,108 versus $28,464 for females. The per capita income for the county was $20,903. About 13.4% of families and 18.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 26.5% of those under age 18 and 10.4% of those age 65 or over.

Communities

Cities

* Eldorado * Harrisburg

Villages

* Carrier Mills (Morrilsville) *

Galatia Galatia (; grc, Γαλατία, ''Galatía'', "Gaul") was an ancient area in the highlands of central Anatolia, roughly corresponding to the provinces of Ankara and Eskişehir, in modern Turkey. Galatia was named after the Gauls from Thrace (c ...

* Muddy * Raleigh *

Stonefort Stonefort is a village in Saline County, Illinois, Saline and Williamson County, Illinois, Williamson Counties, Illinois, United States. The population was 297 at the 2010 census. History Stonefort is named for an ancient rock fortification that ...

(partly in Williamson County)

Unincorporated communities

* Buena Vista * Cottage Grove * Delta * Derby *

Eagle Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just ...

* Harco * Lakeview (Pond Settlement) * Ledford * Liberty * Mitchellsville * New Hope * Pankeyville * Rudement * Somerset * Texas City * Wasson *

West End West End most commonly refers to: * West End of London, an area of central London, England * West End theatre, a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London, England West End may also refer to: Pl ...

Townships

Saline County is divided into thirteen townships: * Brushy * Carrier Mills *

Cottage A cottage, during Feudalism in England, England's feudal period, was the holding by a cottager (known as a Cotter (farmer), cotter or ''bordar'') of a small house with enough garden to feed a family and in return for the cottage, the cottager ...

* East Eldorado *

* Harrisburg * Independence * Long Branch * Mountain * Raleigh *

Rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

* Stone Fort * Tate

Politics

References

External links

Saline County Chamber of Commerce

Saline County Official Website (Under Development)
* "Tails and Trails of Illinois", Stu Fliege, University of Illinois Press,2002. * "https://web.archive.org/web/20120206132243/http://www.iltrails.org/saline/towns_cities.html, © 2000-2001 by Debbie Woolard, Illinois Trails History and Genealogy. * Gillum Ferguson. 2007. ''The Perilous Infancy of Saline County'', Journal of Illinois History, Vol. 10, p. 49. {{Coord, 37.75, -88.54, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-IL_source:UScensus1990 Illinois counties 1847 establishments in Illinois Saline County, Illinois Saline County, Illinois Populated places established in 1847