Cumberland County is a

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers 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 sove ...

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

. As of the 2010 census, the population was 11,048. Its

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 ...

is Toledo. Cumberland County is part of the Charleston– Mattoon, IL Micropolitan Statistical Area.

History

Cumberland County was created on March 2, 1823, from parts of Coles County. It is named for the

National Road The National Road (also known as the Cumberland Road) was the first major improved highway in the United States built by the federal government. Built between 1811 and 1837, the road connected the Potomac and Ohio Rivers and was a main tran ...

(Cumberland Road), which was projected to run through it. File:Cumberland County Illinois 1843.png, Cumberland County at the time of its creation in 1823

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 (0.3%) is water.

Climate and weather

In recent years, average temperatures in the county seat of Toledo have ranged from a low of in January to a high of in July, although a record low of was recorded in January 1985 (jobs) and a record high of was recorded in July 1954. Average monthly precipitation ranged from in January to in June.

Adjacent counties

Coles County Coles County is a county in Illinois. As of the 2020 census, the population was 46,863. Its county seat is Charleston, which is also the home of Eastern Illinois University. Coles County is part of the Charleston- Mattoon, IL Micropolitan St ...

- north * Clark County - east * Jasper County - south * Effingham County - southwest * Shelby County - west

Major highways

Interstate 57 Interstate 57 (I-57) is a north–south Interstate Highway in Missouri and Illinois that parallels the old Illinois Central Railroad for much of its route. It runs from Sikeston, Missouri, at I-55 to Chicago, Illinois, at I-94. I-57 ess ...

Interstate 70 Interstate 70 (I-70) is a major east–west Interstate Highway in the United States that runs from I-15 near Cove Fort, Utah, to a park and ride lot just east of I-695 in Baltimore, Maryland, and is the fifth-longest Interstate in the co ...

* U.S. Route 40 *

U.S. Route 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 49 Illinois Route 49 (IL 49) is a north–south state highway in east-central Illinois. It runs from Willow Hill at IL 33 north to the beginning of the U.S. Route 45/ 52 concurrency near Ashkum. Route description Illinois 49 runs ...

* Illinois Route 121 *

Illinois Route 130 Illinois Route 130 is a north–south state highway in eastern Illinois. It runs from Illinois Route 1 in Grayville north to Interstate 74 in Urbana. This is a distance of . Illinois 130 is the main north–south highway through Charlest ...

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 servi ...

, there were 11,048 people, 4,377 households, and 3,121 families living in the county. The population density was . There were 4,874 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 98.3% white, 0.3% black or African American, 0.2% Asian, 0.2% American Indian, 0.2% from other races, and 0.8% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 0.7% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 30.6% 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 ...

, 17.4% were American, 11.7% 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 ...

, and 11.4% 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 ...

. Of the 4,377 households, 31.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.7% were married couples living together, 8.6% had a female householder with no husband present, 28.7% were non-families, and 24.3% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.50 and the average family size was 2.95. The median age was 40.9 years. The median income for a household in the county was $42,101 and the median income for a family was $51,729. Males had a median income of $42,157 versus $29,142 for females. The per capita income for the county was $21,262. About 8.1% of families and 12.5% 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 19.4% of those under age 18 and 8.2% of those age 65 or over.

Communities

Cities

* Neoga * Casey (mostly in Clark County)

Villages

* Greenup * Jewett * Montrose (mostly in Effingham County) * Toledo (seat)

Townships

Cumberland County is divided into eight

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, C ...

: * Cottonwood *

Crooked Creek Crooked Creek may refer to: Streams In Australia * Crooked Creek (Clyde River), a tributary of the Clyde River in New South Wales * Crooked Creek (Walsh River), a tributary of the Walsh River in Queensland In the United States * Crooked Cree ...

* Greenup * Neoga * Spring Point * Sumpter *

Union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

* Woodbury

Unincorporated Communities

* Bradbury * Dees * Hazel Dell * Janesville * Johnstown * Liberty Hill * Lillyville * Maple Point *

Neal Neal (Neil) is a given masculine name and surname of Gaelic and Irish origin. The name is an Anglicisation of the Irish Niall which is of disputed derivation. The Irish name may be derived from words meaning "cloud", "passionate", "victory", "hono ...

* Roslyn * Timothy * Union Center * Vevay Park *

Walla Walla Walla Walla can refer to: * Walla Walla people, a Native American tribe after which the county and city of Walla Walla, Washington, are named * Place of many rocks in the Australian Aboriginal Wiradjuri language, the origin of the name of the town ...

* Woodbury

Politics

Although predominantly Democratic in the years before

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, in the aftermath of which

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...

’s policies towards Germany were locally deplored, Cumberland County has since become powerfully Republican. Even in Franklin D. Roosevelt’s 1932 and 1936 landslides, he won only small victories, and since then only three Democrats have carried the county.

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

, who won a plurality in 1992, is the last Democrat to reach forty percent of the county’s vote, and in 2016, the rapid

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 ...

trend towards overwhelmingly Republican voting caused his wife Hillary to win less than twenty percent of the county’s ballots.

References

* History of Southern Illinois, George Washington Smith, 1912.
United States Census Bureau 2007 TIGER/Line Shapefiles

United States Board on Geographic Names (GNIS)

United States National Atlas
{{Coord, 39.27, -88.24, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-IL_source:UScensus1990 1843 establishments in Illinois Populated places established in 1843 Illinois counties Charleston–Mattoon, IL Micropolitan Statistical Area