Livingston County is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it has a population of 35,815. Its county seat is Pontiac, Illinois, Pontiac. Livingston County comprises the Pontiac, IL Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is combined with the Bloomington–Normal metropolitan statistical area as the Bloomington, Illinois, Bloomington-Pontiac, IL Combined Statistical Area.

History

Livingston was established on February 27, 1837. It was formed from parts of McLean, LaSalle, and Iroquois counties, and named after Edward Livingston, a prominent politician who was mayor of New York City and represented New York in the United States House of Representatives and Louisiana in both houses of United States Congress, Congress. He later served as Andrew Jackson, Andrew Jackson's United States Secretary of State, Secretary of State and as United States Ambassador to France, Minister to France. Although he had no connections to Illinois, the General Assembly found him accomplished enough to name a county after him. File:Livingston County Illinois 1837.png, Livingston County at the time of its creation in 1837

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (0.2%) is water. It is the fourth-largest county in Illinois by land area.

Climate and weather

In recent years, average temperatures in the county seat of Pontiac have ranged from a low of in January to a high of in July, although a record low of was recorded in January 1927 and a record high of was recorded in July 1936. Average monthly precipitation ranged from in February to in June.

Major highways

* Interstate 55 * U.S. Highway 24 * US 66 (historic)

U.S. Route 66 in Illinois, U.S. Highway 66 * Illinois Route 17 * Illinois Route 18 * Illinois Route 23 * Illinois Route 47 * Illinois Route 116 * Illinois Route 170

Adjacent counties

* LaSalle County, Illinois, LaSalle County - northwest * Grundy County, Illinois, Grundy County - north * Kankakee County, Illinois, Kankakee County - northeast * Ford County, Illinois, Ford County - southeast * McLean County, Illinois, McLean County - southwest * Woodford County, Illinois, Woodford County - west

Demographics

As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 38,950 people, 14,613 households, and 9,741 families residing in the county. The population density was . There were 15,895 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 91.8% white, 4.9% black or African American, 0.5% Asian, 0.2% American Indian, 1.3% from other races, and 1.3% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 3.9% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 36.6% were Germans, German, 17.2% were Irish people, Irish, 11.2% were Americans, American, 10.7% were English people, English, and 5.1% were Italians, Italian. Of the 14,613 households, 30.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.0% were married couples living together, 9.9% had a female householder with no husband present, 33.3% were non-families, and 28.6% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.43 and the average family size was 2.98. The median age was 40.8 years. The median income for a household in the county was $50,500 and the median income for a family was $60,933. Males had a median income of $44,639 versus $32,234 for females. The per capita income for the county was $23,259. About 9.1% of families and 11.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 15.4% of those under age 18 and 6.9% of those age 65 or over.

Communities

Cities

* Fairbury, Illinois, Fairbury * Pontiac, Illinois, Pontiac * Streator, Illinois, Streator

Town

* Chatsworth, Illinois, Chatsworth

Villages

* Campus, Illinois, Campus * Cornell, Illinois, Cornell * Cullom, Illinois, Cullom * Dwight, Illinois, Dwight * Emington, Illinois, Emington * Flanagan, Illinois, Flanagan * Forrest, Illinois, Forrest * Long Point, Illinois, Long Point * Odell, Illinois, Odell * Reddick, Illinois, Reddick * Saunemin, Illinois, Saunemin * Strawn, Illinois, Strawn

Townships

Livingston County is divided into thirty Civil township, townships: * Amity Township, Livingston County, Illinois, Amity * Avoca Township, Livingston County, Illinois, Avoca * Belle Prairie Township, Livingston County, Illinois, Belle Prairie * Broughton Township, Livingston County, Illinois, Broughton * Charlotte Township, Livingston County, Illinois, Charlotte * Chatsworth Township, Livingston County, Illinois, Chatsworth * Dwight Township, Livingston County, Illinois, Dwight * Eppards Point Township, Livingston County, Illinois, Eppards Point * Esmen Township, Livingston County, Illinois, Esmen * Fayette Township, Livingston County, Illinois, Fayette * Forrest Township, Livingston County, Illinois, Forrest * Germanville Township, Livingston County, Illinois, Germanville * Indian Grove Township, Livingston County, Illinois, Indian Grove * Long Point Township, Livingston County, Illinois, Long Point * Nebraska Township, Livingston County, Illinois, Nebraska * Nevada Township, Livingston County, Illinois, Nevada * Newtown Township, Livingston County, Illinois, Newtown * Odell Township, Livingston County, Illinois, Odell * Owego Township, Livingston County, Illinois, Owego * Pike Township, Livingston County, Illinois, Pike * Pleasant Ridge Township, Livingston County, Illinois, Pleasant Ridge * Pontiac Township, Livingston County, Illinois, Pontiac * Reading Township, Livingston County, Illinois, Reading * Rooks Creek Township, Livingston County, Illinois, Rooks Creek * Round Grove Township, Livingston County, Illinois, Round Grove * Saunemin Township, Livingston County, Illinois, Saunemin * Sullivan Township, Livingston County, Illinois, Sullivan * Sunbury Township, Livingston County, Illinois, Sunbury * Union Township, Livingston County, Illinois, Union * Waldo Township, Livingston County, Illinois, Waldo

Unincorporated communities

* Ancona, Illinois, Ancona * Blackstone, Illinois, Blackstone * Blair, Livingston County, Illinois, Blair * Budd, Illinois, Budd * Cayuga, Illinois, Cayuga * Charlotte, Illinois, Charlotte * Graymont, Illinois, Graymont * Manville, Illinois, Manville * Munster, Illinois, Munster * Nevada, Illinois, Nevada

Government and infrastructure

The Illinois Department of Corrections operates two prisons in the county. Pontiac Correctional Center is located in Pontiac. Pontiac houses the male death row. Prior to the January 11, 2003 commutation of death row sentences, male death row inmates were housed in Pontiac, Menard Correctional Center, Menard, and Tamms Correctional Center, Tamms correctional centers.DOC Report Online
." Illinois Department of Corrections. Retrieved on September 1, 2010. Dwight Correctional Center is within Nevada Township, Illinois, Nevada Township in an unincorporated area in the county. The Dwight Correctional Center is currently unoccupied and was closed in 2013.

Politics

Although it was solidly Democratic before 1856, Livingston has since always been a powerfully Republican county. The solitary Democrat to win a majority of the county's vote since American Civil War, the Civil War has been Franklin D. Roosevelt in his 1932 landslide triumph over Herbert Hoover. Apart from that and the 1912 election when Woodrow Wilson won against a mortally divided Republican Party, Livingston has always voted Republican since that party was founded in 1856. Since 1940, only Lyndon Johnson in his 1964 landslide victory over the conservative Barry Goldwater has won more than forty percent of the county's vote.

Notable residents

* Donald Attig, businessman and adventurer. * Calistus Bruer, Illinois state representative and farmer * M. C. Eignus, Illinois state representative * Moira Harris, actress and wife of Gary Sinise. * William C. Harris (Illinois politician), William Harris, first President of the Illinois Senate. * Irene Hunt, Newbery Medal-winning author. * Francis Townsend, physician and political activist whose advocacy for an old age revolving pension influenced the creation of the Social Security (United States), U.S. Social Security program. * Skottie Young, comic book creator, comic book artist known for the Oz series. He was born and raised in Fairbury.