Alexander County, Illinois
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Alexander County is the southernmost
county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...
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 so ...
of
Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...
. As of the 2020 census, the population was 5,240. Its
county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...
is
Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...
and its western boundary is formed by the
Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...
. Alexander County is part of the Cape Girardeau-Jackson metropolitan area which is made up of jurisdictions on both sides of the Mississippi River.


History

Alexander County was organized from part of Union County in 1819. It was named for William M. Alexander, a physician who practiced in the town of
America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
(the first county seat). Alexander was elected as a representative to the state House, where he became
Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives The Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives is seventh (behind the Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, Secretary of State, Comptroller, Treasurer, and President of the Senate, respectively) in the line of succession to the office of ...
in 1822. The county was initially developed for agriculture and settled by numerous migrants from the Upland South. The county seat was moved to Unity in 1833, then to Thebes in 1843, and finally to Cairo in 1860. America, the first county seat, is now within Pulaski County, which was formed from Alexander and
Johnson Johnson may refer to: People and fictional characters *Johnson (surname), a common surname in English * Johnson (given name), a list of people * List of people with surname Johnson, including fictional characters *Johnson (composer) (1953–2011) ...
counties in 1843. File:Alexander County 1819.png, Alexander County between 1819 and 1843. File:Alexander County Illinois 1843.png, Alexander County reduced to its current borders in 1843 with the creation of Pulaski County. Settled largely by white migrants from the Upland South (who migrated from backwoods areas of Kentucky, Virginia, Tennessee, Georgia, and the Carolinas), southern Illinois had many racial attitudes of the South. As African Americans settled in Cairo to seek jobs on steamboats, ferries, in shipping and railroads, there were tensions between the racial groups. White residents sometimes used violence and terrorism, as well as discrimination, to keep black residents in second-class positions. They excluded them from the city government and the police and fire departments, and relatively few African Americans were hired to work in the local stores. There were three lynchings of blacks in Alexander County in the years between Reconstruction and the early 20th century. The county had the second-highest number of lynchings of African Americans in all of Illinois.''Lynching in America''/"Supplement: Lynchings by County"
, 3rd edition, 2017; Montgomery, Alabama: Equal Justice Institute, 2015/2017, p. 4
The most notorious of these was the lynching of Will James before a crowd of white spectators estimated at 10,000, in the county seat of Cairo on November 11, 1909. James was accused of murdering a young white woman. Later that same evening, the mob lynched a white man named Henry Salzner, hanging him in the courthouse square for allegedly killing his wife. Neither man had had a trial, nor was anyone ever prosecuted for the lynchings, even though Illinois had passed an anti-lynching law four years earlier.


Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (6.8%) is water. Its borders are partly defined by the
Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...
and the
Ohio River The Ohio River () is a river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing in a southwesterly direction from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to its river mouth, mouth on the Mississippi Riv ...
. The lowest point in the state of Illinois is located on the
Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...
in Cairo in Alexander County, where it flows out of Illinois and into
Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...
.


Adjacent counties

* Union County - north * Ballard County,
Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...
- southeast * Pulaski County - east * Mississippi County,
Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') 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 border ...
- south * Scott County,
Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') 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 border ...
- west * Cape Girardeau County,
Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') 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 border ...
- northwest


National protected areas

* Cypress Creek National Wildlife Refuge (part) * Shawnee National Forest (part)


Major highways

* Interstate 57 *
U.S. Route 51 U.S. Route 51 or U.S. Highway 51 (US 51) is a major south–north United States highway that extends from the western suburbs of New Orleans, Louisiana, to within of the Wisconsin–Michigan state line. As most of the United States Numbered Hi ...
* U.S. Route 60 * U.S. Route 62 *
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, Illinois, Cairo) at the intersection of U.S. Route 51 in Illinois, U.S ...
*
Illinois Route 37 Illinois Route 37, Illinois 37 or IL 37, is a north–south state highway in southern Illinois. IL 37's southern terminus is at U.S. Route 51 (US 51) and IL 3 in Cairo and the northern terminus is at US 45 in Watson. Rou ...
* Illinois Route 127 * Illinois Route 146


Climate and weather

In recent years, average temperatures in the county seat of Cairo 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 June 1954. Average monthly precipitation ranged from in September to in May.


Law enforcement

The Tamms Correctional Center, a now shuttered super-maximum correctional facility operated by the Illinois Department of Corrections, was located in Tamms, as was the State of Illinois
execution chamber An execution chamber, or death chamber, is a room or chamber in which capital punishment is carried out. Execution chambers are almost always inside the walls of a prison#Security levels, maximum-security prison, although not always at the same p ...
. Prior to the January 11, 2003, commutation of death row sentences, male death row inmates were housed in Tamms, Menard, and Pontiac correctional centers. After that date, only Pontiac continued to host the male death row. On January 4, 2013, after years of controversy over inmate conditions, the prison officially closed, negatively impacting the county's economy. In late September 2009, press reports indicated that the Alexander County Sheriff's office had five of its seven squad cars repossessed as payments had not been made. The sheriff once had 29 deputies, but was reduced to just five at the time of the reports. The
Illinois State Police The Illinois State Police (ISP) is the state police agency of the U.S. state of Illinois. The Illinois State Police is responsible for traffic safety on more than 300,000 miles of total roadway, including 2,185 miles of interstate highways and ...
have provided assistance to the county with additional patrols.


Demographics

As of the 2010 United States census, there were 8,238 people, 3,329 households, and 2,093 families residing in the county. The population density was . There were 4,006 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 60.9% white, 35.4% black or African American, 0.3% American Indian, 0.2% Asian, 0.1% Pacific islander, 1.4% from other races, and 1.7% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 1.9% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 13.9% were German, 6.8% were Irish, 5.3% were English, and 4.7% were American. Of the 3,329 households, 29.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 39.6% were married couples living together, 18.5% had a female householder with no husband present, 37.1% were non-families, and 33.6% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.31 and the average family size was 2.94. The median age was 41.1 years. The median income for a household in the county was $28,833 and the median income for a family was $44,699. Males had a median income of $35,880 versus $25,743 for females. The per capita income for the county was $15,858. About 11.8% of families and 20.1% 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 ...
, including 33.1% of those under age 18 and 14.7% of those age 65 or over.


2020 census

Between 2010 and 2020, the population of Alexander County decreased to 5,240. The 36.4% decline was the largest of any of the 3,138 U.S. counties. Although the population of the county had been decreasing for decades, the closure of the Tamms Correctional Center in 2013 probably caused an acceleration of the decline in the 2010s. ''Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos can be of any race.'' As of the 2020 United States census, there were 5,240 people, 2,154 households, and 1,357 families residing in the county.


Education

Here is a list of school districts with any territory in the county, no matter how slight, even if the schools and/or administrative offices are located in other counties:
Text list
/ref> * Cairo Unified School District 1 * Century Community Unit School District 100 * Egyptian Community Unit School District 5 * Meridian Community Unit School District 101 * Shawnee Community Unit School District 84


Communities


Unincorporated communities

* Cache * Clank * Dawleys * Diswood * Elco * Fayville * Future City *
Gale A gale is a strong wind; the word is typically used as a descriptor in nautical contexts. The U.S. National Weather Service defines a gale as sustained surface wind moving at a speed between .
* Golden Lily * Klondike * Miller City * Roth * Sandusky * Tankville * Tatumville * Urbandale * Willard


Forts

* Fort Defiance


Precincts

* Cache * McClure * Olive Branch * Sandusky * Tamms * Thebes


Politics

Alexander County is unique among antebellum free state rural counties in having a postbellum political history largely determined by a significant black electorate. It is most similar in this respect to – though still substantially different from – some counties of the
south South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...
and the Eastern Shore of
Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...
. The county was thus solidly Republican until the
New Deal The New Deal was a series of wide-reaching economic, social, and political reforms enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1938, in response to the Great Depression in the United States, Great Depressi ...
, and gradually turned solidly Democratic up through the
presidency of Bill Clinton Bill Clinton's tenure as the 42nd president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 1993, and ended on January 20, 2001. Clinton, a Democrat from Arkansas, took office following his victory over Republican in ...
. In the twenty-first century, the county has shown a trend towards the GOP due to large-scale black emigration and a rapid swing of its Caucasian population toward Republican candidates. This became clear in
2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...
, when
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...
carried the county by 8.3 points—a hard swing from favorite son Obama's 13.6-point victory four years earlier, and the first time the county voted Republican since
1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...
. An even harder swing was taken in
2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...
, when he carried Alexander again by 14.2 points, even as the nation as a whole trended slightly leftward. Furthermore,
Dick Durbin Richard Joseph Durbin (born November 21, 1944) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States senator from the state of Illinois, a seat he has held since 1997. A member of the Dem ...
lost the county in the simultaneous U.S. Senate election, making it his first Senate election in which he failed to win the county and the first Senate election since
1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...
in which a Republican won the county. Despite the rightward swing taken by the county, the city and county seat of
Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...
remains overwhelmingly Democratic.


See also

* National Register of Historic Places listings in Alexander County, Illinois *
List of counties in Illinois There are 102 counties in Illinois. The most populous of these is Cook County, the second-most populous county in the United States and the home of Chicago, while the least populous is Hardin County. The largest by land area is McLean Count ...


References

;Specific ;General *
United States Census Bureau 2007 TIGER/Line Shapefiles

United States Board on Geographic Names (GNIS)

United States National Atlas


External links




Alexander County Website
{{Coord, 37.19, -89.34, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-IL_source:UScensus1990 Illinois counties 1819 establishments in Illinois Cape Girardeau–Jackson metropolitan area Illinois counties on the Mississippi River Illinois counties on the Ohio River Southern Illinois Populated places established in 1819