DeWitt County is a

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 ...

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 so ...

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 United States census, the population was 15,516. 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 Clinton. The county was formed as De Witt County on March 1, 1839, from Macon and McLean counties. The county was named in honor of the seventh

Governor of New York The governor of New York is the head of government of the U.S. state of New York. The governor is the head of the executive branch of New York's state government and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor ...

State,

De Witt Clinton DeWitt Clinton (March 2, 1769February 11, 1828) was an American politician and Naturalism (philosophy), naturalist. He served as a United States Senate, United States senator, as the mayor of New York City, and as the sixth governor of New York. ...

. DeWitt County is included in

Bloomington–Normal The Bloomington–Normal Metropolitan Statistical Area, commonly known as the Bloomington Metropolitan Statistical Area or Bloomington–Normal, is a metropolitan statistical area in Central Illinois anchored by the twin municipalities of Bloo ...

, IL Metropolitan Statistical Area. The

U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, 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 U.S. Census Bureau is part of the U ...

and the

U.S. Geological Survey The United States Geological Survey (USGS), founded as the Geological Survey, is an agency of the U.S. Department of the Interior whose work spans the disciplines of biology, geography, geology, and hydrology. The agency was founded on March ...

(USGS) list the county's name as De Witt, although the county uses the name DeWitt (no space).

History

File:DeWitt County Illinois 1839.png, DeWitt County from its creation in 1839 to the splitting off of Piatt County in 1841 File:DeWitt County Illinois 1841.png, DeWitt County from 1841 to 1845 File:DeWitt County Illinois 1845.png, DeWitt County in 1845, when it was reduced to its current size

Geography

According to the

, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (1.9%) is water.

Climate and weather

In recent years, average temperatures in the county seat of Clinton have ranged from a low of in January to a high of in July, although a record low of was recorded in February 1905 and a record high of was recorded in July 1954. Average monthly precipitation ranged from in February to in July.

Adjacent counties

* McLean County - north *

Piatt County Piatt County is a county in Illinois. According to the 2020 United States census, it had a population of 16,673. Its county seat is Monticello. Piatt County is part of the Champaign-Urbana Metropolitan Area. History The first settler was G ...

- east * Macon County - south *

Logan County Logan County is the name of ten current counties and one former county in the United States: * Logan County, Arkansas * Logan County, Colorado * Logan County, Idaho (1889–1895) * Logan County, Illinois * Logan County, Kansas * Logan County ...

- west

Transit

* SHOW Bus

Major highways

Interstate 74 Interstate 74 (I-74) is an Interstate Highway in the Midwestern and Southeastern United States. Its western end is at an interchange with I-80 in Davenport, Iowa; the eastern end of its Midwest segment is at an interchange with I-75 in ...

* US Route 51 *

US Route 150 U.S. Route 150 (US 150) is a 571-mile (919 km) long northwest–southeast United States highway, signed as east–west. It runs from U.S. Route 6 outside of Moline, Illinois, to U.S. Route 25 in Kentucky, U.S. Route 25 in Mount Vernon, ...

* Illinois Route 10 * Illinois Route 48 * Illinois Route 54

Demographics

As of the 2010 United States census, there were 16,561 people, 6,811 households, and 4,618 families residing in the county. The population density was . There were 7,521 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 96.8% white, 0.5% black or African American, 0.4% Asian, 0.2% American Indian, 0.9% from other races, and 1.2% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 2.1% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 31.2% were American, 21.7% were

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

, 15.8% were English, and 12.3% were Irish. Of the 6,811 households, 30.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.0% were married couples living together, 10.0% had a female householder with no husband present, 32.2% were non-families, and 27.5% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.39 and the average family size was 2.88. The median age was 41.7 years. The median income for a household in the county was $45,347 and the median income for a family was $56,806. Males had a median income of $41,649 versus $27,729 for females. The per capita income for the county was $24,320. About 6.4% of families and 8.6% 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 12.2% of those under age 18 and 6.6% of those age 65 or over.

Communities

Cities

* Clinton (seat) * Farmer City

Villages

* DeWitt * Kenney * Wapella * Waynesville * Weldon

Townships

DeWitt County is divided into thirteen townships: * Barnett * Clintonia * Creek * DeWitt *

Harp The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orchestras or ...

Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as the 36th vice president under P ...

* Rutledge * Santa Anna *

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

* Tunbridge * Wapella * Waynesville * Wilson

Unincorporated communities

* Birkbeck * Bucks * Carle Springs * Fullerton * Hallsville * Jenkins *

Lane In road transport, a lane is part of a roadway that is designated to be used by a single line of vehicles to control and guide drivers and reduce traffic conflicts. Most public roads (highways) have at least two lanes, one for traffic in eac ...

* Midland City * Ospur * Parnell * Rowell *

Solomon Solomon (), also called Jedidiah, was the fourth monarch of the Kingdom of Israel (united monarchy), Kingdom of Israel and Judah, according to the Hebrew Bible. The successor of his father David, he is described as having been the penultimate ...

* Tabor * Tunbridge * Watkins * Weedman

Politics

DeWitt is frequently a Republican county. It has not been carried by a Democratic presidential candidate since

Lyndon Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), also known as LBJ, was the 36th president of the United States, serving from 1963 to 1969. He became president after assassination of John F. Kennedy, the assassination of John F. Ken ...

’s 1964 landslide, and even before that it was carried by Democrats only in strong winning elections like 1936, 1932, 1916, 1912 and 1892.

Education

K-12 school districts include:
Text list
/ref> * Argenta-Oreana Community Unit School District 1 *

Blue Ridge Community Unit School District 18 Blue Ridge Community Unit School District 18 is a school district A school district is a special-purpose district that operates local public Primary school, primary or Secondary school, secondary schools or both in various countries. It is n ...

* Clinton Community Unit School District 15 * DeLand-Weldon Community Unit School District 57 * Heyworth Community Unit School District 4 * Le Roy Community Unit School District 2 * Maroa-Forsyth Community Unit School District 2 * Monticello Community Unit School District 25 * Mount Pulaski Community Unit District 23 * Olympia Community Unit School District 16 There are also an elementary school district, Chester-East Lincoln Community Csd 61, and a secondary school district, Lincoln Community High School District 404.

Notes

References

United States Census Bureau 2007 TIGER/Line Shapefiles

United States Board on Geographic Names (GNIS)

United States National Atlas

External links

{{Coord, 39.377, -90.294, display=title 1839 establishments in Illinois Illinois counties Populated places established in 1839