Franklin 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 ...

in Southern Illinois. At the 2020 census, it had a population of 37,804. The largest city is West Frankfort and the

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 Benton. This area of Southern Illinois is known locally as "Little Egypt".

History

Franklin County was established on January 2, 1818, and formed from parts of Gallatin and White counties. It was named for

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin (April 17, 1790) was an American polymath: a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher and Political philosophy, political philosopher.#britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the m ...

. File:Franklin County Illinois 1818.png, Franklin County at the time of its formation in 1818 File:Franklin County Illinois 1839.png, The creation of Williamson County in 1839 reduced Franklin to its current borders.

Coal mining

Coal was mined in Franklin County as early as 1889, at the King Coal Mine, located at Township 5 South, Range 3 East. The high levels of gas found in Franklin County's coal deposits have resulted in mining disasters and explosions over the years. Between 1905 and 1968, there were eleven mine disasters. In 1905, the Zeigler No. 1 mine, located in Zeigler, had an explosion that killed about fifty people. In 1917, an explosion in Old Ben Mine No. 11, located in

Christopher Christopher is the English language, English version of a Europe-wide name derived from the Greek language, Greek name Χριστόφορος (''Christophoros'' or ''Christoforos''). The constituent parts are Χριστός (''Christós''), "Jesus ...

, killed 17. The worst explosion occurred in 1951, in the Orient No. 2 Mine in West Frankfort, in which 119 people died. The West Frankfort quadrangle of Franklin County is home to 17 coal mines, according to a 2004 report.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (5.2%) is water. Wayne Fitzgerrell State Recreation Area is located in this county.

Climate and weather

In recent years, average temperatures in the county seat of Benton have ranged from a low of in January to a high of in July, although a record low of was recorded in January 1977 and a record high of was recorded in August 2007. Average monthly precipitation ranged from in February to in May. On April 21, 1912, a

tornado A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with the surface of Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, although the ...

destroyed facilities at the Possum Ridge Mine. On March 18, 1925, Franklin County was among five southern Illinois counties affected by the infamous Tri-State Tornado. The storm cut across the southern edge of the county, hitting West Frankfort and destroying most of the northern side of town, causing significant damage to the town's mining facilities. Farther to the east, the village of Parrish was also struck, and was never rebuilt. The storm killed 192 people in Franklin County, injuring hundreds more and leaving scores of people homeless.

Adjacent counties

* Jefferson County (north) * Hamilton County (east) * Saline County (southeast) * Williamson County (south) * Jackson County (southwest) * Perry County (west)

Transit

* South Central Transit

Major highways

* Interstate 57 * Illinois Route 14 * Illinois Route 34 * Illinois Route 37 * Illinois Route 148 * Illinois Route 149 * Illinois Route 154 * Illinois Route 184

Demographics

As of the 2010 United States census, there were 39,561 people, 16,617 households, and 10,912 families residing in the county. The population density was . There were 18,525 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 97.7% white, 0.3% Asian, 0.3% American Indian, 0.3% black or African American, 0.3% from other races, and 1.1% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 1.2% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 21.8% were German, 18.7% were Irish, 15.9% were English, 9.4% were American, and 5.7% were Italian. Of the 16,617 households, 30.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.8% were married couples living together, 11.6% had a female householder with no husband present, 34.3% were non-families, and 30.0% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.35 and the average family size was 2.88. The median age was 41.8 years. The median income for a household in the county was $34,381 and the median income for a family was $43,170. Males had a median income of $39,122 versus $28,950 for females. The per capita income for the county was $18,504. About 14.5% of families and 19.8% 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 30.5% of those under age 18 and 9.9% of those age 65 or over.

Communities

Cities

* Benton (seat) *

Orient The Orient is a term referring to the East in relation to Europe, traditionally comprising anything belonging to the Eastern world. It is the antonym of the term ''Occident'', which refers to the Western world. In English, it is largely a meto ...

* Sesser * West Frankfort * Zeigler

Villages

* Buckner * Ewing * Freeman Spur (mostly in Williamson County) * Hanaford * Macedonia (partly in Hamilton County) * North City * Royalton * Thompsonville * Valier * West City

Census-designated place

* Mulkeytown

Townships

Franklin County is divided into twelve townships: * Barren * Benton * Browning *

Cave Caves or caverns are natural voids under the Earth's Planetary surface, surface. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. Exogene caves are smaller openings that extend a relatively short distance undergrou ...

* Denning * Eastern * Ewing * Frankfort * Goode * Northern * Six Mile * Tyrone

Unincorporated communities

* Akin * Akin Junction * Cleburne * Deering City * Frisco * Kegley * Meyer * Parrish * Pershing * Plumfield * Rend City * Steel City * Valier Patch * West End * Whittington

Education

Regional

* Franklin, Johnson, Massac, and Williamson County Regional Office of Education #21

Primary and secondary

* Christopher Unit School District 99 * Sesser-Valier Community Unit School District 196 * Benton Community Consolidated School District 47 * Frankfort Community Unit School District 168 * Zeigler-Royalton Community Unit School District 188 * Thompsonville Community Unit School District 174 * Ewing-Northern Community Consolidated School District 115

Higher education

* John A. Logan College Extension Center - West Frankfort

Specialized

* Franklin & Jefferson County Special Education Cooperative Franklin & Jefferson County Special Education Cooperative
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Politics

Franklin County voted mostly for Democratic US presidential candidates until 2000. Since then it has voted for Republican presidential nominees.

References

United States Census Bureau 2007 TIGER/Line Shapefiles

United States Board on Geographic Names (GNIS)

United States National Atlas
{{Coord, 37.99, -88.92, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-IL_source:UScensus1990 Illinois counties 1818 establishments in Illinois Populated places established in 1818 Franklin County, Illinois Franklin County, Illinois Pre-statehood history of Illinois