Grundy County, Illinois
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Grundy 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 the U.S. state 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 ...
. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 52,533. 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 Morris. Grundy County is part of the
Chicago metropolitan area The Chicago metropolitan area, also referred to as Chicagoland, is the largest metropolitan statistical area in the U.S. state of Illinois, and the Midwest, containing the City of Chicago along with its surrounding suburbs and satellite cities. ...
. In 2010, the
center of population In Demography, demographics, the center of population (or population center) of a region is a geographical point that describes a centerpoint of the region's population. There are several ways of defining such a "center point", leading to dif ...
of Illinois was in Grundy County, just northeast of the village of
Mazon Mazon may refer to: Places in the United States * Mazon, Illinois, a village * Mazon Creek fossils * Mazon River * Mazon station, Mazon, Illinois * Mazon Township, Grundy County, Illinois Organizations *MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger, a nonpro ...
. Illinois's state fossil, the unique and bizarre Tully Monster, was first found in Mazon Creek. Grundy County is home to Dresden Generating Station—the first privately financed nuclear power plant built in the United States—and the Morris Operation—the only de facto high-level
radioactive waste Radioactive waste is a type of hazardous waste that contains radioactive material. It is a result of many activities, including nuclear medicine, nuclear research, nuclear power generation, nuclear decommissioning, rare-earth mining, and nuclear ...
storage site in the United States.


History

Grundy County was established on February 17, 1841. It was formed out of LaSalle County and named after U.S. Attorney General Felix Grundy. The county was well known for its coal mines and attracted miners from Pennsylvania and other regions to work its deposits. The 1883 Diamond Mine Disaster occurred in Grundy County. The disaster took the lives of 69 men and boys who were trapped underground when water broke through into the mine after days of heavy rain and the pumps could not keep up with the rising water. 22 bodies were eventually recovered, the remaining 44 were left in the mine and the mine was sealed. Today a marker stands near where it was believed the majority of victims were entombed. File:Grundy County Illinois 1841.png, Grundy County at the time of its creation in 1841


Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (2.9%) is water.


Climate and weather

In recent years, average temperatures in the county seat of Morris 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 1988. Average monthly precipitation ranged from in February to in June.


Major highways

* * * * * * *


Adjacent counties

* Kendall (north) *
Will Will may refer to: Common meanings * Will and testament, instructions for the disposition of one's property after death * Will (philosophy), or willpower * Will (sociology) * Will, volition (psychology) * Will, a modal verb - see Shall and will ...
(east) * Kankakee (southeast) * Livingston (south) * LaSalle (west)


Demographics

As of the 2010 United States census, there were 50,063 people, 18,546 households, and 13,431 families residing in the county. The population density was . There were 19,996 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 93.7% white, 1.2% black or African American, 0.7% Asian, 0.2% American Indian, 2.7% from other races, and 1.5% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 8.2% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 28.3% were German, 23.0% were Irish, 12.7% were Italian, 9.4% were Polish, 8.6% were English, 7.1% were Norwegian, and 3.0% were American. Of the 18,546 households, 38.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.8% were married couples living together, 9.7% had a female householder with no husband present, 27.6% were non-families, and 22.5% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.69 and the average family size was 3.16. The median age was 36.1 years. The median income for a household in the county was $64,297 and the median income for a family was $75,000. Males had a median income of $58,491 versus $36,592 for females. The per capita income for the county was $27,895. About 5.2% of families and 6.9% 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 8.0% of those under age 18 and 6.5% of those age 65 or over.


Communities


City

* Morris


Villages

* Braceville * Carbon Hill * Channahon (part) * Coal City (part) *
Diamond Diamond is a Allotropes of carbon, solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Diamond is tasteless, odourless, strong, brittle solid, colourless in pure form, a poor conductor of e ...
(part) * Dwight (part) * East Brooklyn * Gardner * Godley (part) * Kinsman *
Mazon Mazon may refer to: Places in the United States * Mazon, Illinois, a village * Mazon Creek fossils * Mazon River * Mazon station, Mazon, Illinois * Mazon Township, Grundy County, Illinois Organizations *MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger, a nonpro ...
* Minooka (mostly) * Seneca (part) * South Wilmington *
Verona Verona ( ; ; or ) is a city on the Adige, River Adige in Veneto, Italy, with 255,131 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region, and is the largest city Comune, municipality in the region and in Northeast Italy, nor ...


Former Communities

* Jugtown


Townships

Grundy County is divided into seventeen townships: * Aux Sable * Braceville * Erienna * Felix * Garfield * Goodfarm * Goose Lake * Greenfield *
Highland Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally, ''upland'' refers to a range of hills, typically from up to , while ''highland'' is usually reserved for range ...
*
Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...
*
Mazon Mazon may refer to: Places in the United States * Mazon, Illinois, a village * Mazon Creek fossils * Mazon River * Mazon station, Mazon, Illinois * Mazon Township, Grundy County, Illinois Organizations *MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger, a nonpro ...
* Morris * Nettle Creek * Norman * Saratoga *
Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...
* Wauponsee


Unincorporated communities

* Mazonia * Paytonville * Nettle Creek * Wauponsee


Politics


See also

* National Register of Historic Places listings in Grundy County, Illinois


References


External links


Grundy County website

Grundy County Jobs
{{Coord, 41.29, -88.43, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-IL_source:UScensus1990 Illinois counties 1841 establishments in Illinois Populated places established in 1841 Chicago metropolitan area