Jasper 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 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 9,287. 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 Newton.

History

Jasper County was formed in 1831 out of

Clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolinite, ). Most pure clay minerals are white or light-coloured, but natural clays show a variety of colours from impuriti ...

and Crawford Counties. It was named for Sgt. William Jasper, a Revolutionary War hero from

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

. During the defense of

Fort Moultrie Fort Moultrie is a series of fortifications on Sullivan's Island, South Carolina, built to protect the city of Charleston, South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina. The first fort, formerly named Fort Sullivan, built of Cabbage Pal ...

in 1776, the staff of the

American flag The national flag of the United States, often referred to as the American flag or the U.S. flag, consists of thirteen horizontal Bar (heraldry), stripes, Variation of the field, alternating red and white, with a blue rectangle in the Canton ( ...

was shot away. Sgt. Jasper attached the flag to a pole and stood on the wall waving the flag at the British until a new staff was erected. File:Jasper County Illinois 1831.png, Jasper County at the time of its creation in 1831

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (0.7%) is water.

Climate and weather

In recent years, average temperatures in the county seat of Newton have ranged from a low of in January to a high of in July, although a record low of was recorded in January 1994 and a record high of was recorded in July 1954. Average monthly precipitation ranged from in January to in May.

Adjacent counties

Cumberland County Cumberland County may refer to: Australia * Cumberland County, New South Wales * the former name of Cumberland Land District, Tasmania, Australia Canada *Cumberland County, Nova Scotia United Kingdom * Cumberland, historic county *Cumberl ...

– north * Clark County – northeast * Crawford County – east * Richland County – south *

Clay County Clay County is the name of 18 counties in the United States. Most are named for Henry Clay, U.S. Senator and statesman: * Clay County, Alabama * Clay County, Arkansas (named for John Clayton, and originally named Clayton County) * Clay County, Fl ...

– southwest * Effingham County – west

Demographics

As of the 2010 United States census, there were 9,698 people, 3,940 households, and 2,800 families living in the county. The population density was . There were 4,345 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 98.6% white, 0.2% Asian, 0.1% American Indian, 0.1% black or African American, 0.3% from other races, and 0.6% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 0.8% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 39.5% were German, 12.5% were American, 11.0% were Irish, and 9.1% were English. Of the 3,940 households, 29.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.1% were married couples living together, 7.9% had a female householder with no husband present, 28.9% were non-families, and 24.5% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.45 and the average family size was 2.90. The median age was 42.7 years. The median income for a household in the county was $46,546 and the median income for a family was $53,034. Males had a median income of $39,167 versus $24,856 for females. The per capita income for the county was $21,467. About 6.3% of families and 8.5% 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 10.6% of those under age 18 and 5.1% of those aged 65 or over.

Education

Jasper County is largely served by Jasper County Community Unit School District 1, which is based in its county seat, Newton. Five of the district's six schools are located in Jasper County. Saint Thomas Catholic School is a private elementary school, also in Newton.

Communities

City

* Newton (seat)

Villages

* Hidalgo * Rose Hill * Ste. Marie * Wheeler * Willow Hill *

Yale Yale University is a private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, and one of the nine colonial colleges ch ...

Unincorporated communities

* Bogota * Boos * Hunt City * Island Grove * Latona * West Liberty

Townships

Jasper County is divided into eleven townships: * Crooked Creek * Fox * Grandville * Grove * Hunt City * North Muddy * Sainte Marie * Smallwood * South Muddy * Wade * Willow Hill

Notable residents

Glenn Brummer Glenn Edward Brummer (born November 23, 1954) is an American former Major League Baseball catcher who played for the St. Louis Cardinals and the Texas Rangers. Brummer was born in Olney, Illinois. His father, Bob Brummer, briefly played mino ...

, baseball

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the catc ...

for the

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

St. Louis Cardinals and Texas Rangers; member of the 1982 World Champion Cardinals * Irene Hunt, author of the classic '' Across Five Aprils'' * Albert Isley, Illinois judge, lawyer, and state senator *

Burl Ives Burl Icle Ivanhoe Ives (June 14, 1909 – April 14, 1995) was an American Folk music, folk singer and actor with a career that spanned more than six decades. Ives began his career as an itinerant singer and guitarist, eventually launching his o ...

, folk singer, author, and actor * Ross Wolf, baseball

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

; plays for the SK Wyverns of the Korea Baseball Championship; formerly played for several

teams

Politics

Jasper is politically a fairly typical "anti-

Yankee The term ''Yankee'' and its contracted form ''Yank'' have several interrelated meanings, all referring to people from the United States. Their various meanings depend on the context, and may refer to New Englanders, the Northeastern United Stat ...

" Southern Illinois county. Opposition to the "

" Republican Party and that party's

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

meant that Jasper County voted solidly Democratic until isolationist sentiment drove its voters to

Warren G. Harding Warren Gamaliel Harding (November 2, 1865 – August 2, 1923) was the 29th president of the United States, serving from 1921 until his death in 1923. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he was one of the most ...

in 1920. Since 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 ...

, the county has shown a steady trend away from the Democratic Party due to major shifts in that party's views – initially on economic policies and since the 1990s on social issues.Cohn, Nate
‘Demographic Shift: Southern Whites’ Loyalty to G.O.P. Nearing That of Blacks to Democrats’
''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', April 24, 2014 Only one Democrat,

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 ...

, has won a majority since 1940 in his 1964 landslide. It appears to be a statistical change in the

Upland South The Upland South and Upper South are two overlapping cultural and geographic subregions in the inland part of the Southern United States. They differ from the Deep South and Atlantic coastal plain by terrain, history, economics, demographics, a ...

, that Barack Obama in 2012 and Hillary Clinton in 2016 did far worse than any previous Democrat candidates for president.

References

External links

County of Jasper & City of Newton Website

{{Coord, 39.01, -88.15, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-IL_source:UScensus1990 Illinois counties 1831 establishments in Illinois Populated places established in 1831