Menard 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 United States census, it had a population of 12,297. 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 Petersburg. Menard County is part of the Springfield, Illinois metropolitan area.

History

Menard County was formed in 1839 out of Sangamon County. The County was named for Pierre Menard, the first lieutenant governor of Illinois. File:Menard County Illinois 1839.png, Menard County at the time of its creation in 1839 File:Menard County Illinois 1841.png, Menard County in 1841, reduced to its present borders

Geography

According to the

US 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 ...

, the county has an area of , of which is land and (0.3%) is water.

Climate and weather

In recent years, average temperatures in the county seat of Petersburg 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 January to in May.

Major highways

* Illinois Route 29 *

Illinois Route 97 Illinois Route 97 (IL 97) is a north–south state highway in the central and western portions of the U.S. state of Illinois. It extends from I-55 Business (Business Loop I-55) in Springfield, Illinois, Springfield northwest to U.S. Hi ...

* Illinois Route 123

Adjacent counties

* Mason County - north * Logan County - east * Sangamon County - south * Cass County - west

Demographics

As of the 2010 United States census, there were 12,705 people, 5,140 households, and 3,683 families living in the county. The population density was . There were 5,654 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 97.5% white, 0.6% black or African American, 0.3% American Indian, 0.2% Asian, 0.4% from other races, and 1.1% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 1.0% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 32.5% were German, 20.8% were American, 15.6% were Irish, and 14.3% were English. Of the 5,140 households, 32.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.5% were married couples living together, 9.6% had a female householder with no husband present, 28.3% were non-families, and 24.3% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.44 and the average family size was 2.87. The median age was 42.6 years. The median income for a household in the county was $56,230 and the median income for a family was $65,882. Males had a median income of $42,408 versus $36,735 for females. The per capita income for the county was $26,281. About 6.1% of families and 7.7% 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 10.4% of those under age 18 and 9.4% of those age 65 or over.

Communities

Cities

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

* Petersburg (seat)

Villages

* Greenview * Oakford * Tallula

Census-designated place

* Lake Petersburg

Other unincorporated communities

* Atterberry * Bobtown * Croft * Culver *

Curtis Curtis or Curtiss is a common English given name and surname of Anglo-Norman origin, deriving from the Old French ''curteis'' (Modern French">-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of Fren ...

* Fancy Prairie * Hill Top * Hilltop * Hubly * Lewisburg * Loyd * New Salem * Old Salem Chautauqua * Sweet Water * Tice

Politics and county government

Illinois counties have the option of using or rejecting the township form of providing local services.60 ILCS 1/Art. 5 In Illinois, only 16 of the state's 102 counties have opted out of the township system; Menard County is one of the sixteen. In the years before

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, Menard was a German Catholic and thus Democratic county, opposed to the pietism of Yankee Protestant Northern Illinois.

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. (October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), also known as Teddy or T.R., was the 26th president of the United States, serving from 1901 to 1909. Roosevelt previously was involved in New York (state), New York politics, incl ...

in 1904 was the only Republican to carry the county in this time span. However, resistance against

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was the 28th president of the United States, serving from 1913 to 1921. He was the only History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democrat to serve as president during the Prog ...

’s participatory attitude during World War I allowed

Charles Evans Hughes Charles Evans Hughes (April 11, 1862 – August 27, 1948) was an American politician, academic, and jurist who served as the 11th chief justice of the United States from 1930 to 1941. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...

to carry Menard County in 1916 by a mere four votes (Hughes lost the national election). Since then, as German hostility to Wilson hardened, Menard has become a strongly Republican county. The only Democrats who have carried Menard County since 1916 have been

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...

in 1932 and 1936, and

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 ...

in 1964. Apart from these three 400-electoral vote Democratic landslides,

George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushBefore the outcome of the 2000 United States presidential election, he was usually referred to simply as "George Bush" but became more commonly known as "George H. W. Bush", "Bush Senior," "Bush 41," and even "Bush th ...

in 1992 is the sole Republican candidate since 1920 to fail to win a majority in Menard County.

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (October 1, 1924December 29, 2024) was an American politician and humanitarian who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party ...

and Illinois-bred Barack Obama are the only Democrats since 1964 to reach forty percent of Menard County’s vote. The last two elections have seen a large swing against the Democrats, common to all of rural downstate Illinois.

Education

K-12 School districts include:
Text list
/ref> * A-C Central Community Unit School District 262 * Athens Community Unit School District 213 * Greenview Community Unit School District 200 * Mount Pulaski Community Unit District 23 * Porta Community Unit School District 202 * Pleasant Plains Community Unit School District 8 * Williamsville Community Unit School District 15 There is also an elementary school district, New Holland-Middletown Elementary School District 88, and a secondary school district, Lincoln Community High School District 404.

References

External links

Menard County Tourism Council

Illinois Genealogy Trails
{{Coord, 40.03, -89.80, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-IL_source:UScensus1990 Illinois counties 1839 establishments in Illinois Populated places established in 1839 Springfield metropolitan area, Illinois