Union 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 ...

. According to the 2020 United States census, it had a population of 17,244. 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 Jonesboro. It is located in the southern portion of Illinois known locally as " Little Egypt".

History

Union County was formed out of Johnson County, nearly a year before the

Illinois Territory The Territory of Illinois was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 1, 1809, until December 3, 1818, when the southern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Illinois. Its ...

gained statehood. It was named for a joint revival meeting of the

Baptists Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...

and Dunkards, called a "union meeting". The county seal depicts the leaders of these two groups shaking hands. File:Union County Illinois 1818.png, For its first year of existence, Union County included an area of unorganized territory temporarily attached to it. File:Union County Illinois 1819.png, In 1819, the additional territory became Alexander County, reducing Union to its current 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 a total area of , of which is land and (2.1%) is water.

Climate and weather

In recent years, average temperatures in the county seat of Jonesboro have ranged from a low of in January to a high of in July, although a record low of was recorded in January 1918 and a record high of was recorded in July 1901. Average monthly precipitation ranged from in September to in May.

Major highways

Interstate 57 Interstate 57 (I-57) is a north–south Interstate Highway that exists in two segments. It runs through Arkansas, Missouri, and Illinois. I-57 parallels the old Illinois Central Railroad for much of its route north of Interstate 55, I-55. T ...

* U.S. Highway 51 *

Illinois Route 3 Illinois Route 3 (IL 3) is a major north–south arterial state highway in southwestern Illinois. It has its southern terminus at Cairo Junction (about north of Cairo, Illinois, Cairo) at the intersection of U.S. Route 51 in Illinois, U.S ...

Illinois Route 127 Illinois Route 127 is a north–south highway in central and southern Illinois. Its southern terminus is at Illinois Route 3 near Olive Branch and its northern terminus at Interstate 55, along with the southern terminus of Illinois Route 4 ...

* Illinois Route 146

Adjacent counties

* Jackson County – north * Williamson County – northeast * Johnson County – east * Pulaski County – southeast * Alexander County – south *

Cape Girardeau County, Missouri Cape Girardeau County (commonly called Cape County) is located in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Missouri; its eastern border is formed by the Mississippi River. At the 2020 census, the population was 81,710. The county seat is J ...

– west *

Perry County, Missouri Perry County is a county located in the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of Missouri. As of the 2020 census, the population was 18,956. Its county seat is Perryville. The county was officially organized on November 16, 1820 (effectiv ...

– northwest

Protected areas

* Brown Barrens Nature Preserve * Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge (partial) * Cypress Creek National Wildlife Refuge (partial) * Lincoln Memorial Picnic Grounds * Giant City State Park (partial) * McClure Shale Glade Nature Preserve * Trail of Tears State Forest * Shawnee National Forest (partial) * Union County State Fish and Wildlife Area

Demographics

As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 17,808 people, 7,167 households, and 4,837 families residing in the county. The population density was . There were 7,924 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 94.8% white, 0.9% black or African American, 0.5% American Indian, 0.3% Asian, 2.0% from other races, and 1.5% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 4.8% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 23.0% 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 ...

, 12.6% were Irish, 9.4% were English, and 8.1% were American. Of the 7,167 households, 29.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.6% were married couples living together, 10.6% had a female householder with no husband present, 32.5% were non-families, and 28.4% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.41 and the average family size was 2.92. The median age was 42.9 years. The median income for a household in the county was $39,760 and the median income for a family was $48,465. Males had a median income of $36,831 versus $31,272 for females. The per capita income for the county was $19,512. About 12.7% of families and 21.1% 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 22.5% of those under age 18 and 16.7% of those age 65 or over.

Communities

Cities

* Anna * Jonesboro (seat)

Villages

* Alto Pass * Cobden *

Dongola Dongola (), also known as Urdu or New Dongola, is the capital of Northern State in Sudan, on the banks of the Nile. It should not be confused with Old Dongola, a now deserted medieval city located 80 km upstream on the opposite bank. Et ...

* Mill Creek

Unincorporated communities

* Balcom * La Rue * Reynoldsville *

Ware WARE (1250 AM) is a commercial radio station broadcasting a classic hits format. Licensed to Ware, Massachusetts, United States, the station serves the Springfield radio market. The station is currently owned by Success Signal Broadcasting ...

Wolf Lake ''Wolf Lake'' is an American supernatural drama television series that originally aired on CBS from September 19 to October 24, 2001. Nine episodes were produced, but only five aired before the series was canceled by CBS. The full series, inclu ...

Politics

Like much of

Southern Illinois Southern Illinois is a region of the U.S. state of Illinois comprising the southern third of the state, principally south of Interstate 70. Part of downstate Illinois, it is bordered by the two List of U.S. rivers by discharge, most voluminous ri ...

, Union County has shifted toward the Republican Party over the past couple decades, with the Republican candidate for president winning the county since 2000.

Education

School districts include:
Text list
/ref> K-12: * Cobden School Unit District 17 * Dongola School Unit District 66 * Goreville Community Unit School District 1 * Shawnee Community Unit School District 84 Secondary: * Anna Jonesboro Community High School District 81 * Vienna High School District 133 Elementary: * Anna Community Consolidated School District 37 * Buncombe Consolidated School District 43 * Cypress School District 64 * Jonesboro Community Consolidated School District 43 * Lick Creek Community Consolidated School District 16

References

Bibliography

* *

External links

Union County Official Website

Union County State's Attorney

Union County Treasurer

Union County Chamber of Commerce
{{Coord, 37, 28, 16, N, 89, 15, 18, W, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-IL_source:GNIS 1818 establishments in Illinois Illinois counties Illinois counties on the Mississippi River Southern Illinois Pre-statehood history of Illinois Populated places established in 1818