Pope County, Illinois Explained

County:Pope County
State:Illinois
Founded:1816
Seat Wl:Golconda
Largest City Wl:Golconda
Area Total Sq Mi:374
Area Land Sq Mi:369
Area Water Sq Mi:5.5
Area Percentage:1.5
Census Yr:2020
Pop:3763
Pop Est As Of:2021
Density Sq Mi:10
Ex Image:Pope County Courthouse, Golconda.jpg
Ex Image Cap:Pope County Courthouse in Golconda
District:12th
Time Zone:Central
Named For:Nathaniel Pope

Pope County is the southeasternmost county in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2020 census, it had a population of 3,763,[1] making it the second-least populous county in Illinois. Its county seat is Golconda.[2] The county was organized in 1816 from portions of Gallatin and Johnson counties and named after Nathaniel Pope, a politician and jurist from the Illinois Territory and State of Illinois.

History

The first permanent settlement in future Pope County was established in 1798 at the modern-day site of Golconda, then a part of the Northwest Territory which operated as a ferry point across the Ohio River. The county was formed in 1816 from portions of Gallatin and Johnson Counties.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of, of which is land and (1.5%) is water.

The entire county is hilly and during rainy weather rivulets cascade down the hills in the park forming waterfalls of varying sizes and heights. The county contains Dixon Springs State Park, one of many state parks in the Illinois Shawnee Hills, and is part of the Shawnee National Forest. It is bordered to the south and east by the Ohio River, which marks the state's border with Kentucky.

Climate and weather

In recent years, average temperatures in the county seat of Golconda 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 August 2007. Average monthly precipitation ranged from in October to in May.

Transit

Major highways

Adjacent counties

National protected area

Demographics

As of the 2010 census, there were 4,470 people, 1,829 households, and 1,209 families living in the county.[3] The population density was . There were 2,491 housing units at an average density of .[4] The racial makeup of the county was 91.7% white, 6.0% black or African American, 0.6% American Indian, 0.2% Asian, 0.5% from other races, and 0.9% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 1.4% of the population.[3] In terms of ancestry, 31.8% were German, 19.1% were Irish, 11.4% were English, and 5.4% were American.[5]

Of the 1,829 households, 23.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.9% were married couples living together, 7.8% had a female householder with no husband present, 33.9% were non-families, and 29.8% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.23 and the average family size was 2.72. The median age was 46.6 years.[3]

The median income for a household in the county was $39,672 and the median income for a family was $51,500. Males had a median income of $45,865 versus $28,519 for females. The per capita income for the county was $20,134. About 6.6% of families and 12.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 18.4% of those under age 18 and 9.1% of those age 65 or over.[6]

Politics

In its early days Pope County, being strongly Southern in its culture and opposed to Northern Illinois, was powerfully Democratic, giving a majority to that party in every pre-war Presidential election. However, during the Civil War, under the influence of Congressman John A. Logan, this region of dubious initial loyalty was to provide a number of Union soldiers rivalled on a per capita basis only by a few fiercely Unionist counties in Appalachia.[7] [8] Stephen A. Douglas in 1860 remains the last Democrat to win a majority of the county's vote, although Bill Clinton won pluralities in both 1992 and 1996 due to Ross Perot siphoning votes from Republican opponents George Bush senior and Bob Dole. Hillary Clinton in 2016 fared extremely poorly, carrying fewer than eighteen percent of Pope County's votes.[9]

Communities

City

Village

Unincorporated communities

Notable people

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: State & County QuickFacts. United States Census Bureau. July 8, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20151208141515/http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/17/17151.html. December 8, 2015. dead.
  2. Web site: Find a County. June 7, 2011. National Association of Counties.
  3. Web site: DP-1 Profile of General Population and Housing Characteristics: 2010 Demographic Profile Data . July 12, 2015 . . https://archive.today/20200213011716/http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/DEC/10_DP/DPDP1/0500000US17151 . February 13, 2020. dead .
  4. Web site: Population, Housing Units, Area, and Density: 2010 - County . July 12, 2015 . . https://archive.today/20200213185024/http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/DEC/10_SF1/GCTPH1.CY10/0500000US17151 . February 13, 2020. dead .
  5. Web site: DP02 SELECTED SOCIAL CHARACTERISTICS IN THE UNITED STATES – 2006-2010 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates . July 12, 2015. . https://archive.today/20200213084724/http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/10_5YR/DP02/0500000US17151 . February 13, 2020. dead .
  6. Web site: DP03 SELECTED ECONOMIC CHARACTERISTICS – 2006-2010 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates . July 12, 2015 . . https://archive.today/20200213021408/http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/10_5YR/DP03/0500000US17151 . February 13, 2020. dead .
  7. Wells, Damon; Stephen Douglas: The Last Years, 1857–1861, p. 285
  8. Copeland, James E.; ‘Where Were the Kentucky Unionists and Secessionists’; The Register of the Kentucky Historical Society, volume 71, no. 4 (October 1973), pp. 344-363
  9. Cohn, Nate; ‘Demographic Shift: Southern Whites’ Loyalty to G.O.P. Nearing That of Blacks to Democrats’, New York Times, April 24, 2014