Edwards County, Illinois Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids Edwards County
U.S. county
Edwards County Courthouse in Albion
Location within the U.S. state of Illinois
Illinois's location within the U.S.
Country	United States
State	Illinois
Founded	1814
Named for	Ninian Edwards
Seat	Albion
Largest city	Albion
Area
• Total	223 sq mi (580 km²)
• Land	222 sq mi (570 km²)
• Water	0.3 sq mi (0.8 km²) 0.1%
Population (2010)
• Total	6,721
• Estimate (2018)	6,392
• Density	30.14/sq mi (11.637/km²)
Time zone	UTC−6 (Central)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−5 (CDT)
Congressional district	15th

Edwards County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. As of the 2010 census, the population was 6,721. Its county seat is Albion.

History
Geography
Demographics
Communities
See also

History

Edwards County was named for Ninian Edwards, the governor of the Illinois Territory, and, later, governor of Illinois.

Edwards County is subdivided into "Road Districts", rather than "Townships" as in most Illinois counties. Pursuant to the Land Ordinance of 1785, the Northwest Territory (including Illinois) was surveyed and mostly organized into townships that are six miles square; but Edwards County was settled prior to that survey, and its pre-existing Road Districts do not generally correspond with the survey's townships.

Edwards County, when it was created in 1815 from Gallatin and Madison Counties, extended north to Lake Superior.
The county between 1816 and 1819. Clark and White Counties were created from Edwards and Gallatin Counties.
The county between 1819 and 1821. At this point Crawford County was split off from Edwards, and Wayne Counties.
Edwards between 1821 and 1824
Edwards in 1824, reduced to its current size by the creation of Wabash County

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 223 square miles (580 km²), of which 222 square miles (570 km²) is land and 0.3 square miles (0.78 km²) (0.1%) is water. It is the fourth-smallest county in Illinois by area.

When Edwards County was formed in 1814, it comprised nearly half of the State of Illinois. New counties were formed from it until, in 1824, it assumed its present form from the creation of Wabash County. The two are the fourth and fifth smallest counties in Illinois.

Climate and weather

Weather chart for Albion, Illinois

2.6

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5.1

4.6

4.2

3.9

3.4

2.9

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4.3

3.5

temperatures in °F
precipitation totals in inches
source: The Weather Channel

Metric conversion

J	F	M	A	M	J	J	A	S	O	N	D
65 3 -6	69 7 -4	109 13 2	130 19 7	117 24 13	106 30 18	98 32 20	87 31 19	73 27 14	85 21 8	109 12 2	89 6 -3
temperatures in °C • precipitation totals in mm

In recent years, average temperatures in the county seat of Albion have ranged from a low of 21 °F (−6 °C) in January to a high of 89 °F (32 °C) in July, although a record low of −20 °F (−29 °C) was recorded in January 1982 and a record high of 109 °F (43 °C) was recorded in July 1954. Average monthly precipitation ranged from 2.57 inches (65 mm) in January to 5.13 inches (130 mm) in April.

Major highways

Illinois Route 1
Illinois Route 15
Illinois Route 130

Adjacent counties

Richland County (north)
Wabash County (east)
White County (south)
Wayne County (west)

Demographics

Historical population
Census	Pop.	%±
1820	3,444	—
1830	1,649	−52.1%
1840	3,070	86.2%
1850	3,524	14.8%
1860	5,454	54.8%
1870	7,565	38.7%
1880	8,597	13.6%
1890	9,444	9.9%
1900	10,345	9.5%
1910	10,049	−2.9%
1920	9,431	−6.1%
1930	8,303	−12.0%
1940	8,974	8.1%
1950	9,056	0.9%
1960	7,940	−12.3%
1970	7,090	−10.7%
1980	7,961	12.3%
1990	7,440	−6.5%
2000	6,971	−6.3%
2010	6,721	−3.6%
2018 (est.)	6,392	−4.9%
U.S. Decennial Census 1790-1960 1900-1990 1990-2000 2010-2017

2000 census age pyramid for Edwards County

As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 6,721 people, 2,840 households, and 1,926 families residing in the county. The population density was 30.2 inhabitants per square mile (11.7/km²). There were 3,187 housing units at an average density of 14.3 per square mile (5.5/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 98.0% white, 0.4% black or African American, 0.3% Asian, 0.1% American Indian, 0.3% from other races, and 0.8% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 0.9% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 26.8% were German, 22.4% were English, 13.3% were American, and 8.4% were Irish.

Of the 2,840 households, 28.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.8% were married couples living together, 8.3% had a female householder with no husband present, 32.2% were non-families, and 28.5% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.35 and the average family size was 2.86. The median age was 42.7 years.

The median income for a household in the county was $40,430 and the median income for a family was $51,337. Males had a median income of $40,183 versus $27,295 for females. The per capita income for the county was $21,113. About 10.6% of families and 12.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 17.1% of those under age 18 and 12.3% of those age 65 or over.