Greene County, Illinois | |
|---|---|
 Greene County Courthouse | |
 Location within the U.S. state ofIllinois | |
 Illinois's location within theU.S. | |
| Coordinates:39°21′N90°23′W / 39.35°N 90.39°W /39.35; -90.39 | |
| Country |  United States |
| State |  Illinois |
| Founded | 1821 |
| Named after | Nathanael Greene |
| Seat | Carrollton |
| Largest city | Carrollton |
| Area | |
• Total | 546 sq mi (1,410 km2) |
| • Land | 543 sq mi (1,410 km2) |
| • Water | 3.3 sq mi (8.5 km2) 0.6% |
| Population (2020) | |
• Total | 11,843 |
• Estimate (2024) | 11,417 [1] |
| • Density | 21.8/sq mi (8.42/km2) |
| Time zone | UTC−6 (Central) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−5 (CDT) |
| Congressional district | 15th |
Greene County is acounty located in theU.S. state ofIllinois. According to the2020 United States census, it has a population of 11,843.[2] Itscounty seat isCarrollton.[3]
A notablearchaeological area, theKoster Site, has produced evidence of more than 7,000 years of human habitation. Artifacts from the site are displayed at theCenter for American Archeology inKampsville, Illinois.
Greene County is named in honor of GeneralNathanael Greene, a hero of theAmerican Revolutionary War.[4] In 1821, three years after Illinois became a state, Greene County was established, being carved out of what was previously Madison county and St. Clair county before that. Over the course of the next 18 years four more counties were formed out of what was once Greene Country. These include Scott, Morgan, Macoupin and Jersey counties. This left Greene county with approximately 546 square miles of land located in western-central Illinois near the Illinois River, which was an important resource that provided both a means for travel and to ship goods. Like much of southern Illinois the earliest settlers in the county came from Southern states such as North and South Carolina, Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee. By the time of the Civil War, 1860, the population of Greene County had grown to 16,093 and 10% of the adult population had been born in the Northeast, 15% were foreign born, 25% were born in Southern states, and almost 50% had been born in the Midwest. Of the population born in the Midwest many could still trace their roots to the South, with almost 80% of them having parents born in a Southern state.[5]
![Greene County from its creation in 1821 to 1823, including unorganized territory temporarily attached to it.[6]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aGreene_County_Illinois_1821.png)
According to theUS Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 546 square miles (1,410 km2), of which 543 square miles (1,410 km2) is land and 3.3 square miles (8.5 km2) (0.6%) is water.[7]
| Carrollton, Illinois | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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In recent years, average temperatures in the county seat of Carrollton have ranged from a low of 16 °F (−9 °C) in January to a high of 87 °F (31 °C) in July, although a record low of −26 °F (−32 °C) was recorded in January 1912 and a record high of 113 °F (45 °C) was recorded in July 1934. Average monthly precipitation ranged from 1.60 inches (41 mm) in January to 4.34 inches (110 mm) in May.[8]
| Census | Pop. | Note | %± |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1830 | 7,674 | — | |
| 1840 | 11,951 | 55.7% | |
| 1850 | 12,429 | 4.0% | |
| 1860 | 16,093 | 29.5% | |
| 1870 | 20,277 | 26.0% | |
| 1880 | 23,010 | 13.5% | |
| 1890 | 23,791 | 3.4% | |
| 1900 | 23,402 | −1.6% | |
| 1910 | 22,363 | −4.4% | |
| 1920 | 22,883 | 2.3% | |
| 1930 | 20,417 | −10.8% | |
| 1940 | 20,292 | −0.6% | |
| 1950 | 18,852 | −7.1% | |
| 1960 | 17,460 | −7.4% | |
| 1970 | 17,014 | −2.6% | |
| 1980 | 16,661 | −2.1% | |
| 1990 | 15,317 | −8.1% | |
| 2000 | 14,761 | −3.6% | |
| 2010 | 13,886 | −5.9% | |
| 2020 | 11,985 | −13.7% | |
| 2024 (est.) | 11,417 | [9] | −4.7% |
| US Decennial Census[10] 1790–1960[11] 1900–1990[12] 1990–2000[13] 2010–2013[14] | |||
| Race / Ethnicity(NH = Non-Hispanic) | Pop 1980[15] | Pop 1990[16] | Pop 2000[17] | Pop 2010[18] | Pop 2020[19] | % 1980 | % 1990 | % 2000 | % 2010 | % 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| White alone (NH) | 16,557 | 15,201 | 14,442 | 13,517 | 11,451 | 99.38% | 99.24% | 97.84% | 97.34% | 95.54% |
| Black or African American alone (NH) | 13 | 14 | 109 | 119 | 18 | 0.08% | 0.09% | 0.74% | 0.86% | 0.15% |
| Native American orAlaska Native alone (NH) | 8 | 45 | 34 | 20 | 13 | 0.05% | 0.29% | 0.23% | 0.14% | 0.11% |
| Asian alone (NH) | 15 | 13 | 13 | 16 | 21 | 0.09% | 0.08% | 0.09% | 0.12% | 0.18% |
| Native Hawaiian orPacific Islander alone (NH) | x[20] | x[21] | 3 | 2 | 3 | x | x | 0.02% | 0.01% | 0.03% |
| Other race alone (NH) | 8 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 23 | 0.05% | 0.00% | 0.03% | 0.03% | 0.19% |
| Mixed race or Multiracial (NH) | x[22] | x[23] | 78 | 93 | 350 | x | x | 0.53% | 0.67% | 2.92% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 60 | 44 | 77 | 115 | 106 | 0.36% | 0.29% | 0.52% | 0.83% | 0.88% |
| Total | 16,661 | 15,317 | 14,761 | 13,886 | 11,985 | 100.00% | 100.00% | 100.00% | 100.00% | 100.00% |
As of the2010 United States census, there were 13,886 people, 5,570 households, and 3,777 families living in the county.[24] The population density was 25.6 inhabitants per square mile (9.9/km2). There were 6,389 housing units at an average density of 11.8 per square mile (4.6/km2).[7] The racial makeup of the county was 97.9% white, 0.9% black or African American, 0.2% American Indian, 0.1% Asian, 0.3% from other races, and 0.7% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 0.8% of the population.[24] In terms of ancestry, 30.7% wereGerman, 14.7% wereIrish, 13.3% wereEnglish, and 12.1% wereAmerican.[25]
Of the 5,570 households, 30.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.0% were married couples living together, 9.4% had a female householder with no husband present, 32.2% were non-families, and 27.8% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.44 and the average family size was 2.95. The median age was 41.6 years.[24]
The median income for a household in the county was $41,450 and the median income for a family was $52,049. Males had a median income of $38,185 versus $27,231 for females. The per capita income for the county was $22,107. About 11.8% of families and 15.1% of the population were below thepoverty line, including 22.1% of those under age 18 and 10.0% of those age 65 or over.[26]
The population ranking of the following table is based on the2020 census of Greene County.
†county seat
| Rank | Place | Municipal type | Population (2020 Census) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | †Carrollton | City | 2,485 |
| 2 | White Hall | City | 2,295 |
| 3 | Roodhouse | City | 1,578 |
| 4 | Greenfield | City | 1,059 |
| 5 | Kane | Village | 296 |
| 6 | Rockbridge | Village | 175 |
| 7 | Eldred | Village | 149 |
| 8 | Hillview | Village | 94 |
| 9 | Wilmington (Patterson) | Village | 91 |
Greene County was reliably Democratic from the beginning through 1948; only one Republican Party nominee carried the county vote during that period. Since then it has usually voted for the Republican presidential nominee (14 of 18 elections).
As one of the most northerly“southern” counties in Illinois, Greene County was rock-ribbed Democratic for the seventy years afterthe Civil War, which it opposed as a “Yankee” war. Not until considerable anti-Catholic sentiment againstAl Smith turned many voters toHerbert Hoover did the county support a Republican presidential nominee. However, with the coming ofWorld War II, opposition to American involvement led to gains forWendell Willkie andThomas E. Dewey, although apart from the 1960 election – also influenced by Catholicism – Greene was abellwether county throughout the period from 1928 to 2004.
Hillary Clinton’s 2016 tally of 21.68 percent of the county’s vote is 14.3 percent worse than any Democratic presidential candidate before 2012.[27]As of February 2025, the county is one of 7 that voted to join the state of Indiana.[28]
| Year | Republican | Democratic | Third party(ies) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | % | No. | % | No. | % | |
| 1892 | 1,967 | 35.16% | 3,146 | 56.24% | 481 | 8.60% |
| 1896 | 2,365 | 36.88% | 3,983 | 62.11% | 65 | 1.01% |
| 1900 | 2,131 | 35.53% | 3,785 | 63.11% | 81 | 1.35% |
| 1904 | 1,959 | 40.14% | 2,649 | 54.28% | 272 | 5.57% |
| 1908 | 2,004 | 37.19% | 3,159 | 58.62% | 226 | 4.19% |
| 1912 | 831 | 17.04% | 2,801 | 57.44% | 1,244 | 25.51% |
| 1916 | 3,400 | 35.60% | 6,150 | 64.40% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1920 | 3,685 | 47.96% | 3,776 | 49.15% | 222 | 2.89% |
| 1924 | 3,527 | 39.73% | 4,648 | 52.35% | 703 | 7.92% |
| 1928 | 4,299 | 51.05% | 4,076 | 48.40% | 46 | 0.55% |
| 1932 | 2,857 | 30.61% | 6,347 | 67.99% | 131 | 1.40% |
| 1936 | 3,916 | 37.14% | 6,510 | 61.74% | 118 | 1.12% |
| 1940 | 4,840 | 44.30% | 6,015 | 55.06% | 70 | 0.64% |
| 1944 | 4,261 | 49.70% | 4,268 | 49.78% | 45 | 0.52% |
| 1948 | 3,639 | 47.09% | 4,035 | 52.22% | 53 | 0.69% |
| 1952 | 5,019 | 54.96% | 4,106 | 44.96% | 7 | 0.08% |
| 1956 | 4,718 | 54.57% | 3,909 | 45.21% | 19 | 0.22% |
| 1960 | 4,487 | 53.78% | 3,847 | 46.10% | 10 | 0.12% |
| 1964 | 3,128 | 39.55% | 4,781 | 60.45% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1968 | 3,944 | 51.17% | 3,094 | 40.14% | 670 | 8.69% |
| 1972 | 4,673 | 62.13% | 2,824 | 37.55% | 24 | 0.32% |
| 1976 | 3,706 | 47.35% | 4,057 | 51.83% | 64 | 0.82% |
| 1980 | 4,224 | 59.33% | 2,607 | 36.62% | 289 | 4.06% |
| 1984 | 4,057 | 60.96% | 2,563 | 38.51% | 35 | 0.53% |
| 1988 | 3,136 | 50.56% | 3,020 | 48.69% | 47 | 0.76% |
| 1992 | 2,391 | 34.00% | 3,164 | 44.99% | 1,477 | 21.00% |
| 1996 | 2,245 | 37.83% | 2,734 | 46.07% | 955 | 16.09% |
| 2000 | 3,129 | 54.26% | 2,490 | 43.18% | 148 | 2.57% |
| 2004 | 3,559 | 58.65% | 2,457 | 40.49% | 52 | 0.86% |
| 2008 | 3,053 | 52.40% | 2,619 | 44.95% | 154 | 2.64% |
| 2012 | 3,451 | 61.22% | 2,023 | 35.89% | 163 | 2.89% |
| 2016 | 4,145 | 74.22% | 1,205 | 21.58% | 235 | 4.21% |
| 2020 | 4,770 | 76.48% | 1,349 | 21.63% | 118 | 1.89% |
| 2024 | 4,719 | 77.68% | 1,220 | 20.08% | 136 | 2.24% |
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: others (link)Places adjacent to Greene County, Illinois | ||||||||||||||||
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Municipalities and communities ofGreene County, Illinois,United States | ||
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| Townships | ||
| Unincorporated communities | ||
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| Other | |
