Bureau County was created from a portion ofPutnam County in 1837. It is named for brothers Michel and Pierre Bureau, French Canadians who ran a trading post from 1776 until the 1780s near the conjunction of Big Bureau Creek with Illinois River. Their actual surname most likely was Belleau, but the local American Indians had difficulty pronouncing the "l" sound, which was not found in some local languages.[4][5]An early settler of this area was Bulbona, a man of mixed French and Native American descent with a Native American wife. Unlike most of the other Native Americans in the area, Bulbona remained after the area was settled by Euro-Americans and ran a trading post, where he sold whiskey among other necessities.[6]
The founders ofPrinceton, the area's oldest town, were settlers fromNew England, descendants of theEnglishPuritans who settledNew England in the 17th century. They were part of a wave ofNew England farmers who moved to theNorthwest Territory in the early 19th century. Most of them came soon after of the completion of theErie Canal.[6] When they arrived, they faced virgin forest and wild prairie. TheseNew Englanders laid out farms, constructed roads, erected government buildings and established post routes. They brought with them many of theirYankeeNew England values, such as a passion for education, establishing many schools, and were staunchabolitionists. They were mostly members of theCongregationalist Church orEpiscopalians. Early Bureau County, like much of northernIllinois, was culturally very continuous with earlyNew England culture.[7][8][6]
Like so many other areas in theMidwest, this county was on a "line" of theUnderground Railroad. There was a "station" at the home ofOwen Lovejoy inPrinceton, and several other locations in the county.
Bureau County's boundaries have remained unchanged since its creation in 1837.
According to theUS Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 874 square miles (2,260 km2), of which 869 square miles (2,250 km2) is land and 4.5 square miles (12 km2) (0.5%) is water.[9]Big Bureau Creek is the main body of water.
In recent years, average temperatures in the county seat of Princeton have ranged from a low of 14 °F (−10 °C) in January to a high of 85 °F (29 °C) in July, although a record low of −22 °F (−30 °C) was recorded in February 1996 and a record high of 102 °F (39 °C) was recorded in June 1988. Average monthly precipitation ranged from 1.48 inches (38 mm) in February to 4.76 inches (121 mm) in August.[10]
Bureau County, Illinois – Racial and ethnic composition Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos may be of any race.
As of the2020 census, the county had a population of 33,244. The median age was 44.8 years. 21.2% of residents were under the age of 18 and 22.4% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 97.6 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 95.5 males age 18 and over.[25][26]
45.0% of residents lived in urban areas, while 55.0% lived in rural areas.[27]
There were 14,179 households in the county, of which 26.4% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 47.4% were married-couple households, 19.4% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 25.5% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 31.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.[25]
There were 15,616 housing units, of which 9.2% were vacant. Among occupied housing units, 74.8% were owner-occupied and 25.2% were renter-occupied. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.8% and the rental vacancy rate was 7.1%.[25]
As of the2010 United States census, there were 34,978 people, 14,262 households, and 9,605 families residing in the county.[28] The population density was 40.2 inhabitants per square mile (15.5/km2). There were 15,720 housing units at an average density of 18.1 per square mile (7.0/km2).[9] The racial makeup of the county was 94.2% white, 0.7% Asian, 0.6% black or African American, 0.3% American Indian, 3.0% from other races, and 1.3% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 7.7% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 32.8% wereGerman, 13.8% wereIrish, 12.1% wereEnglish, 9.2% wereAmerican, 8.8% wereItalian, 7.6% wereSwedish, and 5.8% werePolish.[29]
Of the 14,262 households, 29.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.6% were married couples living together, 9.2% had a female householder with no husband present, 32.7% were non-families, and 28.0% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.42 and the average family size was 2.94. The median age was 42.5 years.
The median income for a household in the county was $45,692 and the median income for a family was $55,217. Males had a median income of $42,327 versus $29,210 for females. The per capita income for the county was $24,103. About 8.6% of families and 11.1% of the population were below thepoverty line, including 15.3% of those under age 18 and 7.5% of those age 65 or over.[30]
As part ofYankee-settled Northern Illinois, Bureau County became powerfully Republican for the century followingthe Civil War. The only Democrat to carry the county between 1856 and 1988 wasFranklin D. Roosevelt during his landslide 1932 victory, althoughProgressiveTheodore Roosevelt did carry the county during the 1912 election. Between 1988 and 2012, the county trended Democratic –Bill Clinton won pluralities in both his elections andBarack Obama won an absolute majority in 2008 and nearly did so in 2012 – however concern with lack of employment opportunities in the Rust Belt led to a powerful swing towardDonald Trump in 2016 for the best GOP result sinceRonald Reagan’s 1984 landslide.
United States presidential election results for Bureau County, Illinois[32]
