Effingham County, Illinois

History

Effingham County was formed in 1831 out of Fayette and Crawford counties. It may have been named after Thomas Howard, 3rd Earl of Effingham, who resigned his commission as general in the British army in 1775, refusing to serve in the war against the Colonies. The name is Anglo-Saxon for "Effa's house". New information suggests that the county was named after a surveyor who surveyed the area whose last name was Effingham. There is no written proof that the county was named after Lord Effingham.

Government

Effingham County is governed by a board of elected representatives. The Effingham County Board is the legislative body of County Government. It is composed of nine elected members, each representing a geographic district within the County. Each district is currently composed on average of just under 4000 residents. The districts are adjusted every 10 years after the national census information is published. The current Effingham County Board Chairman is Joshua Douthit (Republican) elected in 2022 from District B.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 480 sqmi, of which 479 sqmi is land and 1.2 sqmi (0.3%) is water.

Just west of Effingham on Interstate 70 there is a 198 ft white cross; 35,000 vehicles are estimated to pass the site each day. It is one of the world's tallest crosses, and took over 200 ST of steel to erect.

Climate and weather

|Effingham, Illinois |18|35|2.38 |22|41|2.51 |32|52|3.61 |42|64|4.09 |52|74|4.46 |62|83|4.26 |66|87|4.51 |63|85|2.92 |55|78|3.04 |43|67|2.95 |34|52|4.05 |23|40|3.27 |access-date=January 27, 2011 In recent years, average temperatures in the county seat of Effingham have ranged from a low of 18 °F in January to a high of 87 °F in July, although a record low of -29 °F was recorded in January 1915 and a record high of 111 °F was recorded in July 1954. Average monthly precipitation ranged from 2.38 in in January to 4.51 in in July.

Adjacent counties

• Cumberland County - northeast
• Jasper County - east
• Clay County - south
• Fayette County - west
• Shelby County - northwest

Major highways

• [[Image:I-57.svg|25px]] Interstate 57
• [[Image:I-70.svg|25px]] Interstate 70
• [[Image:US 40.svg|25px]] U.S. Route 40
• [[Image:US 45.svg|25px]] U.S. Route 45
• [[Image:Illinois 32.svg|25px]] Illinois Route 32
• [[Image:Illinois 33.svg|25px]] Illinois Route 33
• [[Image:Illinois 37.svg|25px]] Illinois Route 37
• [[Image:Illinois 128.svg|25px]] Illinois Route 128

Transit

• Effingham station
• List of intercity bus stops in Illinois

Demographics

|align-fn=center 1790-1960 1900-1990 1990-2000 2010-2013

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, the county had a population of 34,668. The median age was 40.5 years, 23.3% of residents were under the age of 18, and 19.1% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 98.8 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 96.4 males age 18 and over.

The racial makeup of the county was 94.0% White, 0.4% Black or African American, 0.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% Asian, fewer than 0.1% Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, 0.9% from some other race, and 3.7% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race comprised 2.5% of the population.

40.4% of residents lived in urban areas, while 59.6% lived in rural areas.

There were 14,117 households in the county, of which 29.0% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 53.3% were married-couple households, 17.3% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 23.1% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 28.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

There were 15,314 housing units, of which 7.8% were vacant. Among occupied housing units, 76.7% were owner-occupied and 23.3% were renter-occupied. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.4% and the rental vacancy rate was 7.9%.

Racial and ethnic composition

2010 census

As of the 2010 United States census, there were 34,242 people, 13,515 households, and 9,302 families residing in the county.{{cite web |access-date=July 11, 2015 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20200213031630/http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/DEC/10_DP/DPDP1/0500000US17049 |archive-date=February 13, 2020 |url-status=dead |access-date=July 11, 2015 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20200212204447/http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/DEC/10_SF1/GCTPH1.CY10/0500000US17049 |archive-date=February 12, 2020 |url-status=dead |access-date=July 11, 2015 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20200213012224/http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/10_5YR/DP02/0500000US17049 |archive-date=February 13, 2020 |url-status=dead

Of the 13,515 households, 32.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.9% were married couples living together, 9.5% had a female householder with no husband present, 31.2% were non-families, and 26.9% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.50 and the average family size was 3.03. The median age was 39.2 years.

The median income for a household in the county was $49,509 and the median income for a family was $61,373. Males had a median income of $40,951 versus $28,209 for females. The per capita income for the county was $24,843. About 7.8% of families and 10.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 14.1% of those under age 18 and 7.4% of those age 65 or over.{{cite web |access-date=July 11, 2015 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20200213025533/http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/10_5YR/DP03/0500000US17049 |archive-date=February 13, 2020 |url-status=dead

Communities

Cities

• Altamont
• Effingham (seat)

Town

• Mason

Villages

• Beecher City
• Dieterich
• Edgewood
• Montrose
• Shumway
• Teutopolis
• Watson

Townships

Effingham County is divided into fifteen townships:

• Banner
• Bishop
• Douglas
• Jackson
• Liberty
• Lucas
• Mason
• Moccasin
• Mound
• St. Francis
• Summit
• Teutopolis
• Union
• Watson
• West

Unincorporated communities

• Dexter
• Elliottstown
• Funkhouser
• Gilmore
• Heartville
• Keptown
• Moccasin

Politics

In its early years Effingham County was owing to its anti-Civil War German-American population powerfully Democratic. Until Woodrow Wilson’s harsh policies towards Germany following World War I drove many voters to the GOP’s Warren G. Harding, it had voted an absolute majority to the Democratic presidential candidate in every election since the county’s formation. Opposition to the New Deal caused a considerable swing away from Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1936, and combined with local opposition to Roosevelt’s war policies in 1940 to cause FDR to only win the county by forty-seven votes from Wendell Willkie.

Since that election, the county has voted Republican in every election except 1948 and 1964, and no Democrat since Jimmy Carter in 1976 has reached 35 percent of the county’s vote. Currently Effingham County is one of Illinois’ most Republican counties, rivalled by a number of southern counties like Edwards. In the 2008 U.S. presidential election, John McCain carried the county by a 36% margin over Barack Obama, making it McCain's strongest county in the state, with Obama carrying his home state by a 25.1% margin over McCain.

Currently all elected officials holding major offices in Effingham County are Republican with 8 of 9 elected County Board Representatives being Republican.

References

;Specific

;General

• History of Southern Illinois, George Washington Smith, 1912.
• United States Census Bureau 2007 TIGER/Line Shapefiles
• United States Board on Geographic Names (GNIS)
• United States National Atlas

References

1. (March 2025). "County Population Totals and Components of Change: 2020–2024". U.S. Department of Commerce.
2. "State & County QuickFacts". United States Census Bureau.
3. "Find a County". National Association of Counties.
4. Perrin, William Henry. (1882). "History of Effingham county, Illinois.".
5. "Board {{!}} Effingham County, Illinois (IL)".
6. "Population and Housing Unit Estimates Tables". United States Census Bureau.
7. "U.S. Decennial Census". United States Census Bureau.
8. "Historical Census Browser". University of Virginia Library.
9. "Population of Counties by Decennial Census: 1900 to 1990". United States Census Bureau.
10. "Census 2000 PHC-T-4. Ranking Tables for Counties: 1990 and 2000". United States Census Bureau.
11. (2021). "2020 Decennial Census Demographic Profile (DP1)".
12. (2021). "2020 Decennial Census Redistricting Data (Public Law 94-171)".
13. (2023). "2020 Decennial Census Demographic and Housing Characteristics (DHC)".
14. "1980 Census of Population - General Population Characteristics - Illinois- Table 14 - Persons by Race and Table 16 (p. 18-28) - Total Persons and Spanish Origin Persons by Type of Spanish Origin and Race (p. 29-39)".
15. "1990 Census of Population - General Population Characteristics - Illinois - Table 6 - Race and Hispanic Orogin".
16. "P004: Hispanic or Latino, and Not Hispanic or Latino by Race – 2000: DEC Summary File 1 – Effingham County County, Illinois".
17. "P2: Hispanic or Latino, and Not Hispanic or Latino by Race – 2010: DEC Redistricting Data (PL 94-171) – Effingham County County, Illinois".
18. "P2: Hispanic or Latino, and Not Hispanic or Latino by Race – 2020: DEC Redistricting Data (PL 94-171) – Effingham County County, Illinois".
19. included in the Asian category in the 1980 Census
20. included in the Asian category in the 1990 Census
21. not an option in the 1980 Census
22. not an option in the 1990 Census
23. [http://www.uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/ U.S. Election Atlas]
24. Leip, David. "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections".