Fulton County, Illinois

History

Fulton County was organized in 1823 from Pike County. It is named for Robert Fulton, developer of the first commercially successful steamboat. American poet and writer Edgar Lee Masters lived in Fulton County during the 1890s; he later became famous for the Spoon River Anthology, written in 1915. Fulton County was home to Camp Ellis during World War II.

The county is known for the annual Spoon River Scenic Drive, which occurs the first 2 weekends in October. This has been a tradition since 1968 and attracts thousands of participants from all over the country.

Fulton County is home to the Ogden-Fettie Site, a significant site for Havana Hopewell Native culture. It is the largest collection of Woodland Mounds in Illinois, with 35 Mounds, dating from 400 BC, arranged in a crescent.

File:Fulton County Illinois 1823.png|Fulton County between 1823 and 1825, including unorganized territory temporarily attached. File:Fulton County Illinois 1825.png|Fulton County, reduced to its current size in 1825, its unorganized territory formed into new counties.

Geography

According to the US Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 883 sqmi, of which 866 sqmi is land and 17 sqmi (1.9%) is water.

Fulton County is the site of Dickson Mounds Museum, a state museum of Native American daily life in the Illinois River valley.

Climate and weather

|Lewistown, Illinois |14|32|1.85 |19|38|1.94 |30|50|3.02 |40|63|3.45 |51|74|4.43 |60|84|3.81 |64|88|3.87 |61|86|3.45 |52|80|3.21 |41|68|2.86 |30|51|3.26 |19|37|2.63 In recent years, average temperatures in the county seat of Lewistown have ranged from a low of 14 °F in January to a high of 88 °F in July, although a record low of -30 °F was recorded in January 1999 and a record high of 106 °F was recorded in July 1983. Average monthly precipitation ranged from 1.85 in in January to 4.43 in in May.

Adjacent counties

• Warren County - northwest
• Knox County - north
• Peoria County - northeast
• Tazewell County - east
• Mason County - south
• Schuyler County - southwest
• McDonough County - west

National protected area

• Emiquon National Wildlife Refuge

Transportation

Major highways

• [[Image:US 24.svg|25px]] US Route 24
• [[Image:US 136.svg|25px]] US Route 136
• [[Image:Illinois 9.svg|25px]] Illinois Route 9
• [[Image:Illinois 41.svg|25px]] Illinois Route 41
• [[Image:Illinois 78.svg|25px]] Illinois Route 78
• [[Image:Illinois 95.svg|25px]] Illinois Route 95
• [[Image:Illinois 97.svg|25px]] Illinois Route 97
• [[Image:Illinois 100.svg|25px]] Illinois Route 100
• [[Image:Illinois 116.svg|25px]] Illinois Route 116

Airport

The county contains one public-use airport: Ingersoll Airport (CTK), located in Canton.

Demographics

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

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, the county had a population of 33,609, a median age of 44.2 years, 19.7% of residents under the age of 18, and 22.0% of residents 65 years of age or older. There were 107.3 males for every 100 females and 108.0 males for every 100 females age 18 and over.

The racial makeup of the county was 91.7% White, 3.3% Black or African American, 0.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% Asian, under 0.1% Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, 1.4% from some other race, and 3.2% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race comprised 2.2% of the population.

Thirty-nine point two percent of residents lived in urban areas, while 60.8% lived in rural areas.

There were 14,025 households in the county, of which 25.5% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 46.0% were married-couple households, 19.8% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 26.2% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 32.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 16.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

There were 15,855 housing units, of which 11.5% were vacant. Among occupied housing units, 75.5% were owner-occupied and 24.5% were renter-occupied. The homeowner vacancy rate was 2.6% and the rental vacancy rate was 9.3%.

Racial and ethnic composition

2010 census

As of the 2010 United States census, there were 37,069 people, 14,536 households, and 9,744 families residing in the county. The population density was 42.8 PD/sqmi. There were 16,195 housing units at an average density of 18.7 /sqmi. The racial makeup of the county was 93.4% white, 3.4% black or African American, 0.4% American Indian, 0.3% Asian, 1.6% from other races, and 0.9% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 2.4% of the population.

Of the 14,536 households, 29.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.0% were married couples living together, 10.2% had a female householder with no husband present, 33.0% were non-families, and 28.1% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.37 and the average family size was 2.86. The median age was 41.9 years.

The median income for a household in the county was $41,268 and the median income for a family was $50,596. Males had a median income of $41,376 versus $28,596 for females. The per capita income for the county was $20,309. About 9.9% of families and 13.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 22.2% of those under age 18 and 8.0% of those age 65 or over.

Communities

Cities

• Canton
• Cuba
• Farmington
• Lewistown (seat)

Town

• Astoria

Villages

• Avon
• Banner
• Bryant
• Dunfermline
• Ellisville
• Fairview
• Ipava
• Liverpool
• London Mills
• Marietta
• Norris
• Smithfield
• St. David
• Table Grove
• Vermont

Unincorporated communities

• Babylon
• Beaty
• Bernadotte
• Blyton
• Breeds
• Brereton
• Checkrow
• Depler Springs
• Duncan Mills
• Enion
• Fiatt
• Gilchrist
• Leesburg
• Little America
• Manley
• Maples Mill
• Marbletown
• Middlegrove
• Monterey
• Poverty Ridge
• Rawalts
• Sepo
• Seville
• Summum

Townships

• Astoria
• Banner
• Bernadotte
• Buckheart
• Canton
• Cass
• Deerfield
• Ellisville
• Fairview
• Farmers
• Farmington
• Harris
• Isabel
• Joshua
• Kerton
• Lee
• Lewistown
• Liverpool
• Orion
• Pleasant
• Putman
• Union
• Vermont
• Waterford
• Woodland
• Young Hickory

Bases

• Camp Ellis

Politics

In its early years, Fulton County favored the Democratic Party, being one of the northernmost Democratic counties and the nearest to Yankee, then solidly Republican Northern Illinois. It was never won by a Republican until the Democratic Party moved towards the Populist Party’s policies under William Jennings Bryan, a change which resulted in the county voting Republican except in landslide victories between 1896 and 1960. In that period, Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1932 and 1936 was the solitary Democratic presidential candidate to gain a majority of the county’s vote.

However, the 1964 election saw the county trend Democratic – so much so that Hubert Humphrey gained a narrow plurality in his 1968 election loss. Despite not going Democratic again until 1988, the party would always remain competitive in the county, and between 1988 and 2012 every Democratic presidential candidate gained a majority in Fulton County. However, concern over economic decline in the “Rust Belt” saw Donald Trump produce a dramatic swing in the 2016 election, winning Fulton County by fifteen percentage points and gaining the best GOP record in the county since 1980. In 2020, Trump improved his margin significantly, the best Republican performance in the county since Nixon in 1972. In 2024, Trump improved the Republican strength again, reaching more than 60% of the vote.

In popular culture

The fictional town of Lanford, Illinois in the sitcom Roseanne was initially set in Fulton County before on-air information placed the town elsewhere in the state.

Notes

References

;Specific

;General

• US Census Bureau 2007 TIGER/Line Shapefiles
• US Board on Geographic Names (GNIS)
• US National Atlas

References

1. (March 2025). "County Population Totals and Components of Change: 2020–2024". U.S. Department of Commerce.
2. "Fulton County, Illinois". [[United States Census Bureau]].
3. "Find a County". National Association of Counties.
4. Gannett, Henry. (1905). "The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States". Govt. Print. Off..
5. "Archived copy".
6. "Monthly Averages for Lewistown IL". The Weather Channel.
7. "Fulton County Public and Private Airports".
8. "Population and Housing Unit Estimates Tables". United States Census Bureau.
9. "US Decennial Census". US Census Bureau.
10. "Historical Census Browser". University of Virginia Library.
11. "Population of Counties by Decennial Census: 1900 to 1990". US Census Bureau.
12. "Census 2000 PHC-T-4. Ranking Tables for Counties: 1990 and 2000". US Census Bureau.
13. "State & County QuickFacts". US Census Bureau.
14. (2021). "2020 Decennial Census Demographic Profile (DP1)".
15. (2021). "2020 Decennial Census Redistricting Data (Public Law 94-171)".
16. (2023). "2020 Decennial Census Demographic and Housing Characteristics (DHC)".
17. "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)".
18. "1990 Census of Population - General Population Characteristics - Illinois - Table 6 - Race and Hispanic Orogin".
19. "P004: Hispanic or Latino, and Not Hispanic or Latino by Race – 2000: DEC Summary File 1 – Fulton County, Illinois".
20. "P2: Hispanic or Latino, and Not Hispanic or Latino by Race – 2010: DEC Redistricting Data (PL 94-171) – Fulton County, Illinois".
21. "P2: Hispanic or Latino, and Not Hispanic or Latino by Race – 2020: DEC Redistricting Data (PL 94-171) – Fulton County, Illinois".
22. included in the Asian category in the 1980 Census
23. included in the Asian category in the 1990 Census
24. not an option in the 1980 Census
25. not an option in the 1990 Census
26. "Profile of General Population and Housing Characteristics: 2010 Demographic Profile Data". US Census Bureau.
27. "Population, Housing Units, Area, and Density: 2010 - County". US Census Bureau.
28. "Selected Social Characteristics in the United States – 2006-2010 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates". US Census Bureau.
29. "Selected Economic Characteristics – 2006-2010 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates". US Census Bureau.
30. Leip, David. "Atlas of US Presidential Elections".