Knox County, Illinois

History

Knox County was named in honor of Henry Knox, the first US Secretary of War.

The first "Knox County" in what today is Illinois was unrelated to the modern incarnation. In 1790, the land of the Indiana Territory that was to become Illinois was divided into two counties: St. Clair and Knox. The latter included land in what was to become Indiana. When Knox County, Indiana, was formed from this portion of the county in 1809, the Illinois portions were subdivided into counties that were given other names.

The modern Knox County, Illinois, was organized in 1825, from Fulton County, itself a portion of the original St. Clair County.

Like its neighbor to the south, Fulton County, for its Spoon River Drive, Knox County is also known for a similar scenic drive fall festival the first two weekends in October, the Knox County Drive.

File:Knox County Illinois 1825.png|Knox County between its creation in 1825 and 1831 File:Knox County Illinois 1831.png|Knox County between 1831 and 1839 File:Knox County Illinois 1839.png|Knox County in 1839, when it was reduced slightly to its current size

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 720 sqmi, of which 716 sqmi is land and 3.4 sqmi (0.5%) is water.

Climate and weather

|Galesburg, Illinois |13|29|1.41 |19|35|1.55 |29|48|2.84 |40|61|3.81 |51|73|3.97 |61|81|4.18 |65|85|4.37 |63|82|4.07 |55|75|3.50 |43|63|2.52 |31|47|2.72 |19|33|2.28 |access-date=January 27, 2011 In recent years, average temperatures in the county seat of Galesburg have ranged from a low of 13 °F in January to a high of 85 °F in July, although a record low of -25 °F was recorded in January 1982 and a record high of 102 °F was recorded in July 1983. Average monthly precipitation ranged from 1.41 in in January to 4.37 in in July.

Public Transit

• Galesburg station
• Burlington Trailways
• Galesburg Transit
• List of intercity bus stops in Illinois

Major highways

Adjacent counties

• Mercer County - northwest
• Henry County - north
• Stark County - east
• Peoria County - southeast
• Fulton County - south
• Warren County - west

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 49,967. The median age was 43.3 years. 19.9% of residents were under the age of 18 and 22.2% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 101.7 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 100.6 males age 18 and over.

The racial makeup of the county was 81.4% White, 8.9% Black or African American, 0.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% Asian,

67.7% of residents lived in urban areas, while 32.3% lived in rural areas.

There were 20,851 households in the county, of which 25.4% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 41.1% were married-couple households, 20.8% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 30.2% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 35.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 17.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

There were 23,817 housing units, of which 12.5% were vacant. Among occupied housing units, 68.5% were owner-occupied and 31.5% were renter-occupied. The homeowner vacancy rate was 2.9% and the rental vacancy rate was 9.1%.

Racial and ethnic composition

2010 census

As of the 2010 United States census, there were 52,919 people, 21,535 households, and 13,324 families residing in the county.{{cite web |access-date=July 12, 2015 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20200213015002/http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/DEC/10_DP/DPDP1/0500000US17095 |archive-date=February 13, 2020 |url-status=dead |access-date=July 12, 2015 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20200212202328/http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/DEC/10_SF1/GCTPH1.CY10/0500000US17095 |archive-date=February 12, 2020 |url-status=dead |access-date=July 12, 2015 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20200213035127/http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/10_5YR/DP02/0500000US17095 |archive-date=February 13, 2020 |url-status=dead

Of the 21,535 households, 27.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 45.7% were married couples living together, 11.9% had a female householder with no husband present, 38.1% were non-families, and 32.3% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.27 and the average family size was 2.84. The median age was 42.0 years.

The median income for a household in the county was $39,545 and the median income for a family was $51,740. Males had a median income of $42,067 versus $25,380 for females. The per capita income for the county was $20,908. About 10.9% of families and 15.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 24.7% of those under age 18 and 7.3% of those age 65 or over.{{cite web |access-date=July 12, 2015 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20200213022639/http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/10_5YR/DP03/0500000US17095 |archive-date=February 13, 2020 |url-status=dead

Communities

Cities

• Abingdon
• Galesburg
• Knoxville
• Oneida

Villages

• Altona
• East Galesburg
• Henderson
• London Mills (mostly in Fulton County)
• Maquon
• Rio
• St. Augustine
• Victoria
• Wataga
• Williamsfield
• Yates City

Census-designated places

• Gilson
• Oak Run

Other unincorporated communities

• Appleton
• Centerville
• Columbia Heights
• Dahinda
• Delong
• Douglas
• Elba Center
• Henderson Grove
• Hermon
• Ontario
• Rapatee
• Saluda
• Soperville
• Trenton Corners
• Truro
• Uniontown

Townships

Knox County is divided into twenty-one townships:

• Cedar
• Chestnut
• Copley
• Elba
• Galesburg
• Galesburg City
• Haw Creek
• Henderson
• Indian Point
• Knox
• Lynn
• Maquon
• Ontario
• Orange
• Persifer
• Rio
• Salem
• Sparta
• Truro
• Victoria
• Walnut Grove

Politics

Knox County's political history is typical of Yankee-settled Northern Illinois. It leaned Whig during its early elections – although giving a plurality to Franklin Pierce in 1852 – and become powerfully Republican following that party's formation. Although Knox did support Progressive Theodore Roosevelt against conservative incumbent President William Howard Taft in 1912, it was Franklin D. Roosevelt’s 1932 landslide before Knox County again gave the Democratic Party so much as a plurality, and it did not give a Democratic absolute majority until Lyndon B. Johnson gained such against the anti-Yankee, Southern-leaning Barry Goldwater in 1964.

Since then, Knox County gradually trended Democratic for the following four decades, so that Michael Dukakis in his losing 1988 campaign was able to carry the county by the same margin as Johnson had done in 1964. During the 1990s and 2000s, Knox was a solidly Democratic county, voting Democratic by at least nine percentage points in every election from 1992 to 2012. The 2016 election, in the shadow of high unemployment in the “Rust Belt” saw a swing of over twenty percentage points to Donald Trump, who became the first Republican victor in the county since Ronald Reagan in 1984.

References

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. Gannett, Henry. (1905). "The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States". [[United States Government Publishing Office.
5. "Population and Housing Unit Estimates Tables". United States Census Bureau.
6. "U.S. Decennial Census". United States Census Bureau.
7. "Historical Census Browser". University of Virginia Library.
8. "Population of Counties by Decennial Census: 1900 to 1990". United States Census Bureau.
9. "Census 2000 PHC-T-4. Ranking Tables for Counties: 1990 and 2000". United States Census Bureau.
10. (2021). "2020 Decennial Census Demographic Profile (DP1)".
11. (2021). "2020 Decennial Census Redistricting Data (Public Law 94-171)".
12. (2023). "2020 Decennial Census Demographic and Housing Characteristics (DHC)".
13. "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)".
14. "1990 Census of Population - General Population Characteristics - Illinois - Table 6 - Race and Hispanic Orogin".
15. "P004: Hispanic or Latino, and Not Hispanic or Latino by Race – 2000: DEC Summary File 1 – Knox County, Illinois".
16. "P2: Hispanic or Latino, and Not Hispanic or Latino by Race – 2010: DEC Redistricting Data (PL 94-171) – Knox County, Illinois".
17. "P2: Hispanic or Latino, and Not Hispanic or Latino by Race – 2020: DEC Redistricting Data (PL 94-171) – Knox County, Illinois".
18. included in the Asian category in the 1980 Census
19. included in the Asian category in the 1990 Census
20. not an option in the 1980 Census
21. not an option in the 1990 Census
22. Leip, David. "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections".