Tazewell County, Illinois

History

Tazewell County was formed out of Peoria County in 1827. The consensus appears to be that it was named in honor of Littleton Tazewell, who served in the U.S. Senate, and who became Governor of Virginia in 1834. It is, however, possible that it was named after Littleton's father, prominent Virginia politician Henry Tazewell, after whom Tazewell County, Virginia, was named.

The first county seat was in Mackinaw from 1827 to 1836. It was moved temporarily from Mackinaw to Pekin in June 1831, with the county court proceedings in the Snell schoolhouse. It moved to Tremont in 1836. After a political struggle between Tremont and Pekin, the county seat was reassigned to Pekin in 1849.

File:Tazewell County Illinois 1827.png|Tazewell from the time of its creation to 1829, including a large tract of unorganized territory temporarily attached to it, whose precise border was not defined. File:Tazewell County Illinois 1829.png|Tazewell County between 1829 and 1830: the creation of Mason County established a southern border for Tazewell's additional territory. File:Tazewell County Illinois 1830.png|Tazewell County between 1830 and 1831: the additional territory to the east became McLean County. File:Tazewell County Illinois 1831.png|Tazewell County between 1831 and 1841: the last of the county's additional territory became part of LaSalle County. File:Tazewell County Illinois 1841.png|Tazewell County in 1841, reduced to its present borders.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 658 sqmi, of which 649 sqmi is land and 9.0 sqmi (1.4%) is water.

State Fish & Wildlife Areas

The following Illinois State Park & Natural Areas are located in Tazewell County:

• Spring Lake State Fish and Wildlife Area - an 8.5-mile (13.7 km) long alluvial lake that lies parallel to the Illinois River.
• Powerton Lake State Fish and Wildlife Area - 1,426-acre (577 ha) area of semi-protected habitat on the Illinois River.
• Mackinaw River State Fish and Wildlife Area - 1,448-acre (586 ha) state park

Climate and weather

|Pekin, Illinois |14|31|1.50 |20|37|1.67 |30|49|2.83 |40|62|3.56 |51|73|4.17 |60|82|3.84 |65|86|4.02 |63|84|3.16 |54|77|3.12 |42|64|2.77 |31|49|2.99 |20|35|2.40 |access-date=January 27, 2011 In recent years, average temperatures in the county seat of Pekin have ranged from a low of 14 °F in January to a high of 86 °F in July, although a record low of -27 °F was recorded in January 1884 and a record high of 113 °F was recorded in July 1936. Average monthly precipitation ranged from 1.50 in in January to 4.17 in in May.

Adjacent counties

• Peoria County (northwest)
• Woodford County (north)
• McLean County (east)
• Logan County (south)
• Mason County (southwest)
• Fulton County (west)

Transportation

Major highways

Airports

The following public-use airports are located in Tazewell County:

• Pekin Municipal Airport (C15) - serves Pekin (Located by the Village of South Pekin, Illinois)
• Manito Mitchell Airport (C45) - serves Manito, a village in Mason County

Public Transportation

Bus and paratransit service in Tazewell County is provided by Peoria's “CityLink” system, operating six routes (four originating from Peoria) seven days a week.

Demographics

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

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, the county had a population of 131,343. The median age was 41.9 years. 22.7% of residents were under the age of 18 and 19.8% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 97.3 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 95.1 males age 18 and over.

The racial makeup of the county was 92.2% White, 1.3% Black or African American, 0.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8% Asian,

78.2% of residents lived in urban areas, while 21.8% lived in rural areas.

There were 53,985 households in the county, of which 28.7% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 50.0% were married-couple households, 17.5% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 25.4% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 29.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

There were 58,550 housing units, of which 7.8% were vacant. Among occupied housing units, 75.7% were owner-occupied and 24.3% were renter-occupied. The homeowner vacancy rate was 2.3% and the rental vacancy rate was 10.7%.

Racial and ethnic composition

2010 census

As of the 2010 United States census, there were 135,394 people, 54,146 households, and 37,163 families living in the county.{{cite web |access-date=July 12, 2015 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20200213031937/http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/DEC/10_DP/DPDP1/0500000US17179 |archive-date=February 13, 2020 |url-status=dead |access-date=July 12, 2015 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20200212203303/http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/DEC/10_SF1/GCTPH1.CY10/0500000US17179 |archive-date=February 12, 2020 |url-status=dead |access-date=July 12, 2015 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20200213023403/http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/10_5YR/DP02/0500000US17179 |archive-date=February 13, 2020 |url-status=dead

Of the 54,146 households, 31.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.2% were married couples living together, 10.2% had a female householder with no husband present, 31.4% were non-families, and 26.3% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.45 and the average family size was 2.94. The median age was 39.8 years.

The median income for a household in the county was $54,232 and the median income for a family was $66,764. Males had a median income of $50,372 versus $34,747 for females. The per capita income for the county was $27,036. About 6.3% of families and 7.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 11.2% of those under age 18 and 4.5% of those age 65 or over.{{cite web |access-date=July 12, 2015 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20200213011024/http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/10_5YR/DP03/0500000US17179 |archive-date=February 13, 2020 |url-status=dead

Communities

Cities

• Delavan
• East Peoria
• Marquette Heights
• Pekin (seat)
• Washington

Villages

• Armington
• Creve Coeur
• Deer Creek
• Hopedale
• Mackinaw
• Minier
• Morton
• North Pekin
• Tremont

Census-designated place

• Heritage Lake

Other unincorporated communities

• Groveland
• Schaeferville

Townships

Tazewell County is divided into these townships:

• Deer Creek
• Delavan
• Groveland
• Hittle
• Hopedale
• Little Mackinaw
• Mackinaw
• Morton
• Pekin
• Tremont
• Washington

Politics

Tazewell County has been solidly Republican on the national level, voting for the Republican candidate for U.S. president since 1996 and in all but two elections since 1952.

For the purposes of Illinois law, as of the 2022 general primary election, the three established political parties in the county are the Democratic Party, the Republican Party, and the Libertarian Party as all have received 5% or greater of the vote in a recent election. A relative rarity, Tazewell is one of only five counties where the Libertarian Party was an established political party in 2022. The Libertarian Party's established political party status allows it to have the same reduced barriers to ballot access as the Democratic and Republican parties and to hold primary elections. In the 2022 primary, 20 voters requested a Libertarian primary ballot.

Education

K-12 school districts include:

• Deer Creek-Mackinaw Community Unit School District 701
• Delavan Community Unit School District 703
• Eureka Community Unit District 140
• Illini Central Community Unit School District 189
• Hartsburg-Emden Community Unit School District 21
• Midwest Central Community Unit School District 191
• Morton Community Unit School District 709
• Olympia Community Unit School District 16
• Tremont Community Unit School District 702

Secondary school districts include:

• East Peoria Community High School District 309
• Pekin Community High School District 303
• Washington Community High School District 308

Elementary school districts include:

• Central School District 51
• Creve Coeur School District 76
• District 50 Schools
• East Peoria School District 86
• North Pekin-Marquette Heights School District 102
• Pekin Public School District 108
• Rankin Community School District 98
• Robein School District 85
• South Pekin School District 137
• Spring Lake Community Consolidated School District 606
• Washington School District 52

Notable people

• Charles "Buffalo" Jones, Cowboy and Naturalist
• Everett Dirkson US Senator
• Gary Richrath, Lead Guitarist - REO Speedwagon
• John Theodore McNaughton, Government Official

References

References

1. (March 2025). "County Population Totals and Components of Change: 2020–2024". U.S. Department of Commerce.
2. "Tazewell County, Illinois". [[United States Census Bureau]].
3. "Find a County". National Association of Counties.
4. Soady, Fred W.. (1964). "''In These Waste Places'': Pekin, Illinois, 1824-1849". Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society.
5. "Souvenir of Early and Notable Events in the History of the North West Territory, Illinois, and Tazewell County, including the Names of those who have Served the County in Various Official Capacities.". Document.
6. (April 20, 2018). "When Pekin was only a town".
7. White, Jesse. ''Origin and Evolution of Illinois Counties.'' State of Illinois, March 2010. [http://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/publications/pdf_publications/ipub15.pdf]
8. "Illinois Department of Natural Resources".
9. "Tazewell County Public and Private Airports".
10. "Population and Housing Unit Estimates Tables". United States Census Bureau.
11. "U.S. Decennial Census". United States Census Bureau.
12. "Historical Census Browser". University of Virginia Library.
13. "Population of Counties by Decennial Census: 1900 to 1990". United States Census Bureau.
14. "Census 2000 PHC-T-4. Ranking Tables for Counties: 1990 and 2000". United States Census Bureau.
15. "State & County QuickFacts". United States Census Bureau.
16. (2021). "2020 Decennial Census Demographic Profile (DP1)".
17. (2021). "2020 Decennial Census Redistricting Data (Public Law 94-171)".
18. (2023). "2020 Decennial Census Demographic and Housing Characteristics (DHC)".
19. "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)".
20. "1990 Census of Population - General Population Characteristics - Illinois - Table 6 - Race and Hispanic Orogin".
21. "P004: Hispanic or Latino, and Not Hispanic or Latino by Race – 2000: DEC Summary File 1 – Tazewell County, Illinois".
22. "P2: Hispanic or Latino, and Not Hispanic or Latino by Race – 2010: DEC Redistricting Data (PL 94-171) – Tazewell County, Illinois".
23. "P2: Hispanic or Latino, and Not Hispanic or Latino by Race – 2020: DEC Redistricting Data (PL 94-171) – Tazewell County, Illinois".
24. included in the Asian category in the 1980 Census
25. included in the Asian category in the 1990 Census
26. not an option in the 1980 Census
27. not an option in the 1990 Census
28. (October 6, 2023). "2024 Candidate's Guide". [[Illinois State Board of Elections]].
29. (July 29, 2022). "Official Canvass of the Primary Election of June 28, 2022". [[Illinois State Board of Elections]].
30. Leip, David. "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections".
31. "2020 CENSUS - SCHOOL DISTRICT REFERENCE MAP: Tazewell County, IL". [[U.S. Census Bureau]].