Bureau County, Illinois

Bureau County, Illinois
Location in the state of Illinois
Illinois's location in the U.S.
Founded	1837
Seat	Princeton
Largest city	Princeton
Area  - Total  - Land  - Water	873.50 sq mi (2,262 km²) 869.03 sq mi (2,251 km²) 4.47 sq mi (12 km²), 0.51%
Population  - (2010)  - Density	34,978 41/sq mi (16/km²)
Time zone	Central: UTC-6/-5

Bureau County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 34,978, which is a decrease of 1.5% from 35,503 in 2000. Its county seat is Princeton. Bureau County is part of the Ottawa–Streator Micropolitan Statistical Area. Hennepin Canal Parkway State Park is located partly in this county.

History

Bureau County was organized out of Putnam County in 1837. It is named for Michel or Pierre Bureau. Their original surname was probably Belleau, but local aboriginals may have had difficulty pronouncing the "l" sound. One or both of the brothers ran a trading post near where Big Bureau Creek empties into the Illinois River from 1776 until 1780 or 1790.

Like so many other areas in the Midwest, this county was on a "line" of the Underground Railroad. There was a "station" at the home of Owen Lovejoy in Princeton, as well as several other locations throughout the county.

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  Bureau County at the time of its creation in 1837

Negro Creek

At present, a group of residents from Illinois have petitioned numerous elected officials and formed an organization to have the U.S. Geological Survey rename Negro Creek., which runs from Cherry to DePue, Illinois.

Geography

According to the 2010 census, the county has a total area of 873.50 square miles (2,262.4 km²), of which 869.03 square miles (2,250.8 km²) (or 99.49%) is land and 4.47 square miles (11.6 km²) (or 0.51%) is water. Big Bureau Creek is the main body of water.

Adjacent counties

• Lee County - north
• Putnam County - southeast
• LaSalle County - east
• Marshall County - south
• Stark County - southwest
• Henry County - west
• Whiteside County - northwest

Cities and towns

Arlington Buda Bureau Junction Cherry Dalzell

De Pue Dover Hollowayville La Moille Ladd

Malden Manlius Mineral Neponset New Bedford

Ohio Princeton Seatonville Kasbeer Sheffield Spring Valley

Tiskilwa Walnut Wyanet

A small portion of Dalzell is in LaSalle County.

Townships

Bureau County is divided into these twenty-five townships:

Arispie Berlin Bureau Clarion Concord

Dover Fairfield Gold Greenville Hall

Indiantown Lamoille Leepertown Macon Manlius

Milo Mineral Neponset Ohio Princeton

Selby Walnut Westfield Wheatland Wyanet

Major highways

• Interstate 80
• Interstate 180
• US Route 6
• US Route 34
• Illinois Route 26
• Illinois Route 29
• Illinois Route 40
• Illinois Route 89
• Illinois Route 92

Demographics

2000 census age pyramid for Bureau County.

Historical populations
Census	Pop.		%±
1900	41,112		—
1910	43,975		7.0%
1920	42,648		−3.0%
1930	38,845		−8.9%
1940	37,600		−3.2%
1950	37,711		0.3%
1960	37,594		−0.3%
1970	38,541		2.5%
1980	39,114		1.5%
1990	35,688		−8.8%
2000	35,503		−0.5%
2010	34,978		−1.5%
IL Counties 1900-1990

As of the census of 2000, there were 35,503 people, 14,182 households, and 9,884 families residing in the county. The population density was 41 people per square mile (16/km²). There were 15,331 housing units at an average density of 18 per square mile (7/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 96.79% White, 0.33% Black or African American, 0.17% Native American, 0.51% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 1.28% from other races, and 0.88% from two or more races. 4.88% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 27.7% were of German, 10.5% Irish, 10.1% English, 10.1% Italian, 6.6% American and 6.2% Swedish ancestry according to Census 2000. 95.2% spoke English and 3.4% Spanish as their first language.

By 2005, the county's population was 92.2% non-Hispanic white. African-Americans had almost doubled their share of the population to 0.6%. Asians were also at 0.6% of the population. The Latino population was now 6.1% of the county total.

In 2000, there were 14,182 households out of which 30.70% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.10% were married couples living together, 8.00% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.30% were non-families. 27.00% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.00% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.47 and the average family size was 2.99.

In the county the population was spread out with 24.70% under the age of 18, 7.40% from 18 to 24, 26.20% from 25 to 44, 23.80% from 45 to 64, and 17.70% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 94.40 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.50 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $40,233, and the median income for a family was $48,488. Males had a median income of $35,690 versus $21,315 for females. The per capita income for the county was $19,542. About 5.40% of families and 7.30% of the population were below the poverty line, including 9.90% of those under age 18 and 6.00% of those age 65 or over.

Climate and weather

Princeton, Illinois
Climate chart (explanation)
J F M A M J J A S O N D     1.7   29 14     1.5   35 20     2.5   47 30     3.8   61 40     4.1   73 51     4.4   82 61     3.3   85 65     4.8   82 63     3.7   75 55     2.9   63 43     2.9   47 31     2.5   33 19 Average max. and min. temperatures in °F Precipitation totals in inches Source: The Weather Channel
Metric conversion J F M A M J J A S O N D     42   -2 -10     38   2 -7     62   8 -1     96   16 4     104   23 11     111   28 16     85   29 18     121   28 17     93   24 13     75   17 6     74   8 -1     62   1 -7 Average max. and min. temperatures in °C Precipitation totals in mm

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.

See also

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Bureau County, Illinois

References

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

External links

• Bureau County