Christian County, Illinois

Christian County, Illinois
Location in the state of Illinois
Illinois's location in the U.S.
Founded	1839
Seat	Taylorville
Largest city	Taylorville
Area  - Total  - Land  - Water	715.64 sq mi (1,853 km²) 709.38 sq mi (1,837 km²) 6.26 sq mi (16 km²), 0.87%
Population  - (2010)  - Density	34,800 50/sq mi (19/km²)
Time zone	Central: UTC-6/-5

Christian County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 34,800, which is a decrease of 1.6% from 35,372 in 2000. Its county seat is Taylorville.

The Taylorville Micropolitan Statistical Area includes all of Christian County.

History

Christian County was formed February 15, 1839 out of Sangamon, Montgomery and Shelby Counties. It was named for Christian County, Kentucky.

• 

  Christian County at the time of its creation in 1839

Geography

According to the 2010 census, the county has a total area of 715.64 square miles (1,853.5 km²), of which 709.38 square miles (1,837.3 km²) (or 99.13%) is land and 6.26 square miles (16.2 km²) (or 0.87%) is water.

Adjacent counties

• Macon County (northeast)
• Shelby County (southeast)
• Montgomery County (southwest)
• Sangamon County (northwest)

Major highways

• US Route 51
• Illinois Route 16
• Illinois Route 29
• Illinois Route 48
• Illinois Route 104

Political subdivisions

Cities

• Assumption
• Pana
• Taylorville

Villages

Bulpitt Edinburg Harvel (northeast half) Jeisyville Kincaid Morrisonville

Mount Auburn Moweaqua (west quarter) Owaneco Palmer Stonington Tovey

Unincorporated

Clarksdale Dunkel Hewittsville Langleyville Millersville

Old Stonington Radford Rosamond Sharpsburg Willey Station

Townships

Christian County is divided into these seventeen townships:

Assumption Bear Creek Buckhart Greenwood Johnson King

Locust May Mosquito Mount Auburn Pana Prairieton

Ricks Rosamond South Fork Stonington Taylorville

Notable persons from Christian County

• Harry Forrester - member of the Illinois Basketball Hall of Fame and Quincy University Hall of Fame.
• Jon Corzine - Former governor of New Jersey, former resident of Willey Station.

Demographics

2000 census age pyramid for Christian County.

Historical populations
Census	Pop.		%±
1840	1,878		—
1850	3,203		70.6%
1860	10,492		227.6%
1870	20,363		94.1%
1880	28,227		38.6%
1890	30,531		8.2%
1900	32,790		7.4%
1910	34,594		5.5%
1920	38,458		11.2%
1930	37,538		−2.4%
1940	38,564		2.7%
1950	38,816		0.7%
1960	37,207		−4.1%
1970	35,948		−3.4%
1980	36,446		1.4%
1990	34,418		−5.6%
2000	35,372		2.8%
2010	34,800		−1.6%
UVa Census Browser 1830-1890 Illinois Counties 1900-1990

As of the U.S. Census of 2000, there were 35,372 people, 13,921 households, and 9,480 families residing in the county. The population density was 50 people per square mile (19/km²). There were 14,992 housing units at an average density of 21 per square mile (8/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 96.34% White, 2.14% Black or African American, 0.16% Native American, 0.37% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.47% from other races, and 0.48% from two or more races. 0.98% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 26.7% were of German, 20.5% American, 11.9% English, 10.6% Irish and 6.9% Italian ancestry according to Census 2000. 98.1% spoke English and 1.1% Spanish as their first language.

There were 13,921 households out of which 30.40% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.30% were married couples living together, 9.10% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.90% were non-families. 28.40% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.70% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.41 and the average family size was 2.94.

In the county the population was spread out with 24.10% under the age of 18, 7.60% from 18 to 24, 28.10% from 25 to 44, 23.00% from 45 to 64, and 17.20% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 99.60 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.30 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $36,561, and the median income for a family was $43,342. Males had a median income of $32,344 versus $22,522 for females. The per capita income for the county was $17,937. About 6.50% of families and 9.50% of the population were below the poverty line, including 13.40% of those under age 18 and 10.20% of those age 65 or over.

Climate and weather

Taylorville, Illinois
Climate chart (explanation)
J F M A M J J A S O N D     1.8   32 16     1.8   39 21     3   50 31     3.5   63 41     3.8   74 52     3.7   83 61     3.7   86 65     2.8   85 63     2.8   79 54     2.3   67 42     3.6   51 33     2.4   38 22 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     45   0 -9     45   4 -6     76   10 -1     88   17 5     96   23 11     93   28 16     93   30 18     70   29 17     72   26 12     59   19 6     91   11 1     62   3 -6 Average max. and min. temperatures in °C Precipitation totals in mm

In recent years, average temperatures in the county seat of Taylorville have ranged from a low of 16 °F (−9 °C) in January to a high of 86 °F (30 °C) in July, although a record low of −23 °F (−31 °C) was recorded in January 1994 and a record high of 104 °F (40 °C) was recorded in August 1988. Average monthly precipitation ranged from 1.78 inches (45 mm) in January to 3.77 inches (96 mm) in May.

See also

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

References

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