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Cook County, Illinois

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Cook County
County
Official seal of Cook County
Seal
Map of Illinois highlighting Cook County
Location within the U.S. state of Illinois
Map of the United States highlighting Illinois
Illinois's location within the U.S.
Coordinates: 41°48′00″N 87°43′00″W / 41.8°N 87.716666666667°W / 41.8; -87.716666666667
Country United States
State Illinois
FoundedJanuary 15 1831
SeatChicago
Population
 (2004)
 • Total5,230,451
Websitewww.cookcountygov.com

Cook County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. As of 2000, the population was 5,376,741, making it the second largest county by population in the United States (after Los Angeles County, California), and accounting for 43.3% of the state's population (if Cook County were an independent state, it would have the 21st largest population). The county seat is Chicago, the principal city of its metropolitan area; Chicago makes up about 54% of the population of the county, the rest being provided by various suburbs. Cook County is the 19th largest government in the United States. Cook County has by far more Democratic Party members than any other Illinois county, and is one of the most Democratic counties in the United States. It has only voted once for a Republican candidate in a Presidential election in the last forty years, in 1972, when county voters preferred Richard Nixon to George McGovern by 53.4% to 46%.

Cook County's current County Board president is Todd Stroger.

History

Cook County was created on January 15 1831 by an act of the Illinois State Legislature. It was the 54th county established in Illinois and was named after Daniel Pope Cook, one of the earliest and youngest statesmen in Illinois history, who served as the second U.S. Representative from Illinois and the first Attorney General of the State of Illinois. Shortly thereafter, in 1839, DuPage County was carved out of Cook County.

As mandated by state law, Cook County government has principal responsibility for the protection of persons and property, the provision for public health services and the maintenance of county highways.

Government

The Circuit Court of Cook County, which is the largest unified court system in the world, disposing of over 6 million cases in 1990 alone, the Cook County Department of Corrections, which is the largest single-site jail in the nation, and the Cook County Juvenile Detention Center, the first juvenile center in the nation and one of the largest in the nation, are solely the responsibility of Cook County government. The Cook County Law Library is the second largest county law library in the nation.

The Bureau of Health Services administers the county's public health services and is the second largest public health system in the nation. Three hospitals are part of this system: John H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital of Cook County, Provident Hospital, and Oak Forest Hospital of Cook County, along with over 30 outpatient clinics.

The Cook County Highway Department is responsible for the design and maintenance of over 578 miles of roadways in the county. These thoroughfares are mostly composed of major and minor arterials, with a few local roads. Although the Highway Department was instrumental in designing many of the expressways in the county, today they are under the jurisdiction of the state.

The Forest Preserve District, organized in 1915, is a separate, independent taxing body, but the Cook County Board of Commissioners also acts as the Forest Preserve District Board of Commissioners. The District is a belt of 68,000 acres (275 km²) of forest reservations surrounding the City of Chicago. The Brookfield Zoo (managed by the Chicago Zoological Society) and the Chicago Botanic Garden (managed by the Chicago Horticultural Society) are located in the forest preserves.

In the 1980s, Cook County was ground zero to an extensive FBI investigation named Operation Greylord. Ninety-two officials were indicted, including 17 judges, 48 lawyers, 8 policemen, 10 deputy sheriffs, 8 court officials, and 1 state legislator.

Cook County is the fifth largest employer in Chicago.[1]

Secession movements

To establish more localized government control and policies which reflect the often different values and needs of large suburban sections of the sprawling county, several secession movements have been made over the years which called for certain townships or municipalities to form their own independent counties.

In the late 1970s, a movement started which proposed a separation of six northwest suburban townships, Cook County's panhandle (Barrington, Hanover, Palatine, Wheeling, Schaumburg, and Elk Grove) from Cook to form Lincoln County, in honor of the native former U.S. president who ironically does not have an Illinois county named after him.[2] It is likely that Arlington Heights would have been the county seat. This northwest suburban region of Cook is moderately conservative and has a population over 500,000. Local legislators, led by State Senator Dave Regnar, went so far as to propose it as official legislation in the Illinois House. The legislation died, however, before coming to a vote.

In 2004, Blue Island mayor Donald Peloquin tried to organize a coaliton of fifty-five south and southwest suburban municipalities to form a new county, also proposing the name Lincoln County. The county would include everything south of Burbank, stretching as far west as Orland Park, as far east as Calumet City, and as far south as Matteson, covering an expansive area with a population of over one million residents. Peloquin cited that the south suburbs are often shunned by the city and blamed the Chicago-centric policies of Cook County government for failing to jumpstart the long-depressed local economy of the south suburban region. Pending sufficient interest from local communities, Peloquin planned a petition drive to place a question regarding the secession on the general election ballot.[3]

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 4,235 km² (1,635 mi²). 2,449 km² (946 mi²) of it is land and 1,785 km² (689 mi²) of it (42.16%) is water, most of it in Lake Michigan.

Adjacent counties

Demographics

Cook County
Population by year[4]

2000 - 5,376,741
1990 - 5,105,067
1980 - 5,253,655
1970 - 5,492,369
1960 - 5,129,725
1950 - 4,508,792
1940 - 4,063,342
1930 - 3,982,123
1920 - 3,053,017
1910 - 2,405,233
1900 - 1,838,735
1890 - 1,191,922
1880 - 607,524
1870 - 349,966
1860 - 144,954
1850 - 43,385
1840 - 10,201

2000 census age pyramid for Cook County

As of the 2000 Census², there were 5,376,741 people, 1,974,181 households, and 1,269,398 families residing in the county. The population density was 2,195/km² (5,686/mi²). There were 2,096,121 housing units at an average density of 856/km² (2,216/mi²). The Race (United States Census)|racial makeup]] of the county was 56.27% White, 26.14% Black or African American, 0.29% Native American, 4.84% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 9.88% from other races, and 2.53% from two or more races. 19.93% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 17.63% reported speaking Spanish at home; 3.13% speak Polish [1].

There were 1,974,181 households out of which 30.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.0% were married couples living together, 15.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.7% were non-families. 29.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.68 and the average family size was 3.38.

In the county the population was spread out with 26.0% under the age of 18, 9.9% from 18 to 24, 31.7% from 25 to 44, 20.7% from 45 to 64, and 11.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 93.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.5 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $45,922, and the median income for a family was $53,784. Males had a median income of $40,690 versus $31,298 for females. The per capita income for the county was $23,227. About 10.6% of families and 13.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 18.9% of those under age 18 and 10.3% of those age 65 or over.

According to Census Bureau estimates, the county's population was down to 5,303,683 in 2005 [2].

Townships

File:CookMap.gif
Cook County's townships; each colored region is assessed once every three years.

Suburban townships by population

Chicago townships

The city of Chicago had a population of 2,896,016 as of the 2000 Census. Its eight townships no longer have any formal structure or responsibility since their annexation, but their names and boundaries are still used by Cook County for tax assessment purposes.

Communities

Cities

Towns

Villages

Pop culture references

  • In the 1980 film, The Blues Brothers, the title characters are racing to the offices of the Assessor of Cook County to pay the back taxes owed by the orphanage in which they grew up. In reality, however, back taxes are paid in the Office of the Cook County Treasurer, and church-owned property is tax exempt anyway. Murphy Dunne, who played the pianist in the movie, is the son of then Cook County Board President George Dunne.[5]
  • In the film The Fugitive, jail visitation is placed not in the jail but in the County Building, again for better visual effect. This film also places the lead character in the old Cook County Hospital for some key scenes.
  • In the film Chicago, Roxie is sent to the Cook County Jail.

External links

References

  1. ^ "Chicago's Largest Employers". ChicagoBusiness. Crain Communications, Inc. 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-08.
  2. ^ Cleveland, Charles (September 1977). "Carving another county out of Cook". Illinois Issues.
  3. ^ "Blue Island mayor wants to create "Lincoln County"". WLS-TV News (abc7chicago.com). 2004-6-25. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  4. ^ Forstall, Richard L. (editor) (1996). Population of states and counties of the United States: 1790 to 1990 : from the twenty-one decennial censuses. United States Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Population Division. ISBN 0-934213-48-8. {{cite book}}: |first= has generic name (help)
  5. ^ "Resolution of the Cook County Board" (PDF). Cook County Clerk. 2006-11-14.
    "Biography of Murphy Dunne". Internet Movie Database, IMDb.com.

41°48′N 87°43′W / 41.800°N 87.717°W / 41.800; -87.717

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