# Gallatin County, Illinois

Gallatin County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 4,946, making it the third-least populous county in Illinois. Its county seat is Shawneetown. It is located in the southern portion of Illinois known locally as Little Egypt. Located at the mouth of the Wabash River, Gallatin County, along with neighboring Posey County, Indiana, and Union County, Kentucky form the tri-point of the Illinois-Indiana-Kentucky Tri-State Area.

## History

Salt production served as the state's first major industry in the early 19th century. Saltworks developed first by Native Americans, and the French had settled at the Great Salt Spring on the south side of the Saline River, about five miles downstream from Equality. Beginning in 1803, salt works were also developed at Half Moon Lick, southwest of Equality on the north side of the Saline River. Half Moon Lick is now on private land, but the Great Salt Springs are on public lands in the Shawnee National Forest, about one mile west of the Saline River bridge across Illinois Route 1 on Salt Well Road.
Gallatin County was organized in 1812 from land formerly in Randolph County. It was named for Albert Gallatin, who was then Secretary of the Treasury. The bank at Shawneetown was the first in Illinois. It was originally in the John Marshall House, which has been rebuilt and serves as the museum of the Gallatin County Historical Society. This should not be confused with the State Bank of Illinois building, which is a state historic site a block away in Old Shawneetown
* Gallatin County created in the Illinois Territory period between 1812 and 1815
* Gallatin between 1815 and 1816
* Gallatin between 1816 and 1818, including unorganized territory (formerly part of Johnson County) temporarily attached to it.
* Gallatin between 1818 and 1847
* Gallatin in 1847, when a cession to Hardin and the creation of Saline County reduced it to its current territory

## Politics

Although Illinois was legally a free state, an exemption in the Illinois Constitution allowed slavery at the Illinois Salines and other salt springs near Shawneetown in Gallatin County. The slave-operated salines contributed one-third of the new state's yearly revenue. The law allowed African slaves to be imported to the site until 1825, when the exemption expired. However, indentured servitude at the springs continued past this point. Salt production continued until 1870, when competition from West Virginia salt mines drove the springs out of business.
As the most culturally Southern of all Illinois counties, Gallatin County was pro-Confederate during the Civil War and even provided a few volunteers to the Confederate Army. It then became solidly Democratic for the next century and a third, voting Republican only in the GOP landslides of 1920, 1952, 1972 and 1980. Even in those four elections, no Republican candidate received more than Richard Nixon’s 53.7 percent in his 3,000-plus-county 1972 triumph.
Since 2000, Gallatin County has followed the same political trajectory as Tennessee, Missouri, Kentucky, West Virginia and Appalachian regions of adjacent states, whereby the Democratic Party’s liberal views on social issues have produced dramatic swings to the Republican Party amongst its almost entirely Southern white population. Over the five elections from 2000 to 2016, Gallatin County has seen a swing of 84 percentage points to the Republican Party – an average of 17 percentage points per election – so that Hillary Clinton’s 24.3 percent vote share in 2016 is barely half the worst Democratic percentage from before 2010. However, despite its sharp rightward turn, it followed the wave in 2008 within the state that elected Barack Obama president, who remains the last Democrat to win the county in a presidential election.
In 1994, Gallatin County was the only one in the state to vote for the Democratic candidate for governor. It voted for the Democrat in every gubernatorial election from 1924 to 2006, finally flipping in 2010 and then voting Republican again in 2014 and 2018.
United States presidential election results for Gallatin County, Illinois :
| Year | Republican | Republican | Democratic | Democratic | Third party(ies) | Third party(ies) |
| Year | No. | % | No. | % | No. | % |
| 2024 | 1,923 | 75.86% | 561 | 22.13% | 51 | 2.01% |
| 2020 | 2,019 | 75.48% | 622 | 23.25% | 34 | 1.27% |
| 2016 | 1,942 | 71.74% | 657 | 24.27% | 108 | 3.99% |
| 2012 | 1,492 | 57.99% | 1,029 | 39.99% | 52 | 2.02% |
| 2008 | 1,212 | 42.20% | 1,587 | 55.26% | 73 | 2.54% |
| 2004 | 1,619 | 50.20% | 1,573 | 48.78% | 33 | 1.02% |
| 2000 | 1,591 | 44.72% | 1,878 | 52.78% | 89 | 2.50% |
| 1996 | 856 | 24.37% | 2,113 | 60.15% | 544 | 15.49% |
| 1992 | 990 | 25.10% | 2,371 | 60.12% | 583 | 14.78% |
| 1988 | 1,580 | 38.89% | 2,455 | 60.42% | 28 | 0.69% |
| 1984 | 1,939 | 47.15% | 2,164 | 52.63% | 9 | 0.22% |
| 1980 | 1,700 | 50.21% | 1,678 | 49.56% | 8 | 0.24% |
| 1976 | 1,499 | 36.36% | 2,611 | 63.33% | 13 | 0.32% |
| 1972 | 2,148 | 53.69% | 1,844 | 46.09% | 9 | 0.22% |
| 1968 | 1,802 | 43.01% | 1,980 | 47.26% | 408 | 9.74% |
| 1964 | 1,394 | 32.89% | 2,845 | 67.11% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1960 | 2,179 | 47.68% | 2,386 | 52.21% | 5 | 0.11% |
| 1956 | 2,179 | 49.35% | 2,230 | 50.51% | 6 | 0.14% |
| 1952 | 2,300 | 51.56% | 2,153 | 48.26% | 8 | 0.18% |
| 1948 | 1,789 | 42.60% | 2,385 | 56.79% | 26 | 0.62% |
| 1944 | 2,073 | 48.27% | 2,175 | 50.64% | 47 | 1.09% |
| 1940 | 2,588 | 43.65% | 3,293 | 55.54% | 48 | 0.81% |
| 1936 | 2,004 | 34.71% | 3,701 | 64.10% | 69 | 1.20% |
| 1932 | 1,279 | 26.57% | 3,469 | 72.08% | 65 | 1.35% |
| 1928 | 2,002 | 45.78% | 2,343 | 53.58% | 28 | 0.64% |
| 1924 | 1,792 | 39.16% | 2,385 | 52.12% | 399 | 8.72% |
| 1920 | 2,184 | 49.94% | 2,000 | 45.74% | 189 | 4.32% |
| 1916 | 1,985 | 39.03% | 2,920 | 57.41% | 181 | 3.56% |
| 1912 | 1,051 | 33.78% | 1,697 | 54.55% | 363 | 11.67% |
| 1908 | 1,411 | 41.77% | 1,845 | 54.62% | 122 | 3.61% |
| 1904 | 1,401 | 44.70% | 1,540 | 49.14% | 193 | 6.16% |
| 1900 | 1,432 | 40.94% | 2,004 | 57.29% | 62 | 1.77% |
| 1896 | 1,468 | 41.02% | 2,067 | 57.75% | 44 | 1.23% |
| 1892 | 1,211 | 38.35% | 1,675 | 53.04% | 272 | 8.61% |

## Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 328 square miles (850 km$^2$), of which 323 square miles (840 km$^2$) is land and 5.1 square miles (13 km$^2$) (1.6%) is water.
The Wabash and Ohio rivers join in the northeastern part of the county. The Saline River is a major drainage in the county, and it feeds into the Ohio River.

### Climate and weather

In recent years, average temperatures in the county seat of Shawneetown have ranged from a low of 21 °F (−6 °C) in January to a high of 87 °F (31 °C) in July, although a record low of −22 °F (−30 °C) was recorded in January 1994 and a record high of 104 °F (40 °C) was recorded in August 2007. Average monthly precipitation ranged from 3.22 inches (82 mm) in October to 5.02 inches (128 mm) in May.

### Transit

* Rides Mass Transit District

### Major highways

* U.S. Highway 45
* Illinois Route 1
* Illinois Route 13
* Illinois Route 141
* Illinois Route 142

### Adjacent counties

* White County - north
* Posey County, Indiana - northeast
* Union County, Kentucky - east
* Hardin County - south
* Saline County - west
* Hamilton County - northwest

### National protected area

* Shawnee National Forest (part)

## Demographics
### 2020

As of the 2020 census, there were 4,946 people, 2,155 households, and 3,764 families residing in the county The racial makeup of the county was 95.03% white, 0.102% American Indian, 0.526% black or African American, 0.486% Asian, 0.445% from other races, and 3.013% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 1.072% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 18.1% were German, 13.6% were Irish, 14% were English.
The median income for a household in the county was $51,868 and the median income for a family was $65,833.

## Communities
### City

* Shawneetown

### Villages

* Equality
* Junction
* New Haven
* Old Shawneetown
* Omaha
* Ridgway

### Unincorporated communities

* Cottonwood
* Elba
* Kedron
* Lawler

### Townships

* Asbury
* Bowlesville
* Eagle Creek
* Equality
* Gold Hill
* New Haven
* North Fork
* Omaha
* Ridgway
* Shawnee