Livingston County, Illinois

Livingston County, Illinois
Livingston County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 35,815. Its county seat is Pontiac. Livingston County comprises the Pontiac, IL Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is combined with the Bloomington–Normal metropolitan statistical area as the Bloomington-Pontiac, IL Combined Statistical Area in upper portion of Central Illinois.
History
Livingston was established on February 27, 1837. It was formed from parts of McLean, LaSalle, and Iroquois counties, and named after Edward Livingston, a prominent politician who was mayor of New York City and represented New York in the United States House of Representatives and Louisiana in both houses of Congress. He later served as Andrew Jackson's Secretary of State and as Minister to France. Although he had no connections to Illinois, the General Assembly found him accomplished enough to name a county after him.
Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (0.2%) is water. It is the fourth-largest county in Illinois by land area.
Climate and weather
In recent years, average temperatures in the county seat of Pontiac have ranged from a low of in January to a high of in July, although a record low of was recorded in January 1927 and a record high of was recorded in July 1936. Average monthly precipitation ranged from in February to in June.
Transit
SHOW Bus
Pontiac station
Major highways
Interstate 55
U.S. Highway 24
U.S. Highway 66
Illinois Route 17
Illinois Route 18
Illinois Route 23
Illinois Route 47
Illinois Route 116
Illinois Route 170
Adjacent counties
LaSalle County - northwest
Grundy County - north
Kankakee County - northeast
Ford County - southeast
McLean County - southwest
Woodford County - west
Demographics
As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 38,950 people, 14,613 households, and 9,741 families residing in the county. The population density was . There were 15,895 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 91.8% white, 4.9% black or African American, 0.5% Asian, 0.2% American Indian, 1.3% from other races, and 1.3% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 3.9% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 36.6% were German, 17.2% were Irish, 11.2% were American, 10.7% were English, and 5.1% were Italian.
Of the 14,613 households, 30.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.0% were married couples living together, 9.9% had a female householder with no husband present, 33.3% were non-families, and 28.6% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.43 and the average family size was 2.98. The median age was 40.8 years.
The median income for a household in the county was $50,500 and the median income for a family was $60,933. Males had a median income of $44,639 versus $32,234 for females. The per capita income for the county was $23,259. About 9.1% of families and 11.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 15.4% of those under age 18 and 6.9% of those age 65 or over.
Communities
Cities
Fairbury
Pontiac
Streator
Town
Chatsworth
Villages
Campus
Cornell
Cullom
Dwight
Emington
Flanagan
Forrest
Long Point
Odell
Reddick
Saunemin
Strawn
Townships
Livingston County is divided into thirty townships:
Amity
Avoca
Belle Prairie
Broughton
Charlotte
Chatsworth
Dwight
Eppards Point
Esmen
Fayette
Forrest
Germanville
Indian Grove
Long Point
Nebraska
Nevada
Newtown
Odell
Owego
Pike
Pleasant Ridge
Pontiac
Reading
Rooks Creek
Round Grove
Saunemin
Sullivan
Sunbury
Union
Waldo
Unincorporated communities
Ancona
Blackstone
Blair
Budd
Cayuga
Charlotte
Graymont
Manville
Munster
Nevada
Government and infrastructure
The Illinois Department of Corrections operates two prisons in the county.
Pontiac Correctional Center is located in Pontiac. Pontiac houses the male death row. Prior to the January 11, 2003 commutation of death row sentences, male death row inmates were housed in Pontiac, Menard, and Tamms correctional centers. Dwight Correctional Center is within Nevada Township in an unincorporated area in the county.
The Dwight Correctional Center is currently unoccupied and was closed in 2013.
Politics
Although it was solidly Democratic before 1856, Livingston has since always been a powerfully Republican county. The solitary Democrat to win a majority of the county's vote since the Civil War has been Franklin D. Roosevelt in his 1932 landslide triumph over Herbert Hoover. Apart from that and the 1912 election when Woodrow Wilson won against a mortally divided Republican Party, Livingston has always voted Republican since that party was founded in 1856. Since 1940, only Lyndon Johnson in his 1964 landslide victory over the conservative Barry Goldwater has won more than forty percent of the county's vote.
Notable residents
Donald Attig, businessman and adventurer.
Calistus Bruer, Illinois state representative and farmer
M. C. Eignus, Illinois state representative
Moira Harris, actress and wife of Gary Sinise.
William Harris, first President of the Illinois Senate.
Irene Hunt, Newbery Medal-winning author.
Francis Townsend, physician and political activist whose advocacy for an old age revolving pension influenced the creation of the U.S. Social Security program.
Skottie Young, comic book artist known for the Oz series. He was born and raised in Fairbury.
See also
National Register of Historic Places listings in Livingston County, Illinois
References
Further reading
The History of Livingston County, Illinois: Containing a History of the County — Its Cities, Counties, Etc.; A Directory of Its Taxpayers; War Record of Its Volunteers in the Late Rebellion; Portraits of Early Settlers and Prominent Men; General and Local Statistics; Map of Livingston County; History of Illinois, Illustrated; History of the Northwest, Illustrated; Constitution of the United States; Miscellaneous Matters; Etc., Etc. Chicago: William LeBaron Jr. and Co., 1878.
Illinois counties
1837 establishments in Illinois
Populated places established in 1837