Jasper County, Illinois

History

Jasper County was formed in 1831 out of Clay and Crawford Counties. It was named for Sgt. William Jasper, a Revolutionary War hero from South Carolina. During the defense of Fort Moultrie in 1776, the staff of the American flag was shot away. Sgt. Jasper attached the flag to a pole and stood on the wall waving the flag at the British until a new staff was erected. File:Jasper County Illinois 1831.png|Jasper County at the time of its creation in 1831

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 498 sqmi, of which 495 sqmi is land and 3.6 sqmi (0.7%) is water.

Climate and weather

|Newton, Illinois |18|34|2.38 |23|40|2.38 |33|51|3.85 |42|63|3.90 |52|73|4.39 |62|82|3.74 |66|85|4.37 |63|84|3.43 |55|78|3.17 |43|66|2.77 |34|52|3.99 |24|39|2.90 |access-date=January 27, 2011 In recent years, average temperatures in the county seat of Newton have ranged from a low of 18 °F in January to a high of 85 °F in July, although a record low of -28 °F was recorded in January 1994 and a record high of 112 °F was recorded in July 1954. Average monthly precipitation ranged from 2.38 in in January to 4.39 in in May.

Adjacent counties

• Cumberland County – north
• Clark County – northeast
• Crawford County – east
• Richland County – south
• Clay County – southwest
• Effingham County – west

Major highways

• [[Image:Illinois 33.svg|20px]] Illinois Route 33
• [[Image:Illinois 49.svg|20px]] Illinois Route 49
• [[Image:Illinois 130.svg|20px]] Illinois Route 130

Demographics

|align-fn=center 1790–1960 1900–1990 1990–2000 2010

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, the county had a population of 9,287. The median age was 44.1 years. 22.4% of residents were under the age of 18 and 21.4% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 102.2 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 99.6 males age 18 and over.

The racial makeup of the county was 96.6% White, 0.2% Black or African American, 0.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% Asian,

There were 3,801 households in the county, of which 28.5% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 56.3% were married-couple households, 17.5% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 20.9% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 27.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

There were 4,228 housing units, of which 10.1% were vacant. Among occupied housing units, 83.8% were owner-occupied and 16.2% were renter-occupied. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.7% and the rental vacancy rate was 9.0%.

Racial and ethnic composition

2010 census

As of the 2010 United States census, there were 9,698 people, 3,940 households, and 2,800 families living in the county.{{cite web |access-date=July 11, 2015 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20200213024107/http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/DEC/10_DP/DPDP1/0500000US17079 |archive-date=February 13, 2020 |url-status=dead |access-date=July 11, 2015 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20200212204353/http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/DEC/10_SF1/GCTPH1.CY10/0500000US17079 |archive-date=February 12, 2020 |url-status=dead |access-date=July 11, 2015 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20200213025659/http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/10_5YR/DP02/0500000US17079 |archive-date=February 13, 2020 |url-status=dead

Of the 3,940 households, 29.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.1% were married couples living together, 7.9% had a female householder with no husband present, 28.9% were non-families, and 24.5% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.45 and the average family size was 2.90. The median age was 42.7 years.

The median income for a household in the county was $46,546 and the median income for a family was $53,034. Males had a median income of $39,167 versus $24,856 for females. The per capita income for the county was $21,467. About 6.3% of families and 8.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 10.6% of those under age 18 and 5.1% of those aged 65 or over.{{cite web |access-date=July 11, 2015 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20200213030949/http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/10_5YR/DP03/0500000US17079 |archive-date=February 13, 2020 |url-status=dead

Education

Jasper County is largely served by Jasper County Community Unit School District 1, which is based in its county seat, Newton. Five of the district's six schools are located in Jasper County. Saint Thomas Catholic School is a private elementary school, also in Newton.

Communities

City

• Newton (seat)

Villages

• Hidalgo
• Rose Hill
• Ste. Marie
• Wheeler
• Willow Hill
• Yale

Census-designated place

• West Liberty

Unincorporated communities

• Bogota
• Boos
• Hunt City
• Island Grove
• Latona

Townships

Jasper County is divided into eleven townships:

• Crooked Creek
• Fox
• Grandville
• Grove
• Hunt City
• North Muddy
• Sainte Marie
• Smallwood
• South Muddy
• Wade
• Willow Hill

Notable residents

• Glenn Brummer, baseball catcher for the Major League Baseball St. Louis Cardinals and Texas Rangers; member of the 1982 World Champion Cardinals
• Irene Hunt, author of the classic Across Five Aprils
• Albert Isley, Illinois judge, lawyer, and state senator
• Burl Ives, folk singer, author, and actor
• Ross Wolf, baseball pitcher; plays for the SK Wyverns of the Korea Baseball Championship; formerly played for several Major League Baseball teams

Politics

Jasper is politically a fairly typical "anti-Yankee" Southern Illinois county. Opposition to the "Yankee" Republican Party and that party's Civil War meant that Jasper County voted solidly Democratic until isolationist sentiment drove its voters to Warren G. Harding in 1920.

Since the New Deal, the county has shown a steady trend away from the Democratic Party due to major shifts in that party's views – initially on economic policies and since the 1990s on social issues. Only one Democrat, Lyndon Johnson, has won a majority since 1940 in his 1964 landslide. It appears to be a statistical change in the Upland South, that Barack Obama in 2012 and Hillary Clinton in 2016 did not fare as well as previous Democratic candidates for president.

References

References

1. (March 2025). "County Population Totals and Components of Change: 2020–2024". U.S. Department of Commerce.
2. "Jasper County, Illinois". [[United States Census Bureau]].
3. "Find a County". National Association of Counties.
4. "Population and Housing Unit Estimates Tables". United States Census Bureau.
5. "U.S. Decennial Census". United States Census Bureau.
6. "Historical Census Browser". University of Virginia Library.
7. "Population of Counties by Decennial Census: 1900 to 1990". United States Census Bureau.
8. "Census 2000 PHC-T-4. Ranking Tables for Counties: 1990 and 2000". United States Census Bureau.
9. "State & County QuickFacts". United States Census Bureau.
10. (2021). "2020 Decennial Census Demographic Profile (DP1)".
11. (2021). "2020 Decennial Census Redistricting Data (Public Law 94-171)".
12. (2023). "2020 Decennial Census Demographic and Housing Characteristics (DHC)".
13. "1980 Census of Population - General Population Characteristics - Illinois- Table 14 - Persons by Race and Table 16 (p. 18-28) - Total Persons and Spanish Origin Persons by Type of Spanish Origin and Race (p. 29-39)".
14. "1990 Census of Population - General Population Characteristics - Illinois - Table 6 - Race and Hispanic Orogin".
15. "P004: Hispanic or Latino, and Not Hispanic or Latino by Race – 2000: DEC Summary File 1 – Jasper County County, Illinois".
16. "P2: Hispanic or Latino, and Not Hispanic or Latino by Race – 2010: DEC Redistricting Data (PL 94-171) – Jasper County County, Illinois".
17. "P2: Hispanic or Latino, and Not Hispanic or Latino by Race – 2020: DEC Redistricting Data (PL 94-171) – Jasper County County, Illinois".
18. included in the Asian category in the 1980 Census
19. included in the Asian category in the 1990 Census
20. not an option in the 1980 Census
21. not an option in the 1990 Census
22. Cohn, Nate; [https://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/24/upshot/southern-whites-loyalty-to-gop-nearing-that-of-blacks-to-democrats.html ‘Demographic Shift: Southern Whites’ Loyalty to G.O.P. Nearing That of Blacks to Democrats’], ''[[New York Times]]'', April 24, 2014
23. Leip, David. "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections".