Tazewell County, Illinois facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Tazewell County
U.S. county
Tazewell County Courthouse in Pekin
Seal
Location within the U.S. state of Illinois
Illinois's location within the U.S.
Country	United States
State	Illinois
Founded	1827
Named for	Littleton Waller Tazewell
Seat	Pekin
Largest city	Pekin
Area
• Total	658 sq mi (1,700 km2)
• Land	649 sq mi (1,680 km2)
• Water	9.0 sq mi (23 km2)  1.4%
Population  (2020)
• Total	131,343
• Density	199.61/sq mi (77.07/km2)
Time zone	UTC−6 (Central)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−5 (CDT)
Congressional districts	16th, 17th

Tazewell County (/tæzwɛl/) is located in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2020 census, it had a population of 131,343. Its county seat and largest city is Pekin. It is pronounced with a short "a", to rhyme with "razz" rather than "raze."

Tazewell County is part of the Peoria, IL Metropolitan Statistical Area. The majority of the population lives along the county's western border.

History

Tazewell County was formed out of Peoria County in 1827. The consensus appears to be that it was named in honor of Littleton Tazewell, who served in the U.S. Senate, and who became Governor of Virginia in 1834. It is, however, possible that it was named after Littleton's father, prominent Virginia politician Henry Tazewell, after whom Tazewell County, Virginia, was named.

The first county seat was in Mackinaw from 1827 to 1836. It was moved temporarily from Mackinaw to Pekin in June 1831, with the county court proceedings in the Snell schoolhouse. It moved to Tremont in 1836. After a political struggle between Tremont and Pekin, the county seat was reassigned to Pekin in 1849.

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  Tazewell from the time of its creation to 1829, including a large tract of unorganized territory temporarily attached to it, whose precise border was not defined.

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  Tazewell County between 1829 and 1830: the creation of Macon County established a southern border for Tazewell's additional territory.

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  Tazewell County between 1830 and 1831: the additional territory to the east became McLean County.

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  Tazewell County between 1831 and 1841: the last of the county's additional territory became part of LaSalle County.

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  Tazewell County in 1841, reduced to its present borders.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 658 square miles (1,700 km²), of which 649 square miles (1,680 km²) is land and 9.0 square miles (23 km²) (1.4%) is water.

State Fish & Wildlife Areas

The following Illinois State Park & Natural Areas are located in Tazewell County:

• Spring Lake State Fish and Wildlife Area - an 8.5-mile (13.7 km) long alluvial lake that lies parallel to the Illinois River.
• Powerton Lake State Fish and Wildlife Area - 1,426-acre (577 ha) area of semi-protected habitat on the Illinois River.
• Mackinaw River State Fish and Wildlife Area - 1,448-acre (586 ha) state park

Climate and weather

In recent years, average temperatures in the county seat of Pekin have ranged from a low of 14 °F (−10 °C) in January to a high of 86 °F (30 °C) in July, although a record low of −27 °F (−33 °C) was recorded in January 1884 and a record high of 113 °F (45 °C) was recorded in July 1936. Average monthly precipitation ranged from 1.50 inches (38 mm) in January to 4.17 inches (106 mm) in May.

Adjacent counties

• Peoria County (northwest)
• Woodford County (north)
• McLean County (east)
• Logan County (south)
• Mason County (southwest)
• Fulton County (west)

Transportation

Major highways

Airports

The following public-use airports are located in Tazewell County:

• Pekin Municipal Airport (C15) - serves Pekin (Located by the Village of South Pekin, Illinois)
• Manito Mitchell Airport (C45) - serves Manito, a village in Mason County

Public Transportation

Bus and paratransit service in Tazewell County is provided by Peoria's “CityLink” system, operating six routes (four originating from Peoria) seven days a week.

Demographics

As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 135,394 people, 54,146 households, and 37,163 families living in the county. The population density was 208.6 inhabitants per square mile (80.5/km²). There were 57,516 housing units at an average density of 88.6 per square mile (34.2/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 96.2% white, 1.0% black or African American, 0.7% Asian, 0.3% American Indian, 0.5% from other races, and 1.3% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 1.9% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 35.6% were German, 15.6% were American, 14.4% were Irish, and 12.0% were English.

Of the 54,146 households, 31.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.2% were married couples living together, 10.2% had a female householder with no husband present, 31.4% were non-families, and 26.3% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.45 and the average family size was 2.94. The median age was 39.8 years.

The median income for a household in the county was $54,232 and the median income for a family was $66,764. Males had a median income of $50,372 versus $34,747 for females. The per capita income for the county was $27,036. About 6.3% of families and 7.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 11.2% of those under age 18 and 4.5% of those age 65 or over.

Communities

Cities

• Delavan
• East Peoria
• Marquette Heights
• Pekin (seat)
• Washington

Villages

Census-designated place

• Heritage Lake

Other unincorporated communities

• Groveland

Townships

Tazewell County is divided into these townships:

Notable people

• Charles "Buffalo" Jones, Cowboy and Naturalist
• Everett Dirkson US Senator
• Gary Richrath, Lead Guitarist - REO Speedwagon
• John Theodore McNaughton, Government Official

See also

In Spanish: Condado de Tazewell (Illinois) para niños