Clay County, Illinois

Clay County
County
Clay County Courthouse in Louisville
Location within the U.S. state of Illinois
Illinois's location within the U.S.
Coordinates: 38°46′N88°29′W / 38.76°N 88.49°W / 38.76; -88.49
Country	United States
State	Illinois
Founded	December 23, 1824 (created) March 8, 1825 (organized)
Named for	Henry Clay
Seat	Louisville
Largest city	Flora
Area
• Total	469.59 sq mi (1,216.2 km2)
• Land	468.32 sq mi (1,212.9 km2)
• Water	1.28 sq mi (3.3 km2)  0.3%
Population  (2020)
• Total	13,288
• Density	28/sq mi (11/km2)
Time zone	UTC−6 (Central)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−5 (CDT)
Congressional district	12th
Website	claycountyillinois.org

Clay County is a county in the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of Illinois. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 13,288. ^[1] Since 1842, its county seat has been Louisville, in the center of the county's area. ^[2]

In 1950, the U.S. Census Bureau placed the mean center of U.S. population in Clay County. ^[3]

History

The future Clay County had been inhabited for thousands of years by the Illiniwek Indians (the remains of an Indian village's burial ground are still visible west of Ingraham). White explorers used or cleared a trail between the future settlements of Saint Louis in Missouri, to Vincennes in Indiana; this became a mail route in 1805. The first white settler (McCauley, from Kentucky) built a cabin in 1809 near this road at its intersection with a trail from Vandalia to Mt. Carmel. He was driven out by the Indians, but had returned by 1819, by which time other cabins had been constructed in the area, which was originally called Habbardsville. The Indians were removed from the area in 1828. ^[4]

Clay County was authorized by act of the state legislature on December 23, 1824, by partitioning portions of Wayne, Crawford, and Fayette counties. ^[4] It was named for American statesman Henry Clay, ^[5] a member of the United States Senate from Kentucky and United States Secretary of State. Clay was a candidate for president in 1824.

The first appointed commissioners met on March 8, 1825, to organize the county government. Land for county building purposes was donated near Habbardsville. The commissioners accepted the offer, renamed it Maysville, and had a two-room courthouse erected on the property by the end of the year. ^[6] The seat remained at that location (about a mile south of the present community of Clay City) through 1841, and in 1842 the county government began functioning in Louisville, being at the center of the county's area. ^[4]

The first railroad line through Clay County was laid between 1850 and 1854, the Ohio and Mississippi Line. ^[4] By 1855–56, the Illinois Central Railroad had also been constructed across the northwest corner of the county.

Geography

• 
  Clay County from the time of its creation to 1831
• 
  Clay County between 1831 and 1841
• 
  Clay County was reduced to its current size in 1841 by the creation of Richland County.

The low rolling hills of Clay County are devoted to agricultural production. The various drainage areas are still largely wooded. The Little Wabash River flows southeastward through the center of the county, while Muddy Creek drains the eastern portion (the meanders of Little Muddy delineate a portion of the county's east border with Richland County). Buck Creek, in the south part of the county, flows eastward and joins the Little Wabash above Clay City. Raccoon Creek flows southeastward from the lower part of the county into Wayne County. ^[7] The highest point on the terrain (646 feet/197 meters ASL) is a small point along the western border with Marion County. ^[8]

The county produced excellent timber during the nineteenth century, and some sandstone and limestone. The soil is light and not considered adapted to farming on a large scale. ^[4]

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 470 square miles (1,200 km²), of which 468 square miles (1,210 km²) is land and 1.3 square miles (3.4 km²) (0.3%) is water. ^[9]

Adjacent counties

• Effingham County - north
• Jasper County - northeast
• Richland County - east
• Wayne County - south
• Marion County - west
• Fayette County - northwest

Major highways

• I-57
• US 45
• US 50
• IL 37

Protected areas

• Martin T Snyder Memorial Nature Preserve ^[10]

Cities

• Flora

Villages

• Clay City
• Iola
• Louisville (seat)
• Sailor Springs
• Xenia

Unincorporated communities

• Bible Grove
• Camp Travis
• Cruse
• Greendale
• Hoosier
• Hord
• Ingraham
• Kenner
• Oskaloosa
• Riffle
• Wendelin

Townships

• Bible Grove
• Blair
• Clay City
• Harter
• Hoosier
• Larkinsburg
• Louisville
• Oskaloosa
• Pixley
• Songer
• Stanford
• Xenia

Climate and weather

Louisville, Illinois
Climate chart (explanation)
J F M A M J J A S O N D     2.7     38 21     2.5     44 25     4     55 34     4.1     67 43     4.3     76 53     4.3     85 62     3.9     89 65     3.3     87 63     3.2     80 56     3     69 45     4.1     55 35     3.4     43 25 █ Average max. and min. temperatures in °F █ Precipitation totals in inches Source: The Weather Channel [11]
Metric conversion J F M A M J J A S O N D     70     3 −6     63     7 −4     102     13 1     105     19 6     109     24 12     110     29 17     99     32 18     85     31 17     81     27 13     77     21 7     104     13 2     85     6 −4 █ Average max. and min. temperatures in °C █ Precipitation totals in mm

In recent years, average temperatures in the county seat of Louisville have ranged from a low of 21 °F (−6 °C) in January to a high of 89 °F (32 °C) in July, although a record low of −25 °F (−32 °C) was recorded in January 1904 and a record high of 111 °F (44 °C) was recorded in July 1936. Average monthly precipitation ranged from 2.49 inches (63 mm) in February to 4.34 inches (110 mm) in June. ^[11]

Demographics

Historical population

Census	Pop.	Note	%±
1830	755		—
1840	3,228		327.5%
1850	4,289		32.9%
1860	9,336		117.7%
1870	15,875		70.0%
1880	16,192		2.0%
1890	16,772		3.6%
1900	19,553		16.6%
1910	18,661		−4.6%
1920	17,684		−5.2%
1930	16,155		−8.6%
1940	18,947		17.3%
1950	17,445		−7.9%
1960	15,815		−9.3%
1970	14,735		−6.8%
1980	15,283		3.7%
1990	14,460		−5.4%
2000	14,560		0.7%
2010	13,815		−5.1%
2020	13,288		−3.8%
2023 (est.)	12,999	[12]	−2.2%
US Decennial Census [13] 1790-1960 [14] 1900-1990 [15] 1990-2000 [16] 2010 [17]

2000 census age pyramid for Clay County

2010 census

As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 13,815 people, 5,697 households, and 3,790 families in the county. ^[18] The population density was 29.5 inhabitants per square mile (11.4/km²). There were 6,404 housing units at an average density of 13.7 per square mile (5.3/km²). ^[9] The racial makeup of the county was 97.7% white, 0.5% Asian, 0.3% black or African American, 0.2% American Indian, 0.5% from other races, and 0.8% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 1.1% of the population. ^[18] In terms of ancestry, 21.7% were German, 14.6% were American, 12.6% were Irish, and 8.6% were English. ^[19]

Of the 5,697 households, 29.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.1% were married couples living together, 9.4% had a female householder with no husband present, 33.5% were non-families, and 28.9% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.37 and the average family size was 2.89. The median age was 42.2 years. ^[18]

The median income for a household in the county was $38,016 and the median income for a family was $48,659. Males had a median income of $38,191 versus $27,347 for females. The per capita income for the county was $20,802. About 11.2% of families and 16.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 21.4% of those under age 18 and 14.7% of those age 65 or over. ^[20]

Education

• Clay City Community Unit District 10
• Dieterich Community Unit School District 30
• Effingham Community Unit School District 40
• Flora Community Unit School District 35
• Jasper County Community Unit School District 1
• North Clay Community Unit School District 25
  • North Clay High School
• South Central Community Unit School District 401

Politics

As part of Upper Southern-leaning Southern Illinois, Clay County is powerfully Republican. No Democratic presidential nominee has won a majority in Clay County since Lyndon Johnson’s 1964 landslide, and typically for the region recent presidential elections have seen dramatic declines in Democratic support. ^[21]

United States presidential election results for Clay County, Illinois ^[22]

Year	Republican		Democratic		Third party
	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%
2020	5,629	81.59%	1,129	16.36%	141	2.04%
2016	5,021	79.07%	1,020	16.06%	309	4.87%
2012	4,190	70.92%	1,584	26.81%	134	2.27%
2008	3,926	60.72%	2,425	37.50%	115	1.78%
2004	4,416	67.38%	2,101	32.06%	37	0.56%
2000	3,789	61.76%	2,212	36.06%	134	2.18%
1996	2,703	43.40%	2,750	44.16%	775	12.44%
1992	2,471	37.15%	2,962	44.53%	1,219	18.33%
1988	3,494	55.65%	2,761	43.97%	24	0.38%
1984	4,562	64.22%	2,524	35.53%	18	0.25%
1980	4,447	61.20%	2,587	35.60%	232	3.19%
1976	3,860	49.94%	3,837	49.64%	32	0.41%
1972	5,283	64.92%	2,844	34.95%	11	0.14%
1968	4,429	55.46%	2,878	36.04%	679	8.50%
1964	3,665	44.61%	4,551	55.39%	0	0.00%
1960	5,134	60.13%	3,394	39.75%	10	0.12%
1956	5,079	58.73%	3,553	41.08%	16	0.19%
1952	5,254	60.38%	3,432	39.44%	15	0.17%
1948	3,782	53.21%	3,160	44.46%	166	2.34%
1944	4,484	55.29%	3,531	43.54%	95	1.17%
1940	5,185	50.72%	4,934	48.27%	103	1.01%
1936	4,528	48.25%	4,752	50.64%	104	1.11%
1932	3,373	41.83%	4,565	56.61%	126	1.56%
1928	4,522	65.16%	2,418	34.84%	0	0.00%
1924	3,432	49.60%	2,987	43.17%	500	7.23%
1920	3,683	59.90%	2,358	38.35%	108	1.76%
1916	3,879	50.43%	3,574	46.46%	239	3.11%
1912	1,622	37.36%	1,926	44.37%	793	18.27%
1908	2,250	49.53%	2,152	47.37%	141	3.10%
1904	2,408	53.19%	1,935	42.74%	184	4.06%
1900	2,356	49.45%	2,295	48.17%	113	2.37%
1896	2,155	47.89%	2,272	50.49%	73	1.62%
1892	1,774	45.64%	1,604	41.27%	509	13.09%

See also

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Clay County, Illinois

38°46′N88°29′W / 38.76°N 88.49°W / 38.76; -88.49

References

1. "Clay County, Illinois". United States Census Bureau . Retrieved June 8, 2023.
2. "Find a County". National Association of Counties. Archived from the original on May 31, 2011. Retrieved June 7, 2011.
3. "Mean Center of Population for the United States: 1790 to 2000" (PDF). US Census Bureau. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 3, 2001. Retrieved September 17, 2011.
4. "A History of Southern Illinois". The USGenWeb Project. 1912. pp. 439–442. Retrieved October 24, 2020.
5. Gannett, Henry (1905). The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States. Govt. Print. Off. p.  83.
6. "Larry Brant - Village of Clay City". Archived from the original on February 28, 2009. Retrieved October 24, 2020.
7. Clay County IL (Google Maps, accessed 24 October 2020)
8. Clay County High Point IL (PeakBagger.com, accessed 24 October 2020)
9. "Population, Housing Units, Area, and Density: 2010 - County". US Census Bureau. Archived from the original on February 12, 2020. Retrieved July 11, 2015.
10. Martin T Snyder Nature Preserve, Flora IL (Google Maps, accessed 24 October 2020)
11. "Monthly Averages for Louisville, Illinois". The Weather Channel. Retrieved January 27, 2011.
12. "Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for Counties: April 1, 2020 to July 1, 2023". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved April 2, 2024.
13. "US Decennial Census". US Census Bureau. Retrieved July 4, 2014.
14. "Historical Census Browser". University of Virginia Library. Archived from the original on August 11, 2012. Retrieved July 4, 2014.
15. "Population of Counties by Decennial Census: 1900 to 1990". US Census Bureau. Retrieved July 4, 2014.
16. "Census 2000 PHC-T-4. Ranking Tables for Counties: 1990 and 2000" (PDF). US Census Bureau. Retrieved July 4, 2014.
17. "State & County QuickFacts". US Census Bureau. Archived from the original on June 6, 2011. Retrieved July 4, 2014.
18. "Profile of General Population and Housing Characteristics: 2010 Demographic Profile Data". US Census Bureau. Archived from the original on February 13, 2020. Retrieved July 11, 2015.
19. "Selected Social Characteristics in the US – 2006-2010 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates". US Census Bureau. Archived from the original on February 13, 2020. Retrieved July 11, 2015.
20. "Selected Economic Characteristics – 2006-2010 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates". US Census Bureau. Archived from the original on February 13, 2020. Retrieved July 11, 2015.
21. Cohn, Nate; ‘Demographic Shift: Southern Whites’ Loyalty to G.O.P. Nearing That of Blacks to Democrats’, The New York Times , April 24, 2014
22. Leip, David. "Atlas of US Presidential Elections". uselectionatlas.org. Retrieved October 31, 2018.

• United States Census Bureau 2007 TIGER/Line Shapefiles
• United States Board on Geographic Names (GNIS)
• United States National Atlas

External links

• Illinois State Archives