Stark County, Illinois

Stark County is a located in the  of. As of, the population is 6,332. Its is.

Geography
According to the, the county has a total area of 746 (288 ). 746 km² (288 sq mi) of it is land and 1 km² (0 sq mi) of it (0.10%) is water.

Adjacent Counties

 * (north)
 * (east)
 * (south)
 * (west)
 * (northwest)

History
Stark County was formed in out of  and. It was named for Colonel, an officer in the and the. Col. Stark commanded a regiment at the.

Earliest Settlers
Stark County and Its Pioneers by Mrs. E. H. Shallenberger, 1876--- In the latter part of April, 1829 a solitary, heavily laden wagon was wending its way from the hospitable home of Mr. French, at Prince's Grove, about a half mile north-west of the present town of Princeville, towards Spoon River, probably crossing that stream at a point since known as Boardman's Ford, or, as others think, near the seat of Cox's Mill, and moving on towards section fifteen in what has since been known as Essex Township.

The weather was warm and balmy considering the season. The prairie burnt over by the Indians in the fall was already green with sprouting grass. Accompanying this vehicle were as it might seem a guard of good men, and true; "neighbors" they called themselves, although they must have lived many miles apart, some of them thirty or forty from the scene of their present friendly labors, having come from LaSalle Prairie, from Chillicothe and Peoria. They were neither hunters or warriors, they feared no enemy, and sought not the "spoils of war".

It was a peaceable expedition and its leader was the occupant of the wagon, Isaac B. Essex, then in the strength of his manhood, and with him came his young wife and infant child to found a home in the wilderness. The "neighbors" were Daniel Prince, Stephen French, Simon Reed, Frank Thomas and two Baptist ministers, Elders Silliman and Allen. The former of these two was the father of the much respected Toulon townsman Minott Silliman, the first treasurer of Stark county. And these men had came so far to raise a cabin!

Mr. Essex had been out and made a claim in 1828, and in the fall of that year cut the logs and split the clap-boards for his house, probably all of which were on the northeast quarter of section fifteen. They now proceeded to haul them together and get them in shape on the proposed building site. They all camped in the woods the first night, but towards sundown of the second day, the cabin was raised, the roof on, and as Mr. Essex graphically said "we cut a log out and moved in."

This was emphatically the first pioneer cabin, the first home of non-native American settlers within the present limits of Stark County.

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 6,332 people, 2,525 households, and 1,764 families residing in the county. The was 8/km² (22/sq mi). There were 2,725 housing units at an average density of 4/km² (10/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 98.63%, 0.06% or , 0.19% , 0.19% , 0.14% from , and 0.79% from two or more races. 0.85% of the population were or  of any race.

There were 2,525 households out of which 30.30% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.00% were living together, 7.00% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.10% were non-families. 27.10% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.00% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.46 and the average family size was 3.00.

In the county the population was spread out with 25.10% under the age of 18, 6.80% from 18 to 24, 25.20% from 25 to 44, 23.70% from 45 to 64, and 19.20% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 93.20 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.10 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $35,826, and the median income for a family was $43,410. Males had a median income of $30,774 versus $22,146 for females. The for the county was $16,767. About 6.30% of families and 8.60% of the population were below the, including 11.20% of those under age 18 and 8.00% of those age 65 or over.

Census designated places

 * , home of the locally well-known Tanner's Orchard
 * , home of the locally well-known Tanner's Orchard
 * , home of the locally well-known Tanner's Orchard
 * , home of the locally well-known Tanner's Orchard
 * , home of the locally well-known Tanner's Orchard
 * , home of the locally well-known Tanner's Orchard
 * , home of the locally well-known Tanner's Orchard