White County, Illinois

White County is a located in the  of. As of, the population is 15,371. Its is.

Geography
According to the, the county has a total area of 1,299 (502 ). 1,282 km² (495 sq mi) of it is land and 18 km² (7 sq mi) of it (1.36%) is water.

Adjacent Counties

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History
White County was organized from in 1815, and was named after  (some accounts say ), a Gallatin County legislator who is credited with the idea of extending the Illinois-Wisconsin border a few miles north of the southern tip of Lake Michigan and was also in charge of the salt works at. He was killed in at the. The county seat,, was founded in 1814, and incorporated in 1816. The first courthouse was in the log cabin of John Craw.

The first white settlers came to White County between 1807 and 1809. The first settlements were near the and Big Prairie, one of the numerous prairies in the county. These families—Hanna, Land, Hay, Williams, Calvert, Ratcliff, Holderby, Robinson, Stewart, among others—typically had spent time in the Carolinas, or  before moving into Illinois, and most were of Scots-Irish descent. Many came through the land office at, which was a port for flatboats which traveled the.

Other early settlements were, located at the mouth of and the , settled by the Gray family around 1810; , on the bluffs above the Wabash and Fox River floodplain; and  (mostly in Gallatin County), which was home to a brother of  around 1818. Old Sharon Church (Presbyterian), located near the later village of Sacramento, was organized around 1816, and the village of was established a few miles north of the church in the 1830's. The parents of longtime  girlfriend  were part of this group, along with families named McArthy, Miller, McClellan, Pollard, Storey, Fields, and Johnson.

About 1839, a group of Irish immigrants began moving into the extreme western part of, led by Patrick Dolan, as well as members of the Mitchell and Dunn clans. Dolan was auctioneer in 1853 when the village of Enfield was platted, as Seven Mile moved west in anticipation of a railroad line, which was not built until 1872. German families moved into the middle portion of the county in the 1840s and onward, especially from the Baden region, and included the family names of Rebstock, Dartt, Brown, Sailer, Stanley, and Drone.

The second half of the 19th century saw the establishment of the towns of, , (once the home of a thriving barrel-making industry which depleted the nearby virgin forests), , ,  (previously known as "Liberty"), , ,  (also known as Emma),  and  (commonly called Dogtown)--the latter two villages are located on the Wabash and attracted several African-American families. A number of villages which no longer exist were also formed: Trumbull, Roland, Middle Point, Stokes Station, Gossett, Bungay, Calvin, Iron, and Dolan Settlement.

In, White County was devastated by the , the deadliest tornado in U.S. history. A good proportion of the 127 killed in and White counties were in White County itself. The main town affected was.

Agriculture was the primary industry of White County until the summer of 1939, when oil was discovered in the Storms and Stinson fields in the Wabash River Bottoms. The population of Carmi doubled within two years, from 2,700 to 5,400, with corresponding increases at Crossville and Grayville--in 1940 it was said one could walk between these two towns by simply walking from rig to rig. Many of these workers migrated from previous oil booms in and.

The current population of White County is a little over 17,000, with 6,500 in the county seat of Carmi. There is a high number of retired people, and many citizens work in the factories of or, located 45 and 25 miles to the east, respectively. Besides oil and agriculture, industries include auto parts manufacturing, plastics, a convenience store distribution center and underground coal mining.

White County, Illinois was also the site of the ill-fated also known as the Bull Island Fest in 1972.

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 15,371 people, 6,534 households, and 4,377 families residing in the county. The was 12/km² (31/sq mi). There were 7,393 housing units at an average density of 6/km² (15/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 98.22%, 0.26% or , 0.34% , 0.16% , 0.01% , 0.16% from , and 0.85% from two or more races. 0.67% of the population were or  of any race.

There were 6,534 households out of which 26.80% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.60% were living together, 7.60% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.00% were non-families. 29.80% of all households were made up of individuals and 16.60% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.29 and the average family size was 2.82.

In the county the population was spread out with 21.50% under the age of 18, 7.70% from 18 to 24, 25.30% from 25 to 44, 24.60% from 45 to 64, and 20.90% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females there were 91.10 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.50 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $29,601, and the median income for a family was $36,580. Males had a median income of $30,619 versus $17,282 for females. The for the county was $16,412. About 8.70% of families and 12.50% of the population were below the, including 17.70% of those under age 18 and 9.80% of those age 65 or over.