Livingston County, Illinois

Livingston County
County
Livingston County Courthouse
Location within the U.S. state of Illinois
Illinois's location within the U.S.
Coordinates: 40°53′N 88°34′W
Country	United States
State	Illinois
Founded	1837
Named for	Edward Livingston
Seat	Pontiac
Largest city	Pontiac
Area
• Total	1,046 sq mi (2,710 km2)
• Land	1,044 sq mi (2,700 km2)
• Water	1.6 sq mi (4 km2)  0.2%
Population  (2020)
• Total	35,815
• Estimate  (2021)	35,664
• Density	34/sq mi (13/km2)
Time zone	UTC−6 (Central)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−5 (CDT)
Congressional districts	2nd, 16th
Website	www.livingstoncounty-il.org/wordpress/

Livingston County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 35,815. Its county seat is Pontiac. Livingston County comprises the Pontiac, IL Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is combined with the Bloomington–Normal metropolitan statistical area as the Bloomington-Pontiac, IL Combined Statistical Area in upper portion of Central Illinois.

History

Livingston was established on February 27, 1837. It was formed from parts of McLean, LaSalle, and Iroquois counties, and named after Edward Livingston, a prominent politician who was mayor of New York City and represented New York in the United States House of Representatives and Louisiana in both houses of Congress. He later served as Andrew Jackson's Secretary of State and as Minister to France. Although he had no connections to Illinois, the General Assembly found him accomplished enough to name a county after him.

• 
  Livingston County at the time of its creation in 1837

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,046 square miles (2,710 km²), of which 1,044 square miles (2,700 km²) is land and 1.6 square miles (4.1 km²) (0.2%) is water. It is the fourth-largest county in Illinois by land area.

Climate and weather

Pontiac, Illinois
Climate chart (explanation)
J F M A M J J A S O N D     1.6     30 14     1.4     36 18     2.8     48 29     3.4     62 39     3.8     73 50     4.1     82 60     4.1     85 64     3.6     83 62     3     77 54     2.7     65 42     3     49 31     2.5     35 20 █ Average max. and min. temperatures in °F █ Precipitation totals in inches Source: The Weather Channel
Metric conversion J F M A M J J A S O N D     41     −1 −10     37     2 −8     72     9 −2     87     17 4     97     23 10     104     28 16     103     29 18     90     28 17     77     25 12     68     18 6     77     9 −1     64     2 −7 █ Average max. and min. temperatures in °C █ Precipitation totals in mm

In recent years, average temperatures in the county seat of Pontiac have ranged from a low of 14 °F (−10.0 °C) in January to a high of 85 °F (29.4 °C) in July, although a record low of −24 °F (−31.1 °C) was recorded in January 1927 and a record high of 108 °F (42.2 °C) was recorded in July 1936. Average monthly precipitation ranged from 1.44 inches (36.6 mm) in February to 4.11 inches (104.4 mm) in June.

Transit

• SHOW Bus
• Pontiac station

Major highways

• Interstate 55
• U.S. Highway 24
• U.S. Highway 66
• Illinois Route 17
• Illinois Route 18
• Illinois Route 23
• Illinois Route 47
• Illinois Route 116
• Illinois Route 170

Adjacent counties

• LaSalle County - northwest
• Grundy County - north
• Kankakee County - northeast
• Ford County - southeast
• McLean County - southwest
• Woodford County - west

Demographics

Historical population

Census	Pop.	Note	%±
1840	759		—
1850	1,552		104.5%
1860	11,637		649.8%
1870	31,471		170.4%
1880	38,450		22.2%
1890	38,455		0.0%
1900	42,035		9.3%
1910	40,465		−3.7%
1920	39,070		−3.4%
1930	39,092		0.1%
1940	38,838		−0.6%
1950	37,809		−2.6%
1960	40,341		6.7%
1970	40,690		0.9%
1980	41,381		1.7%
1990	39,301		−5.0%
2000	39,678		1.0%
2010	38,950		−1.8%
2020	35,815		−8.0%
2023 (est.)	35,320		−1.4%
U.S. Decennial Census 1790-1960 1900-1990 1990-2000 2010-2013

As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 38,950 people, 14,613 households, and 9,741 families residing in the county. The population density was 37.3 inhabitants per square mile (14.4/km²). There were 15,895 housing units at an average density of 15.2 per square mile (5.9/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 91.8% white, 4.9% black or African American, 0.5% Asian, 0.2% American Indian, 1.3% from other races, and 1.3% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 3.9% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 36.6% were German, 17.2% were Irish, 11.2% were American, 10.7% were English, and 5.1% were Italian.

Of the 14,613 households, 30.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.0% were married couples living together, 9.9% had a female householder with no husband present, 33.3% were non-families, and 28.6% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.43 and the average family size was 2.98. The median age was 40.8 years.

The median income for a household in the county was $50,500 and the median income for a family was $60,933. Males had a median income of $44,639 versus $32,234 for females. The per capita income for the county was $23,259. About 9.1% of families and 11.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 15.4% of those under age 18 and 6.9% of those age 65 or over.

Communities

Cities

• Fairbury
• Pontiac
• Streator

Town

• Chatsworth

Villages

• Campus
• Cornell
• Cullom
• Dwight
• Emington
• Flanagan
• Forrest
• Long Point
• Odell
• Reddick
• Saunemin
• Strawn

Townships

Livingston County is divided into thirty townships:

• Amity
• Avoca
• Belle Prairie
• Broughton
• Charlotte
• Chatsworth
• Dwight
• Eppards Point
• Esmen
• Fayette
• Forrest
• Germanville
• Indian Grove
• Long Point
• Nebraska
• Nevada
• Newtown
• Odell
• Owego
• Pike
• Pleasant Ridge
• Pontiac
• Reading
• Rooks Creek
• Round Grove
• Saunemin
• Sullivan
• Sunbury
• Union
• Waldo

Unincorporated communities

• Ancona
• Blackstone
• Blair
• Budd
• Cayuga
• Charlotte
• Graymont
• Manville
• Munster
• Nevada

Government and infrastructure

The Illinois Department of Corrections operates two prisons in the county.

Pontiac Correctional Center is located in Pontiac. Pontiac houses the male death row. Prior to the January 11, 2003, commutation of death row sentences, male death row inmates were housed in Pontiac, Menard, and Tamms correctional centers. Dwight Correctional Center is within Nevada Township in an unincorporated area in the county.

The Dwight Correctional Center is currently unoccupied and was closed in 2013.

Politics

Although it was solidly Democratic before 1856, Livingston has since always been a powerfully Republican county. The solitary Democrat to win a majority of the county's vote since the Civil War has been Franklin D. Roosevelt in his 1932 landslide triumph over Herbert Hoover. Apart from that and the 1912 election when Woodrow Wilson won against a mortally divided Republican Party, Livingston has always voted Republican since that party was founded in 1856. Since 1940, only Lyndon Johnson in his 1964 landslide victory over the conservative Barry Goldwater has won more than forty percent of the county's vote.

United States presidential election results for Livingston County, Illinois

Year	Republican		Democratic		Third party(ies)
	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%
2020	12,208	70.92%	4,615	26.81%	391	2.27%
2016	10,208	66.54%	4,023	26.22%	1,111	7.24%
2012	9,753	64.69%	5,020	33.30%	304	2.02%
2008	9,191	58.66%	6,189	39.50%	289	1.84%
2004	10,316	64.32%	5,632	35.11%	91	0.57%
2000	9,187	59.57%	5,829	37.80%	405	2.63%
1996	7,653	51.75%	5,641	38.15%	1,494	10.10%
1992	8,004	46.81%	6,007	35.13%	3,087	18.05%
1988	10,324	67.02%	5,009	32.52%	72	0.47%
1984	12,291	72.65%	4,567	26.99%	61	0.36%
1980	11,544	68.62%	4,111	24.44%	1,168	6.94%
1976	10,097	64.56%	5,174	33.08%	369	2.36%
1972	13,217	72.07%	5,110	27.86%	12	0.07%
1968	11,963	65.88%	5,234	28.82%	963	5.30%
1964	10,239	54.71%	8,476	45.29%	0	0.00%
1960	13,139	66.42%	6,642	33.57%	2	0.01%
1956	13,939	72.82%	5,197	27.15%	7	0.04%
1952	14,095	71.45%	5,612	28.45%	20	0.10%
1948	11,184	66.27%	5,618	33.29%	74	0.44%
1944	12,436	66.44%	6,231	33.29%	52	0.28%
1940	13,909	64.14%	7,722	35.61%	55	0.25%
1936	10,801	53.12%	9,190	45.20%	343	1.69%
1932	8,403	45.20%	10,024	53.92%	162	0.87%
1928	11,161	65.68%	5,737	33.76%	94	0.55%
1924	9,695	64.53%	2,911	19.37%	2,419	16.10%
1920	10,382	74.83%	3,101	22.35%	391	2.82%
1916	9,801	58.64%	6,462	38.66%	451	2.70%
1912	2,444	26.40%	3,334	36.01%	3,480	37.59%
1908	5,358	55.84%	3,778	39.37%	460	4.79%
1904	6,018	63.58%	2,785	29.42%	662	6.99%
1900	5,805	56.87%	4,024	39.42%	378	3.70%
1896	5,436	55.97%	4,068	41.89%	208	2.14%
1892	3,980	46.58%	3,960	46.34%	605	7.08%

Notable residents

• Donald Attig, businessman and adventurer.
• Libbie Beach Brown (1858-1924), philanthropist and temperance activist
• Calistus Bruer, Illinois state representative and farmer
• M. C. Eignus, Illinois state representative
• Moira Harris, actress and wife of Gary Sinise.
• William Harris, first President of the Illinois Senate.
• Irene Hunt, Newbery Medal-winning author.
• Francis Townsend, physician and political activist whose advocacy for an old age revolving pension influenced the creation of the U.S. Social Security program.
• Skottie Young, comic book artist known for the Oz series. He was born and raised in Fairbury.

See also

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

Further reading

• The History of Livingston County, Illinois: Containing a History of the County — Its Cities, Counties, Etc.; A Directory of Its Taxpayers; War Record of Its Volunteers in the Late Rebellion; Portraits of Early Settlers and Prominent Men; General and Local Statistics; Map of Livingston County; History of Illinois, Illustrated; History of the Northwest, Illustrated; Constitution of the United States; Miscellaneous Matters; Etc., Etc. Chicago: William LeBaron Jr. and Co., 1878.