Richland

Formed February 24, 1841 (94^th county)

Richland County (15,800), Olney (8,699)                

A traditional Neo-Classical style masonry building was built in 1915.  There were earlier courthouses from 1841 and 1873.  It is on Main, Kitchell, Market, and Walnut streets.  Illinois State Highway 230 is Main Street.  Joseph W. Gaddis is the courthouse architect.  The building features columns and the grounds have a canon and veteran memorials.  Richland County was established on February 24, 1841 as the 94^th county with Olney as the only county seat.  The land came from Clay and Lawrence counties.  The county is named for Richland County, Ohio.  Lawyer John Olney is the source name for the county seat. 

Richland County government consists of a sheriff, an attorney, a coroner, a clerk, a treasurer, and an assessor (executive).  It has 7 Board Members (legislative.)  Twenty-one Circuit Court Judges serve Richland, Crawford, Edwards, Franklin, Gallatin, Hamilton, Hardin, Jefferson, Lawrence, Wabash, Wayne, and White counties and a court clerk serves Richland County (judicial.) Richland County is in the southeast part of the state.  Evansville, Indiana is southeast and Saint Louis, Missouri is west of the county.  The county center is in Olney .9 miles Southwest of the city center.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Jasper, Crawford, Lawrence, Wabash, Edwards, Wayne, and Clay counties.  

The area of the county is 360 square miles.  It is 83 out of 102 in the state.  It ranks 67 out of 102 in population in the state.  It has a density of 43.9 persons per square mile making it 54 out of 102 in the state.  Richland County has 62.3% of its population in its incorporated areas.  United States Highway 50 crosses the county east to west from Lawrence County to Clay County.  The county’s western border follows the Little Wabash River.  Except for the southwest border, the remaining county borders form a rectangle.  Olney is located near center in the county.  Olney is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 55.1% of the county population.  The county seat is pronounced OEL-NEE.