Alexander

Formed January 1, 1819 (16^th county)

Alexander County (5,242), Cairo (1,739)

The Modern style red brick and concrete building was built in 1964.  It is located on Washington Avenue and 20^th Street.  United States Highway 51 is Washington Avenue in the town.  Berger Kelley United and Associates are the architects.  The county was taken from Union County on January 1, 1819 as the 16^th county.  America was the original county seat, then Unity in 1833, and Thebes in 1845.  Cairo became the seat in 1859 and a courthouse was built.  The Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives, William M. Alexander, is the namesake for the county.  The county seat is named for the city in Egypt. 

Alexander County government consists of a sheriff and 3 Commissioners.  Twenty-one Circuit Court Judges serve Alexander, Jackson, Johnson, Massac, Pope, Pulaski, Saline, Union, and Williamson counties.  The county is on the southern tip of the state.  It borders both Missouri and Kentucky.  The Mississippi River is its western border and the Ohio River forms a small portion of its southeast border.  The county center is 13.1 miles Northwest of Cairo nearer Olive Branch.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Union and Pulaski counties and Kentucky and Missouri. 

The area of the county is 236 square miles.  It is 97 out of 102 in the state.  It ranks 96 out of 102 in population in the state.  It has a density of 22.2 persons per square mile making it 89 out of 102 in the state.  Alexander County has 55.7% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 57 enters the county from Pulaski County to the north and exits into Missouri to the south.  United States Highway 51 enters joined with Interstate Highway 57 from Pulaski County, splits, and travels east into Kentucky.  The county is shaped like a backward comma.  Cairo is at the extreme southern tip of the county.  Cairo is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 33.2% of the county population.  The county seat is pronounced KAE-ROE.  This county is in the Cape Girardeau-Jackson Metropolitan Statistical Area.