Boone

January 1, 1837 (67^th county)

Boone County (53,446), Belvidere (25,337)                

The 1854 dark red brick courthouse had an addition added in 1976.  The county was organized on January 1, 1837 from Winnebago County as the 67^th county with Belvidere as the only county seat.  The building sits on Main Street between Perry and Menominie streets.  Illinois State Highway 76 sits two blocks southwest of the location.  E. Smith is the courthouse architect in the Italianate style.  The building features a tower and the grounds have veteran memorials.  The courthouse was enlarged in 1878 and 1958 and renovated in 1986 and 2010.  An Administration Center was built in 2009.  Boone County is named for frontiersman Daniel Boone.  The county seat is French for “beautiful to view.” 

Boone County government consists of a sheriff and 11 Commissioners.  Twenty Circuit Court Judges serve Boone and Winnebago counties.  The county is in far north Illinois on the border with Wisconsin.  Chicago, Illinois is east and Rockford, Illinois is west of the county.  The county center is 4.8 miles North of Belvidere nearer Timberlane.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Wisconsin and McHenry, De Kalb, Ogle, and Winnebago counties. 

The area of the county is 280 square miles.  It is 93 out of 102 in the state.  It ranks 25 out of 102 in population in the state.  It has a density of 190.9 persons per square mile making it 16 out of 102 in the state.  Boone County has 65.2% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 90 crosses east to west through the county from McHenry County to Winnebago County.  United States Highway 20 parallels Interstate Highway 90 from McHenry County to Winnebago County.  The county is a rectangle.  Belvidere is located in the southern third of the county.  Belvidere is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 47.4% of the county population.  The county seat is pronounced BEL-VI-DEER.  This county is in the Rockford Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Loves Park