Coles

Formed December 25, 1830 (52^nd county)

Coles County (46,865), Charleston (17,280)

The old classic Richardsonian Romanesque stone courthouse was built in 1898.  It is on a square of Jackson, 6^th, Monroe, and 7^th streets.  Illinois State Highway 130 is two blocks north of the site.  There was an 1835 courthouse also in Charleston, the only county seat.  The current courthouse was designed by Cornelius W. Rapp.  The courthouse features a working clock tower and veteran memorials.  The county was established on December 25, 1830 from parts of Clark and Edgar counties as the 52^nd county.  Coles County is named for Governor Edward Coles.  The city’s founder, Charles Morton, is the namesake of the county seat. 

Coles County government consists of a sheriff and 12 Commissioners.  Seventeen Circuit Court Judges serve Coles, Clark, Cumberland, Edgar, and Vermilion counties.  The county is in southeast Illinois between Springfield, Illinois, west, and Terre Haute, Indiana, east.  The county center is 7 miles Northwest of Charleston.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Douglas, Edgar, Clark, Cumberland, Shelby, and Moultrie counties. 

The area of the county is 508 square miles.  It is 52 out of 102 in the state.  It ranks 31 out of 102 in population in the state.  It has a density of 92.3 persons per square mile making it 25 out of 102 in the state.  Coles County has 77.1% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 57 crosses north to south through the county from Douglas County to Cumberland County.  United States Highway 45 parallels Interstate Highway 57 from Douglas to Cumberland counties.  The county is a rectangle with an added smokestack on the northeast corner.  Charleston is located in the southern third of the county.  Charleston is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 36.9% of the county population.  This county is in the Charleston-Mattoon Micropolitan Statistical Area.