Douglas

Formed January 1, 1859 (101^st county)

Douglas County (19,734), Tuscola (4,642)

The masonry Neo-Classical courthouse is located at Center, Van Allen, Court and Houghton streets.  United States Highway 36 is five blocks south of the site.  The building was built in 1911.  Joseph W. Royer is the building designer.  This courthouse replaced an 1866 facility.  The building feature faux columns.  A county annex is across the street.  Douglas County was formed on January 1, 1859 out of Coles County as the 101^st county.  Camargo was the first county seat followed by Tuscola in 1860.  The county is named for Senator Stephen A. Douglas.  The county seat could be derived from the Native American for “flat land.” 

Douglas County government consists of a sheriff and 6 Commissioners.  Eleven Circuit Court Judges serve Douglas, Champaign, DeWitt, Macon, Moultrie, and Piatt counties.  The county is in eastern Illinois.  Springfield, Illinois is west and Terre Haute, Indiana is east of the county.  The county center is 6.3 miles Southeast of Tuscola nearer Camargo.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Champaign, Vermilion, Edgar, Coles, Moultrie, and Piatt counties. 

The area of the county is 416 square miles.  It is 70 out of 102 in the state.  It ranks 58 out of 102 in population in the state.  It has a density of 47.4 persons per square mile making it 49 out of 102 in the state.  Douglas County has 69.0% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 57 goes north to south through the county from Champaign County to Coles County.  United States Highway 36 crosses east to west from Edgar County to Moultrie County.  United States Highway 45 parallels Interstate Highway 57 from Champaign to Coles counties.  The county is a rectangle except for the southeast corner.  Tuscola is located in the northwest quarter of the county.  Tuscola is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 23.5% of the county population.  The county seat is pronounced TUS-KOE-LA.