Greene

Formed January 1, 1821 (21^st county)

Greene County (11,988), Carrollton (2,483)

The stone Richardsonian Romanesque towered courthouse was built in 1892 to replace the 1828 courthouse.  Henry Elliott is the architect.  Greene County was established on January 1, 1821 and named for Revolutionary War General Nathanael Greene.  The county was taken from Madison County as the 21^st county.  Carrollton, the only county seat, is named for Charles Carroll, signer of the Declaration of Independence.  He is all the namesake of Carroll County and its county seat.  The current courthouse is located on a square at North Main, 5^th, South Main, and 6^th streets.  United States Highway 67 is 5^th Street through the town.  Henry Elliott is the building architect. 

Greene 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-two Circuit Court Judges serve Greene, Jersey, Macoupin, Morgan, Sangamon, and Scott counties and a court clerk serves Greene County (judicial.) The county is located in southwest Illinois between Springfield, Illinois, northeast, and Saint Louis, Missouri, southwest.  The Illinois River forms its western border.  The county center is 9 miles North-Northeast of Carrollton nearer White Hall.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Morgan, Macoupin, Jersey, Calhoun, Pike, and Scott counties. 

The area of the county is 543 square miles.  It is 46 out of 102 in the state.  It ranks 84 out of 102 in population in the state.  It has a density of 22.1 persons per square mile making it 90 out of 102 in the state.  Greene County has 68.5% of its population in its incorporated areas.  United States Highway 67 crosses the county north to south from Scott County to Jersey County.  The county is rectangular on the north and east, stair-stepped on the south, and a wandering river on the west.  Carrollton is south and slightly west of the county’s center.  Carrollton is the county seat and the largest city.  Carrollton is 20.7% of the county population.