Grundy

Formed February 17, 1841 (93^rd county)

Grundy County (52,544), Morris (14,178)

The Classical Revival masonry and concrete courthouse in Morris was built in 1912.  Built on a square on Washington, Illinois, Franklin and Liberty streets, this courthouse replaced an 1858 version.  Illinois State Highway 47 passes one block east of the site.  Joseph W. Royer is the building designer.  The grounds feature veteran memorials.  The county was organized on February 17, 1841 from part of La Salle County as the 93^rd county with Morris as the only county seat.  United States Attorney General, Felix Grundy, provided the inspiration for the county’s name.  Morris is named for Isaac N. Morris, a local commissioner who helped locate the present city. 

Grundy County government consists of a sheriff, an attorney, a coroner, a clerk, a treasurer, and an assessor (executive).  It has 7 Board Members (legislative.)  Thirteen Circuit Court Judges serve Grundy, Bureau, and LaSalle counties and a court clerk serves Grundy County (judicial.) The county is in northeast Illinois to the southwest of Chicago, Illinois and northeast of Peoria, Illinois.  The Illinois River flows through the county.  The county center is 5.8 miles Southeast of Morris.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Kendall, Will, Kankakee, Livingston, and La Salle counties.  

The area of the county is 418 square miles.  It is 69 out of 102 in the state.  It ranks 27 out of 102 in population in the state.  It has a density of 125.7 persons per square mile making it 22 out of 102 in the state.  Grundy County has 77.8% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 55 cuts the southeast corner from Kankakee County, east, to Livingston County, south.  Interstate Highway 80 enters the northeast corner from Will County and travels west into La Salle County.  United States Highway 6 parallels Interstate Highway 80 from Will County to La Salle County.  The county is a rectangle with Morris in the northern third of the county.  Morris is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 27.0% of the county population.  The county is pronounced GRUN-DEE.  This county is in the Chicago-Naperville-Joliet Metropolitan Statistical Area.

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