Iroquois

Formed February 26, 1833 (60^th county)

Iroquois County (27,079), Watseka (4,674)

A Modern style concrete building was built in 1963.  It replaced a classic 1867 structure.  The current one is on Grant Street at 10^th Street.  Illinois Highway 1 is three blocks north of the site.  An Administration Center has been built recently.  Graham Anderson Probst & White are the architects.  It was formed on February 26, 1833 from Vermilion County as the 60^th county.  Montgomery (1837), Middleport (1839), and Watseka (1865) have all served as the county seat.  The county is named for the Iroquois River which is named for the combined Native American tribes.  The county seat is Native American for “Daughter of the Eastern Star” referring to the wife of a settler. 

Iroquois County government consists of a sheriff, an attorney, a coroner, a clerk, a treasurer, and an assessor (executive).  It has 17 Board Members (legislative.)  Nine Circuit Court Judges serve Iroquois and Kankakee counties and a court clerk serves Iroquois County (judicial.) The county is in eastern Illinois on the border with Indiana.  Chicago, Illinois is north and Peoria, Illinois is west of the county.  The county center is 6.3 miles Southwest of Watseka.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Kankakee County and Indiana and Vermilion and Ford counties. 

The area of the county is 1117 square miles.  It is 3 out of 102 in the state.  It ranks 51 out of 102 in population in the state.  It has a density of 24.2 persons per square mile making it 86 out of 102 in the state.  Iroquois County has 63.8% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 57 crosses north to south through the county from Kankakee County to Ford County.  United States Highway 24 goes east to west from Indiana to Ford County.  United States Highway 45 parallels Interstate Highway 57 from Kankakee to Ford counties.  United States Highway 52 enters joined with United States Highway 24 from Indiana, splits and goes north into Kankakee County.  The county is an overall rectangle.  Watseka is located in the eastern third of the county.  Watseka is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 17.3% of the county population.  The county is pronounced EER-OE-KWOE.  The county seat is pronounced WAT-SE-KA.