Jasper

Formed January 1, 1831 (55^th county)

Jasper County (9,288), Newton (2,778)

A dark red brick multi-angled courthouse was constructed in 1877 with an extensive remodeling in 1963.  An Administration Center was built in 1970.  It is on a square at Jourdan, Van Buren, Washington, and Jackson streets.  Illinois State Highway 130 is Jourdan Street through the town.  J. I. Grange and Charles Eppinghowser provided for the Georgian Revival designs.  The grounds feature veteran memorials.  Jasper County was created on January 1, 1831 from Clay and Crawford counties as the 55^th county.  Newton has been the only county seat.  Revolutionary War hero William Jasper is the namesake of the county.  The county seat is named for Revolutionary War hero John Newton. 

Jasper County government consists of a sheriff, an attorney, a coroner, a clerk, a treasurer, and an assessor (executive).  It has 9 Board Members (legislative.)  Seventeen Circuit Court Judges serve Jasper, Christian, Clay, Clinton, Effingham, Fayette, Marion, Montgomery, and Shelby counties and a court clerk serves Jasper County (judicial.) The county is in southeast Illinois.  Terre Haute, Indiana is northeast and Saint Louis, Missouri is southwest of the county.  The county center is 7.9 miles Northeast of Newton nearer Rose Hill.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Cumberland, Clark, Crawford, Richland, Clay, and Effingham counties. 

The area of the county is 494 square miles.  It is 54 out of 102 in the state.  It ranks 88 out of 102 in population in the state.  It has a density of 18.8 persons per square mile making it 94 out of 102 in the state.  Jasper County has 38.2% of its population in its incorporated areas.  There are no Interstates or United States Highways in the county.  The county is a rectangle.  Newton is located in the southern half of the county.  Newton is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 29.9% of the county population.

Yale