Jersey

Formed February 28, 1839 (84^th county)

Jersey County (21,520), Jerseyville (8,339)

The classic Romanesque style stone courthouse was built in 1894.  It is located at Pearl and Washington streets.  United States Highway 67 is one block northeast of the site.  Henry Elliott provided the building designs.  An Administration center was added to augment the courthouse.  The grounds feature a gazebo, veteran memorials, and canons.  The inside has wooden stairs.  The county was created on February 28, 1839 out of Greene County as the 84^th county with Jerseyville as the only county seat.  The county’s name comes from the State of New Jersey, original home of many settlers.  The county seat also has the same source name. 

Jersey County government consists of a sheriff, an attorney, a coroner, a clerk, a treasurer, and an assessor (executive).  It has 12 Board Members (legislative.)  Twenty-two Circuit Court Judges serve Jersey, Greene, Macoupin, Morgan, Sangamon, and Scott counties and a court clerk serves Jersey County (judicial.) The county is located in western Illinois immediately north of Saint Louis, Missouri.  The Illinois River is its western border and the Mississippi River forms its southern border with Missouri.  The county center is 5.2 miles Southwest of Jerseyville nearer Otterville.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Greene, Macoupin, and Madison counties and Missouri and Calhoun County. 

The area of the county is 369 square miles.  It is 81 out of 102 in the state.  It ranks 54 out of 102 in population in the state.  It has a density of 58.3 persons per square mile making it 42 out of 102 in the state.  Jersey County has 47.2% of its population in its incorporated areas.  United States Highway 67 crosses the county north to south from Greene County to Madison County.  The overall county shape looks like a chair with an extra cushion.  Jerseyville is located in the northeast quarter of the county.  Jerseyville is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 38.8% of the county population.  This county is in the Saint Louis Metropolitan Statistical Area.

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