Johnson

Formed January 1, 1812 (4^th county)

Johnson County (13,310), Vienna (1,347)

A small red brick Italianate courthouse built in 1871 still serves the county.  It is sited on a city square surrounded by Court, 5^th, Poplar, and 4^th streets.  Illinois Highway 146 is one block north of the courthouse.  Joseph Frick provided the designs.  The building features a working clock tower.  The county was formed on January 1, 1812 out of Randolph County as the 4^th county.  John Bradshaw’s home served as the first county seat, then Elvira in 1814, and finally Vienna in 1818.  The county’s namesake is United States Vice President Richard M. Johnson.  The county seat is named for Vienna, Austria although it is pronounced differently.  

Johnson County government consists of a sheriff, an attorney, a coroner, a clerk, a treasurer, and an assessor (executive).  It has 3 Board Members (legislative.)  Twenty-one Circuit Court Judges serve Johnson, Alexander, Jackson, Massac, Pope, Pulaski, Saline, Union, and Williamson counties and a court clerk serves Johnson County (judicial.) The county is in far southern Illinois.  Paducah, Kentucky is southeast and Saint Louis, Missouri is northwest of the county.  The county center is 3.8 miles North of Vienna.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Williamson, Saline, Pope, Massac, Pulaski, and Union counties. 

The area of the county is 343 square miles.  It is 85 out of 102 in the state.  It ranks 79 out of 102 in population in the state.  It has a density of 38.8 persons per square mile making it 63 out of 102 in the state.  Johnson County has 23.4% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 24 originates in the county and travels south into Massac County.  Interstate Highway 57 cuts the northwest corner of the county from Williamson County, north, to Union County, west.  United States Highway 45 enters the county from the northeast, Williamson County, and exits south into Massac County.  The county is a square with an added foot on the southwest corner.  Vienna is located in the southern half of the county.  Vienna is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 12.8% of the county population.  The county seat is pronounced VIE-AN-A.

Vienna