Sangamon

Formed January 1, 1821 (20^th county)

Sangamon County (196,338), Springfield (114,414)                

A Modern style red brick building was built in 1991 at 9^th Street between Monroe and Adams streets.  Interstate Highway 55 Business is 9^th Street in the city.  Fischer – Wimosky Architects provided the designs.  The Illinois state capitol is located in this county.  The 1837 old state capitol was converted for use as the courthouse in 1876.  The county was formed on January 1, 1821 from Madison and Bond counties as the 20^th county with Springfield as the only county seat.  The county is named for the river which is Native American for “place where there’s plenty to eat.”  The county seat is named for Spring Creek. 

Sangamon County government consists of a sheriff and 29 Commissioners.  Twenty-two Circuit Court Judges serve Sangamon, Greene, Jersey, Macoupin, Morgan, and Scott counties.  The county is in central Illinois.  Peoria, Illinois is north and Saint Louis, Missouri is southwest of the county.  The county center is in Springfield 4 miles South-Southeast of the city center.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Logan, Macon, Christian, Montgomery, Macoupin, Morgan, Cass, and Menard counties. 

The area of the county is 868 square miles.  It is 9 out of 102 in the state.  It ranks 11 out of 102 in population in the state.  It has a density of 226.2 persons per square mile making it 13 out of 102 in the state.  Sangamon County has 83.8% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 55 enters the county from the northeast, Logan County, and exits to the south, Montgomery County.  Interstate Highway 72 crosses east to west through the county from Macon to Morgan counties.  United States Highway 36 is joined with Interstate Highway 72 from Macon County to Morgan County.  Abraham Lincoln, the 16^th President, is buried in this county.  The county’s shape resembles a teapot.  Springfield dominates the western center of the county.  Springfield is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 58.3% of the county population.  The county is pronounced SANG-GAE-MUN.  This county is in the Springfield Metropolitan Statistical Area.