Wayne

Formed January 1, 1819 (19^th county)

Wayne County (16,173), Fairfield (4,882)

The red brick Romanesque and Second Empire style courthouse was constructed in 1892 and enlarged in 1955 and 1957.  It sits on a square at Main, 3^rd, Court, and 4^th streets.  Illinois Highway 15 is Main Street is the town.  J. W. Gaddis is the building architect.  A gazebo sits in front of the courthouse.  Wayne County was established on January 1, 1819 from parts of Edwards County as the 19^th county with Fairfield as the only county seat.  Revolutionary War hero General Anthony Wayne is the namesake of the county.  Fairfield presumably is a geographical term. 

Wayne County government consists of a sheriff and 14 Commissioners.  Twenty-one Circuit Court Judges serve Wayne, Crawford, Edwards, Franklin, Gallatin, Hamilton, Hardin, Jefferson, Lawrence, Richland, Wabash, and White counties.  The county is in southeast Illinois.  Evansville, Indiana is southeast and Saint Louis, Missouri is northwest of the county.  The county center is 5.2 miles Northwest of Fairfield nearer Jeffersonville.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Clay, Richland, Edwards, White, Hamilton, Jefferson, and Marion counties. 

The area of the county is 713 square miles.  It is 23 out of 102 in the state.  It ranks 66 out of 102 in population in the state.  It has a density of 22.7 persons per square mile making it 87 out of 102 in the state.  Wayne County has 45.3% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 64 crosses the extreme south part of the county east to west from White County, south, to Jefferson County, west.  United States Highway 45 goes north to south from Clay County to White County.  The county is a rectangle.  Fairfield is located in the southeast quarter of the county.  Fairfield is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 30.2% of the county population.

Mills Shoals