Whiteside

Formed January 1, 1836 (61^st county)

Whiteside County (55,691), Morrison (4,078), Sterling (14,873)

A Modern glass and red brick courthouse was built in 1987 on a hill.  It is sited at Knox and Cherry streets.  United States Highway 30 is two blocks south of the site.  Phillips Swager Associates are the building architects.  There was an 1863 courthouse also in Morrison.  Lyndon (1839 & 1842), Sterling (1841 & 1846), and Morrison (1857) have all served as county seat.  The county was established on January 1, 1836 from Jo Daviess and Henry counties as the 61^st county.  Whiteside County is named for War of 1812 General Samuel Whiteside.  The county seat is named for a friend of one of the founders. 

Whiteside County government consists of a sheriff and 28 Commissioners.  Twenty Circuit Court Judges serve Whiteside, Henry, Mercer, and Rock Island counties.  The county is in northwest Illinois on the Mississippi River border with Iowa.  The county center is 9.5 miles Southeast of Morrison nearer Lyndon.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Carroll, Ogle, Lee, Bureau, Henry, and Rock Island counties and Iowa. 

The area of the county is 684 square miles.  It is 26 out of 102 in the state.  It ranks 24 out of 102 in population in the state.  It has a density of 81.4 persons per square mile making it 29 out of 102 in the state.  Whiteside County has 66.7% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 88 enters from Lee County, east, and exits into Rock Island County, southwest.  United States Highway 30 crosses east to west through the county from Lee County to Iowa.  Ronald W. Reagan, the 40^th President, was born in this county.  The county is a rectangle except for its northwest river border.  Morrison is in the northwest part of the county.  Sterling is in the eastern quarter near the border.  Morrison is the county seat and Sterling is the largest city.  Morrison is 7.3% of the county population while Sterling is 26.7% of the county population.  This county is in the Sterling Micropolitan Statistical Area.