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Jersey County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. Jersey County is part of the St. Louis Metropolitan Area. As of 2000, the population was 21,668. Its county seat is Jerseyville, Illinois6.
History
Jersey County lies Northeast of where the great Mississippi and Illinois Rivers meet. It is the former home of Kickapoo, Menomini, Potawatomi, and Illiniwek Confederation Indians. The first European explorers to visit the area, Father Marquette and Louis Jolliet, arrived in 1673 where they encountered the fearsome painting of the Piasa. The present day Pere Marquette State Park, located in Jersey County, is named in Father Marquette's honor. Jersey County was formed in 1839 out of Greene County. The County was named for the State of New Jersey, from which many of the early settlers emigrated - which was itself named for the Channel Island of Jersey. The area quickly evolved into small agricultural communities. As the area soon began to flourish, a county government was established and a courthouse was built in Jerseyville, the county seat. The present courthouse is a magnificent architectural structure that was built in 1894. Today, while the county maintains its agricultural base, it is within commuting distance of jobs and industry in St. Louis, Missouri and the surrounding area. A large portion of the population works outside of Jersey County and benefits from being "Near the crowd, but not in it", the official slogan of the Jersey County Business Association's advertising campaign. Timeline
Population History
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