Fulton County, Illinois

	█ Average max. and min. temperatures in °F
	█ Precipitation totals in inches
	Source: The Weather Channel

Lewistown, Illinois
Climate chart (explanation)
	█ Average max. and min. temperatures in °F
	█ Precipitation totals in inches
	Source: The Weather Channel
Metric conversion
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Fulton County
Fulton County
County
	The old courthouse columns at Oak Hill Cemetery
	Location within the U.S. state of Illinois
	Illinois's location within the U.S.
	Coordinates: 40°29′N 90°13′W / 40.48°N 90.21°W
Country	United States
State	Illinois
Founded	1823
Named for	Robert Fulton
Seat	Lewistown
Largest city	Canton
Area
• Total	883 sq mi (2,290 km2)
• Land	866 sq mi (2,240 km2)
• Water	17 sq mi (40 km2) 1.9%
Population (2020)
• Total	33,609
• Density	39/sq mi (15/km2)
Time zone	UTC−6 (Central)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−5 (CDT)
Congressional districts	15th, 17th
Website	www.fultonco.org

Fulton County is a county in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2020 census, it had a population of 33,609.^[1] Its county seat is Lewistown,^[2] and the largest city is Canton. Fulton County comprises the Canton, IL Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is part of the Peoria-Canton, IL Combined Statistical Area.

History

Fulton County was organized in 1823 from Pike County. It is named for Robert Fulton, developer of the first commercially successful steamboat.^[3] American poet and writer Edgar Lee Masters lived in Fulton County during the 1890s; he later became famous for the Spoon River Anthology, written in 1915. Fulton County was home to Camp Ellis during World War II.

The county is known for the annual Spoon River Scenic Drive, which occurs the first 2 weekends in October. This has been a tradition since 1968 and attracts thousands of participants from all over the country.

Fulton County is home to the Ogden-Fettie Site, a significant site for Havana Hopewell Native culture. It is the largest collection of Woodland Mounds in Illinois, with 35 Mounds, dating from 400 BC, arranged in a crescent.

Fulton County between 1823 and 1825, including unorganized territory temporarily attached.^[4]
Fulton County, reduced to its current size in 1825, its unorganized territory formed into new counties.

Geography

According to the US Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 883 square miles (2,290 km²), of which 866 square miles (2,240 km²) is land and 17 square miles (44 km²) (1.9%) is water.^[5]

Fulton County is the site of Dickson Mounds Museum, a state museum of Native American daily life in the Illinois River valley.

Climate and weather

In recent years, average temperatures in the county seat of Lewistown have ranged from a low of 14 °F (−10 °C) in January to a high of 88 °F (31 °C) in July, although a record low of −30 °F (−34 °C) was recorded in January 1999 and a record high of 106 °F (41 °C) was recorded in July 1983. Average monthly precipitation ranged from 1.85 inches (47 mm) in January to 4.43 inches (113 mm) in May.^[6]

Adjacent counties

Warren County - northwest
Knox County - north
Peoria County - northeast
Tazewell County - east
Mason County - south
Schuyler County - southwest
McDonough County - west

National protected area

Emiquon National Wildlife Refuge

Transportation

Major highways

Airport

The county contains one public-use airport: Ingersoll Airport (CTK), located in Canton.^[7]

Demographics

Historical population
Census	Pop.	Note	%±
1830	1,841		—
1840	13,142		613.9%
1850	22,508		71.3%
1860	33,338		48.1%
1870	38,291		14.9%
1880	41,240		7.7%
1890	43,110		4.5%
1900	46,201		7.2%
1910	49,549		7.2%
1920	48,163		−2.8%
1930	43,983		−8.7%
1940	44,627		1.5%
1950	43,716		−2.0%
1960	41,954		−4.0%
1970	41,890		−0.2%
1980	43,687		4.3%
1990	38,080		−12.8%
2000	38,250		0.4%
2010	37,069		−3.1%
2020	33,609		−9.3%
2023 (est.)	32,541	^[8]	−3.2%
US Decennial Census^[9] 1790-1960^[10] 1900-1990^[11] 1990-2000^[12] 2010^[13]

As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 37,069 people, 14,536 households, and 9,744 families residing in the county.^[14] The population density was 42.8 inhabitants per square mile (16.5/km²). There were 16,195 housing units at an average density of 18.7 per square mile (7.2/km²).^[5] The racial makeup of the county was 93.4% white, 3.4% black or African American, 0.4% American Indian, 0.3% Asian, 1.6% from other races, and 0.9% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 2.4% of the population.^[14] In terms of ancestry, 23.7% were German, 19.1% were American, 14.0% were English, and 13.2% were Irish.^[15]

Of the 14,536 households, 29.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.0% were married couples living together, 10.2% had a female householder with no husband present, 33.0% were non-families, and 28.1% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.37 and the average family size was 2.86. The median age was 41.9 years.^[14]

The median income for a household in the county was $41,268 and the median income for a family was $50,596. Males had a median income of $41,376 versus $28,596 for females. The per capita income for the county was $20,309. About 9.9% of families and 13.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 22.2% of those under age 18 and 8.0% of those age 65 or over.^[16]

Communities

Cities

Town

Astoria

Villages

Unincorporated communities

Townships

Bases

Camp Ellis

Politics

In its early years, Fulton County favored the Democratic Party, being one of the northernmost Democratic counties and the nearest to Yankee, then solidly Republican Northern Illinois. It was never won by a Republican until the Democratic Party moved towards the Populist Party’s policies under William Jennings Bryan, a change which resulted in the county voting Republican except in landslide victories between 1896 and 1960. In that period, Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1932 and 1936 was the solitary Democratic presidential candidate to gain a majority of the county’s vote.

However, the 1964 election saw the county trend Democratic – so much so that Hubert Humphrey gained a narrow plurality in his 1968 election loss. Despite not going Democratic again until 1988, the party would always remain competitive in the county, and between 1988 and 2012 every Democratic presidential candidate gained a majority in Fulton County. However, concern over economic decline in the “Rust Belt” saw Donald Trump produce a dramatic swing in the 2016 election, winning Fulton County by fifteen percentage points and gaining the best GOP record in the county since 1980.

United States presidential election results for Fulton County, Illinois^[17]
Year	Republican		Democratic		Third party
Year	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%
2020	9,867	59.00%	6,503	38.88%	354	2.12%
2016	8,492	53.76%	6,133	38.82%	1,172	7.42%
2012	6,632	43.03%	8,328	54.04%	451	2.93%
2008	6,251	38.19%	9,732	59.45%	386	2.36%
2004	7,818	45.89%	9,080	53.30%	137	0.80%
2000	6,936	42.61%	8,940	54.92%	401	2.46%
1996	5,155	32.82%	8,857	56.39%	1,694	10.79%
1992	5,062	28.60%	9,725	54.94%	2,914	16.46%
1988	6,999	43.45%	9,046	56.16%	63	0.39%
1984	9,147	49.77%	9,131	49.69%	99	0.54%
1980	10,316	54.42%	7,481	39.46%	1,160	6.12%
1976	9,588	50.23%	9,314	48.79%	188	0.98%
1972	12,328	61.80%	7,529	37.74%	92	0.46%
1968	9,582	46.72%	9,622	46.92%	1,305	6.36%
1964	7,785	37.40%	13,030	62.60%	0	0.00%
1960	11,999	53.93%	10,194	45.81%	58	0.26%
1956	12,375	58.58%	8,702	41.19%	48	0.23%
1952	13,302	61.13%	8,414	38.67%	44	0.20%
1948	9,504	53.00%	8,226	45.87%	203	1.13%
1944	11,117	54.96%	8,946	44.22%	166	0.82%
1940	12,816	50.80%	12,198	48.35%	214	0.85%
1936	10,130	43.25%	12,864	54.92%	428	1.83%
1932	7,579	36.77%	12,144	58.92%	888	4.31%
1928	10,600	59.95%	6,591	37.28%	489	2.77%
1924	8,664	48.35%	5,011	27.96%	4,246	23.69%
1920	9,523	59.25%	5,293	32.93%	1,256	7.81%
1916	9,735	48.50%	8,686	43.28%	1,650	8.22%
1912	3,334	27.33%	3,902	31.98%	4,965	40.69%
1908	6,077	50.54%	4,906	40.80%	1,042	8.67%
1904	6,373	56.67%	3,791	33.71%	1,082	9.62%
1900	6,130	50.16%	5,762	47.15%	329	2.69%
1896	6,195	50.35%	5,979	48.60%	129	1.05%
1892	4,948	45.72%	5,253	48.54%	621	5.74%