Bureau County, Illinois


Bureau County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 33,244. Its county seat is Princeton. Bureau County is part of the Ottawa, Illinois, Micropolitan Statistical Area, and the Hennepin Canal Parkway State Park is located partly in this county.

History

Bureau County was created from a portion of Putnam County in 1837. It is named for brothers Michel and Pierre Bureau, French Canadians who ran a trading post from 1776 until the 1780s near the conjunction of Big Bureau Creek with Illinois River. Their actual surname most likely was Belleau, but the local American Indians had difficulty pronouncing the "l" sound, which was not found in some local languages.
An early settler of this area was Bulbona, a man of mixed French and Native American descent with a Native American wife. Unlike most of the other Native Americans in the area, Bulbona remained after the area was settled by Euro-Americans and ran a trading post, where he sold whiskey among other necessities.
The founders of Princeton, the area's oldest town, were settlers from New England, descendants of the English Puritans who settled New England in the 17th century. They were part of a wave of New England farmers who moved to the Northwest Territory in the early 19th century. Most of them came soon after of the completion of the Erie Canal. When they arrived, they faced virgin forest and wild prairie. These New Englanders laid out farms, constructed roads, erected government buildings and established post routes. They brought with them many of their Yankee New England values, such as a passion for education, establishing many schools, and were staunch abolitionists. They were mostly members of the Congregationalist Church or Episcopalians. Early Bureau County, like much of northern Illinois, was culturally very continuous with early New England culture.
Like so many other areas in the Midwest, this county was on a "line" of the Underground Railroad. There was a "station" at the home of Owen Lovejoy in Princeton, and several other locations in the county.

Geography

According to the US Census Bureau, the county has a total area of, of which is land and is water. Big Bureau Creek is the main body of water.

Adjacent counties

In recent years, average temperatures in the county seat of Princeton have ranged from a low of in January to a high of in July, although a record low of was recorded in February 1996 and a record high of was recorded in June 1988. Average monthly precipitation ranged from in February to in August.

Demographics

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, the county had a population of 33,244. The median age was 44.8 years. 21.2% of residents were under the age of 18 and 22.4% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 97.6 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 95.5 males age 18 and over.
The racial makeup of the county was 88.3% White, 0.8% Black or African American, 0.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9% Asian, 0.1% Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, 3.3% from some other race, and 6.2% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race comprised 9.3% of the population.
45.0% of residents lived in urban areas, while 55.0% lived in rural areas.
There were 14,179 households in the county, of which 26.4% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 47.4% were married-couple households, 19.4% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 25.5% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 31.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
There were 15,616 housing units, of which 9.2% were vacant. Among occupied housing units, 74.8% were owner-occupied and 25.2% were renter-occupied. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.8% and the rental vacancy rate was 7.1%.

2010 census

As of the 2010 United States census, there were 34,978 people, 14,262 households, and 9,605 families residing in the county. The population density was. There were 15,720 housing units at an average density of. The racial makeup of the county was 94.2% white, 0.7% Asian, 0.6% black or African American, 0.3% American Indian, 3.0% from other races, and 1.3% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 7.7% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 32.8% were German, 13.8% were Irish, 12.1% were English, 9.2% were American, 8.8% were Italian, 7.6% were Swedish, and 5.8% were Polish.
Of the 14,262 households, 29.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.6% were married couples living together, 9.2% had a female householder with no husband present, 32.7% were non-families, and 28.0% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.42 and the average family size was 2.94. The median age was 42.5 years.
The median income for a household in the county was $45,692 and the median income for a family was $55,217. Males had a median income of $42,327 versus $29,210 for females. The per capita income for the county was $24,103. About 8.6% of families and 11.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 15.3% of those under age 18 and 7.5% of those age 65 or over.

Communities

Community
Community
type		PopulationTotal
Area		Water
Area		Land
Area		Pop.
Density		-
Arlingtonvillage1690.400.000.40427.85
Budavillage4821.010.001.01475.35
Bureau Junctionvillage2811.510.071.45190
Cherryvillage4350.510.000.51850
Dalzell village6630.830.010.82808.54
DePuevillage1,6332.550.112.45667.35
Dovervillage1350.290.000.28470
Hollowayvillevillage360.050.000.05734.69
La Moillevillage6791.160.001.16590
Laddvillage1,2631.210.001.211,000
Maldenvillage3180.270.000.271,164.84
Manliusvillage2980.320.000.32934.17
Mineralvillage2060.5530.000.553370
Neponsetvillage4271.0160.001.016420
New Bedfordvillage760.1550.000.155490
Ohiovillage4650.7530.000.753620
Princeton city7,8328.240.008.24950.49
Seatonvillevillage3210.5110.0150.496630
Sheffieldvillage8211.1690.001.169700
Spring Valleycity5,5827.400.047.36750
Tiskilwavillage7400.5170.000.5171,400
Walnutvillage1,3110.8010.000.8011,600
Wyanetvillage8860.9460.000.946940
Bureau Countycounty33,2448744.586938

Unincorporated communities

K-12 school districts include:
Secondary school districts include:
Elementary school districts include:
  • Dalzell School District 98
  • Dimmick Community Consolidated School District 175
  • Ladd Community Consolidated School District 94
  • Malden Community Consolidated School District 84
  • Mendota Community Consolidated School District 289
  • Ohio Community Consolidated School District 17
  • Princeton Elementary School District 115
  • Spring Valley Community Consolidated School District 99