Mason County, Illinois

Not to be confused with Mason, Illinois.

Mason County
County
Mason County Courthouse, Havana
Location within the U.S. state of Illinois
Illinois's location within the U.S.
Coordinates: 40°14′N 89°55′W
Country	United States
State	Illinois
Founded	1841
Named for	George Mason
Seat	Havana
Largest city	Havana
Area
• Total	563 sq mi (1,460 km2)
• Land	539 sq mi (1,400 km2)
• Water	24 sq mi (60 km2)  4.3%
Population  (2020)
• Total	13,086
• Estimate  (2021)	12,881
• Density	23/sq mi (9.0/km2)
Time zone	UTC−6 (Central)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−5 (CDT)
Congressional district	15th
Website	www.masoncountyil.gov

Mason County is a county in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2020 census, it had a population of 13,086. Its county seat is Havana. The county is named in honor of George Mason, a member of the Virginia legislature who campaigned for the adoption of the United States Bill of Rights.

History

Mason County was created in 1841 out of portions of Tazewell and Menard counties.

• 
  Mason County at the time of its creation in 1841

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has an area of 563 square miles (1,460 km²), of which 539 square miles (1,400 km²) is land and 24 square miles (62 km²) (4.3%) is water.

Mason County is bound on the south by the Sangamon River, and on the west by the Illinois River. These rivers join at the county's southwest tip.

The soil covering much of Mason County is very sandy. This was formed during the melting of the Wisconsin Glacier about 10,000 years ago. Meltwater from the glacier deposited large amounts of sand in a delta region near at the junction of the Sangamon and Illinois Rivers.

The sandy soil does not hold water well, quickly exposing crops to drought conditions as the water table drops during periods of low precipitation. However, the soil is very good for growing vegetables that are otherwise not common in Illinois. Modern irrigation has made this a highly productive agricultural area.

A sand wetland on the Illinois River is managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as the Chautauqua National Wildlife Refuge.

National protected area

• Chautauqua National Wildlife Refuge (part)

State Forest

• Sand Ridge State Forest - Containing 7,200 acres (2,900 ha), it is the largest state forest in Illinois.

State Fish & Wildlife Areas

• Sanganois State Fish & Wildlife Area (part)

Climate and weather

Havana, Illinois
Climate chart (explanation)
J F M A M J J A S O N D     1.9     32 14     1.9     38 19     3     50 30     3.5     63 40     4.4     74 51     3.8     84 60     3.9     88 64     3.5     86 61     3.2     80 52     2.9     68 41     3.3     51 30     2.6     37 19 █ Average max. and min. temperatures in °F █ Precipitation totals in inches Source: The Weather Channel
Metric conversion J F M A M J J A S O N D     47     0 −10     49     3 −7     77     10 −1     88     17 4     113     23 11     97     29 16     98     31 18     88     30 16     82     27 11     73     20 5     83     11 −1     67     3 −7 █ Average max. and min. temperatures in °C █ Precipitation totals in mm

In recent years, average temperatures in the county seat of Havana 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.

Adjacent counties

• Fulton County - northwest
• Tazewell County - northeast
• Logan County - southeast
• Menard County - south
• Cass County - southwest
• Schuyler County - west

Transportation

Public Transportation

• SHOW Bus

Major highways

• U.S. Highway 136
• Illinois Route 10
• Illinois Route 29
• Illinois Route 78
• Illinois Route 97
• Illinois Route 100

Demographics

Historical population

Census	Pop.	Note	%±
1850	5,921		—
1860	10,931		84.6%
1870	16,184		48.1%
1880	16,242		0.4%
1890	16,067		−1.1%
1900	17,491		8.9%
1910	17,377		−0.7%
1920	16,634		−4.3%
1930	15,115		−9.1%
1940	15,358		1.6%
1950	15,326		−0.2%
1960	15,193		−0.9%
1970	16,161		6.4%
1980	19,492		20.6%
1990	16,269		−16.5%
2000	16,038		−1.4%
2010	14,666		−8.6%
2020	13,086		−10.8%
2023 (est.)	12,523		−4.3%
U.S. Decennial Census 1790-1960 1900-1990 1990-2000 2010-2013

As of the 2010 United States census, there were 14,666 people, 6,079 households, and 4,060 families living in the county. The population density was 27.2 inhabitants per square mile (10.5/km²). There were 7,077 housing units at an average density of 13.1 per square mile (5.1/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 98.1% white, 0.4% black or African American, 0.3% Asian, 0.2% American Indian, 0.1% from other races, and 0.9% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 0.8% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 33.8% were German, 15.6% were American, 11.1% were English, and 10.3% were Irish.

Of the 6,079 households, 28.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.1% were married couples living together, 10.3% had a female householder with no husband present, 33.2% were non-families, and 28.4% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.38 and the average family size was 2.87. The median age was 44.0 years.

The median income for a household in the county was $42,461 and the median income for a family was $51,348. Males had a median income of $43,448 versus $31,087 for females. The per capita income for the county was $23,427. About 13.8% of families and 15.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 23.6% of those under age 18 and 7.5% of those age 65 or over.

Mason County was identified as a “sundown” county which “has remained all white for many decades, despite its location between Springfield and Peoria...”.

Communities

Cities

• Havana (seat)
• Mason City

Villages

• Bath
• Easton
• Forest City
• Kilbourne
• Manito
• San Jose
• Topeka

Census-designated place

• Goofy Ridge

Other unincorporated communities

• Biggs
• Bishop
• Lakewood
• Matanzas Beach

Townships

• Allens Grove
• Bath
• Crane Creek
• Forest City
• Havana
• Kilbourne
• Lynchburg
• Manito
• Mason City
• Pennsylvania
• Quiver
• Salt Creek
• Sherman

Politics

Although it voted for the Whig Party in the three elections from 1840 to 1848, Mason County was to be solidly Democratic for the next sixty to seventy years due to its anti-Yankee German-American heritage. It was not until the 1920 election when bitter resentment was felt by German-Americans at Woodrow Wilson’s postwar policies that Mason supported a GOP candidate.

In the following eighty years, Mason was a Republican-leaning swing county, although isolationist sentiment did cause it to vote narrowly for Wendell Willkie in 1940 and more convincingly for Thomas E. Dewey in 1944.

United States presidential election results for Mason County, Illinois

Year	Republican		Democratic		Third party(ies)
	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%
2024	4,464	70.03%	1,773	27.82%	137	2.15%
2020	4,654	68.59%	1,985	29.26%	146	2.15%
2016	4,058	62.50%	2,014	31.02%	421	6.48%
2012	3,265	51.86%	2,867	45.54%	164	2.60%
2008	3,141	45.98%	3,542	51.85%	148	2.17%
2004	3,907	54.39%	3,215	44.76%	61	0.85%
2000	3,411	50.37%	3,192	47.14%	169	2.50%
1996	2,430	37.71%	3,385	52.53%	629	9.76%
1992	2,473	32.11%	3,969	51.53%	1,260	16.36%
1988	3,424	49.95%	3,406	49.69%	25	0.36%
1984	4,109	54.89%	3,354	44.80%	23	0.31%
1980	4,644	60.37%	2,680	34.84%	369	4.80%
1976	3,847	49.01%	3,947	50.29%	55	0.70%
1972	4,897	62.70%	2,901	37.14%	12	0.15%
1968	3,899	49.65%	3,365	42.85%	589	7.50%
1964	2,833	36.84%	4,857	63.16%	0	0.00%
1960	4,337	53.02%	3,824	46.75%	19	0.23%
1956	4,677	59.29%	3,199	40.55%	13	0.16%
1952	4,982	61.91%	3,061	38.04%	4	0.05%
1948	3,525	49.83%	3,503	49.52%	46	0.65%
1944	3,959	54.52%	3,282	45.19%	21	0.29%
1940	4,541	50.47%	4,416	49.08%	41	0.46%
1936	3,395	38.88%	5,278	60.45%	58	0.66%
1932	2,551	30.73%	5,681	68.45%	68	0.82%
1928	3,956	54.78%	3,246	44.95%	19	0.26%
1924	3,522	52.72%	2,536	37.96%	622	9.31%
1920	3,842	58.40%	2,595	39.44%	142	2.16%
1916	3,029	42.43%	3,886	54.43%	224	3.14%
1912	948	23.00%	2,173	52.73%	1,000	24.27%
1908	1,924	43.49%	2,264	51.18%	236	5.33%
1904	1,798	45.04%	1,806	45.24%	388	9.72%
1900	2,027	43.72%	2,508	54.10%	101	2.18%
1896	2,100	45.83%	2,407	52.53%	75	1.64%
1892	1,614	40.01%	2,211	54.81%	209	5.18%

Education

K-12 school districts include:

• Havana Community Unit School District 126
• Illini Central Community Unit School District 189
• Midwest Central Community Unit School District 191

It also includes portions of an elementary school district, New Holland-Middletown Elementary School District 88, and a secondary school district, Lincoln Community High School District 404.

See also

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Mason County, Illinois