Illinois
Statehood: 3 Dec 1818
21st state of the United States
Bordering states:
North: Wisconsin
South: Kentucky
East: Indiana
West: Iowa, Missouri
Capital: Springfield
Largest city: Chicago
Map: Illinois, 1818
(click map to enlarge)
Library of Congress, Geography and Map Division
Counties: Original counties as listed in the 1818 Illinois Constitution, Schedule, no. 8: Bond, Crawford, Edwards, Franklin, Gallatin, Jackson, Johnson, Madison, Monroe, Pope, Randolph, St. Clair, Union, Washington, and White. Illinois County Creation Dates and Parent Counties. Counties in 2020: 102.
Institutions, Societies, and Government Websites
Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum
Illinois Counties and Municipalities
Illinois Death Certificates, 1916–1950 database, Illinois State Archives
Illinois Digital Archives, Illinois State Library
Illinois Regional Archives Depository (IRAD) System Illinois State Archives
Illinois State Genealogical Society
Illinois State Historical Society
The Newberry Digital Collection
Northern Illinois University Digital Library
Office of the Illinois Secretary of State, Illinois State Archives, Databases
Origin and Evolution of Illinois Counties
State Historic Preservation Office
Digital Collections, University of Illinois Library
Cook County
Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County Archives Department
Chicago History Museum Online Resources
South Suburban Genealogical & Historical Society
Williamson County
Williamson County Illinois Historical Society
Manuscripts
Illinois Manuscripts, Archive Grid
Illinois Manuscripts, Library of Congress
Manuscript Collections, Illinois History and Lincoln Collections
Additional websites
Record Sets-State Level
CyberDriveIllinois (Illinois State Archives)
Illinois Record Sets (Ancestry Collections)
Illinois Record Sets (Family Search)
Virtual Libraries
Newton Bateman, Paul Selby, Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois, vol. 1 (Chicago : Munsell Publsihing Company, 1913)
Newton Bateman, Paul Selby, Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois, vol. 2 (Chicago and Peoria : Munsell Publishing Company, 1902)
George Washington Smith, A History of Southern Illinois, vol. 2 (Chicago and New York : Lewis Publishing Co., 1912)
Brown County
Combined History of Schuyler and Brown Counties, Illinois, W. R. Brink and Co., 1882.
Christian County
History of Christian County, Illinois, Calvin Goudy, 1880.
Past and present of Christian County, Illinois, Hon. J. C. McBride, 1904.
Schuyler County
Combined History of Schuyler and Brown Counties, Illinois, W. R. Brink and Co., 1882.
Williamson County
History of Williamson County, Illinois, Milo Erwin, 1876.
Newspapers
Chronicling America, digitized: Illinois
Community History Archive Newspapers: Illinois
Small Town Newspapers
(Scroll to Illinois)
Digital Newspaper Collection, University of Illinois Library
Lake County
Lake County Newspapers, Cook Memorial Public Library District
Whiteside County
Newspaper Archives of Sterling
Maps
University of Illinois Chicago Maps & Geographic Information Systems
Illinois Maps, Library of Congress
Illinois Landowner Maps, Library of Congress
Interactive Map of Illinois County Formation History, Maps of U.S.