MADISON COUNTY, ILLINOIS

'Madison County' is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. Madison County is part of the St. Louis Metro Area. As of 2000, the population was 258,941. Its county seat is Edwardsville, Illinois⁶.

Contents

Geography

Adjacent Counties

History

"Judicial hellhole" accusation

Demographics

Cities and towns

Census designated places

References

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,918 km² (740 mi²). 1,878 km² (725 mi²) of it is land and 40 km² (15 mi²) of it (2.07%) is water. Madison County is on the Mississippi River, the other major body of water is Horseshoe Lake

Adjacent Counties

★ Macoupin County (north)

★ Montgomery County (northeast)

★ Bond County (east)

★ Clinton County (southeast)

★ St. Clair County (south)

★ St. Louis, Missouri (southwest)¹

★ St. Louis County, Missouri and St. Charles County, Missouri (west)

★ Jersey County (northwest)
¹This is not a county, but an independent city which is not part of a county.

History

Madison County was formed in 1812 out of Randolph and St. Clair Counties. At the time of its formation, Madison County included all of the modern State of Illinois north of St. Louis, about three-fourths of the Territory. The county was named for President James Madison, at the outbreak of the War of 1812.^[1]
In the late 1800s, Madison County became an industrial powerhouse, and in the 20th century, was known for first, Graniteware, and later, its steel mills, oil refinerys, and other heavy industry. Because of this large working class population, the County, and the surrounding area, was well known as a Democratic powerhouse.

"Judicial hellhole" accusation

In the early twenty-first century, Madison County was called as a "judicial hellhole" by the American Tort Reform Association, which argued that local judges, bankrolled and elected by local plaintiffs' attorneys, encouraged forum shopping by misapplying the laws to make the court system unfairly balanced on behalf of plaintiffs.^[2] One-third of United States asbestos cases were brought in Madison County, and the number of class actions increased from three a year to nearly a hundred a year.^[3] In the 2005 election to the Illinois Supreme Court, both tort reform advocates and trial lawyers spent record amounts of money on behalf of their preferred candidates. Lloyd A. Karmeier, a Republican, defeated Appellate Judge Gordon Maag for the seat. President George W. Bush traveled to Madison County to give a speech proposing federal tort reform for medical malpractice lawsuits.

Demographics

As of the census² of 2000, there were 258,941 people, 101,953 households, and 70,041 families residing in the county. The population density was 138/km² (357/mi²). There were 108,942 housing units at an average density of 58/km² (150/mi²). The racial makeup of the county was 90.23% White, 7.31% Black or African American, 0.27% Native American, 0.60% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.49% from other races, and 1.08% from two or more races. 1.52% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There were 101,953 households out of which 32.20% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.00% were married couples living together, 11.80% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.30% were non-families. 26.30% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.20% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.48 and the average family size was 3.00.
In the county the population was spread out with 24.90% under the age of 18, 9.40% from 18 to 24, 28.90% from 25 to 44, 22.50% from 45 to 64, and 14.30% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 93.00 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.90 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $41,541, and the median income for a family was $50,862. Males had a median income of $39,857 versus $25,968 for females. The per capita income for the county was $20,509. About 7.20% of families and 9.80% of the population were below the poverty line, including 12.70% of those under age 18 and 7.30% of those age 65 or over.

Cities and towns

★ Alhambra

★ Alton

★ Bethalto

★ Collinsville

★ East Alton

★ Edwardsville

★ Fairmont City

★ Glen Carbon

★ Godfrey

★ Granite City

★ Grantfork

★ Hamel

★ Hartford

★ Highland

★ Livingston

★ Madison

★ Marine

★ Maryville

★ New Douglas

★ Pontoon Beach

★ Rosewood Heights

★ Roxana

★ South Roxana

★ St. Jacob

★ Troy

★ Venice

★ Williamson

★ Wood River

★ Worden

Census designated places

★ Cloverleaf

★ Cottage

★ Dorsey

★ Dunlap Lake

★ Eagle Park

★ Glen

★ Holiday Shores

★ Kaufman

★ Lumaghi Heights

★ Mitchell

★ Peters

★ Prairietown

★ Rosewood

★ State Park Place

References

1. Allan H. Keith, ''Historical Stories: About Greenville and Bond County, IL''. Consulted on August 15, 2007.
2. ATRA, Judicial Hellholes 2002
3. Manhattan Institute, Trial Lawyers Inc. Illinois