Edgar County was formed out of Clark County in 1823. It was named for John Edgar, an Irish-born officer in the Royal Navy who resigned rather than fight against the Americans in the Revolutionary War. Edgar moved to Kaskaskia, Illinois in 1784, becoming a miller and merchant in that town.
Geography
According to the US Census Bureau, the county has a total area of, of which is land and is water. There is one recreational area in the county, on the north edge of Paris. Twin Lakes Park and Reservoir began in 1895 upon completion of the dam compounding the Twin Lakes Reservoir.
Climate and weather
In recent years, average temperatures in the county seat of Paris have ranged from a low of in January to a high of in July, although a record low of was recorded in January 1930 and a record high of was recorded in July 1936. Average monthly precipitation ranged from in January to in July.
The county contains one public-use airport: Edgar County Airport, six miles north of Paris.
Demographics
As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 18,576 people, 7,839 households, and 5,148 families residing in the county. The population density was. There were 8,803 housing units at an average density of. The racial makeup of the county was 98.3% white, 0.3% black or African American, 0.2% Asian, 0.1% American Indian, 0.3% from other races, and 0.7% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 1.0% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 23.6% were German, 15.3% were Irish, 13.0% were English, and 12.3% were American. Of the 7,839 households, 28.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.3% were married couplesliving together, 10.7% had a female householder with no husband present, 34.3% were non-families, and 29.5% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.33 and the average family size was 2.84. The median age was 43.2 years. The median income for a household in the county was $39,904 and the median income for a family was $51,588. Males had a median income of $38,945 versus $29,951 for females. The per capita income for the county was $22,175. About 9.7% of families and 13.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 19.2% of those under age 18 and 7.9% of those age 65 or over.
A swing county in the first eight decades after the Civil War, Edgar County has since become powerfully Republican. It has been carried by only two Democrats since 1940 – Lyndon Johnson in 1964 by just 139 votes, and Bill Clinton in 1992 by a 41.1 percent plurality. Like all of the Upland South it has seen drastic swings away from the Democratic Party in the past few elections due to opposition to that party's liberal views on social issues: Hillary Clinton’s 22.7 percent vote share in 2016 was by 9.3 percent the worst ever by a Democrat in the county.
