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.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has an area of , of which is land and (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

In recent years, average temperatures in the county seat of Havana have ranged from a low of in January to a high of in July, although a record low of was recorded in January 1999 and a record high of was recorded in July 1983. Average monthly precipitation ranged from in January to 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

2020 census As of the 2020 census, the county had a population of 13,086. The median age was 46.1 years. 20.3% of residents were under the age of 18 and 23.5% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 98.0 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 97.4 males age 18 and over.

The racial makeup of the county was 94.9% White, 0.4% Black or African American, 0.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% Asian, <0.1% Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, 0.3% from some other race, and 3.9% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race comprised 1.4% of the population.

<0.1% of residents lived in urban areas, while 100.0% lived in rural areas.

There were 5,657 households in the county, of which 25.2% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 46.9% were married-couple households, 19.6% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 24.9% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 31.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

There were 6,626 housing units, of which 14.6% were vacant. Among occupied housing units, 76.7% were owner-occupied and 23.3% were renter-occupied. The homeowner vacancy rate was 3.2% and the rental vacancy rate was 11.7%.

Racial and ethnic composition +Mason County, Illinois – Racial and ethnic compositionRace / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic)Pop 1980Pop 1990Pop 2000Pop 2010 Pop 2020% 1980% 1990% 2000% 2010% 2020White alone (NH)19,32716,13715,79914,29612,33999.15%99.19%98.51%97.48%94.29%Black or African American alone (NH)181953490.01%0.05%0.12%0.36%0.37%Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)19263231240.10%0.16%0.20%0.21%0.18%Asian alone (NH)38383240260.19%0.23%0.20%0.27%0.20%Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone (NH)x included in the Asian category in the 1980 Censusx included in the Asian category in the 1990 Census001xx0.00%0.00%0.01%Other race alone (NH)16233110.08%0.01%0.02%0.02%0.08%Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)x not an option in the 1980 Censusx not an option in the 1990 Census73126452xx0.46%0.86%3.45%Hispanic or Latino (any race)9158801171840.47%0.36%0.50%0.80%1.41%Total19,49216,26916,03814,66613,086 100.00%100.00%100.00%100.00%100.00%

2010 census 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 . There were 7,077 housing units at an average density of . 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

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.

Education K-12 school districts include: - Text list 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

References