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Ford County
Contact InformationFord County Courthouse
200 W. State St.
Paxton, IL 60957
217-379-9400 – County Clerk
217-379-9420 – Circuit Clerk
217-379-9400 – Recorder
IRAD Depository
Illinois State University
2016 Warehouse Rd.
Campus Box 1520
Normal, IL 61790-1520
309-452-6027
Established
- February 17, 1859 (Laws, 1859, p. 29)
Origin of the name of the county
- Named after Thomas Ford, the eighth Governor of the State of Illinois. Ford served Governor of the State of Illinois from December 8, 1842 to December 9, 1846.
Present area, or parts of it, formerly included in
- 1826–1859 – Vermilion
- 1823–1826 – Edgar
- 1819–1823 – Clark
- 1816–1819 – Crawford
- 1815–1816 – Edwards
- 1812–1815 – Madison
- 1801–1812 – St. Clair
- 1790–1801 – Knox, Northwest Territory
County Seats
- 1859–present –Paxton (Name changed from Prospect City in September, 1859.)
History of county governing board
- 1859–1861 – County Court
- 1861–present – County Board of Supervisors
Township Government
- Adopted – November 6, 1860
The area included in Ford County was first organized into townships while it was still a part of Vermilion County. Some of the notes below are based on Vermilion County records.
Township Names
- Brenton – Name changed from Stockton on May 9, 1864; Stockton was formed from part of Patton on March 15, 1859.
- Button – Formed from Patton in December, 1864.
- Dix – Name changed from Drummer Grove in September 2, 1864.
- Drummer – Formed from Dix on March 1, 1869.
- Lyman – Formed from Brenton on September 9, 1867.
- Mona – Formed as Delhi from Rogers on March 2, 1870; name changed to Mona on June 16, 1870.
- Patton – Named Prairie City when established as a township in Vermilion County; name changed to Patton on September 14, 1857.
- Peach Orchard – Formed from Sullivant on September 14, 1868.
- Pella – Formed as Clyde from Brenton on March 2, 1870; name changed to Pella on June 16, 1870.
- Rogers – Formed as Grant from Stockton (Brenton) in September, 1863; name changed to Rogers on May 9, 1864.
- Sullivant – Formed from Dix on September 9, 1867.
- Wall – Formed from Patton on June 12, 1867.
Township Map
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