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Hardin County
Contact InformationHardin County Courthouse
1 Main St.
Elizabethtown, IL 62931
618-287-2251 – County Clerk
618-287-2735 – Circuit Clerk
618-287-2251 – Recorder
IRAD—c/o Records Management
Morris Library, Mail Code 6808
Southern Illinois University
1835 University Press Dr.
Carbondale, IL 62901-6808
618-453-3040
Established
- March 2, 1839 (Laws, 1839, p. 234)
Origin of the name of the county
- Named after Hardin County in Kentucky through the influence of emigrants from that county. Hardin County, Kentucky, was named for General John Hardin (1753–1792), an American Revolutionary War officer and Indian fighter with George Rogers Clark in the trans-Ohio campaigns. Hardin was killed while on a peace mission to the Miami Indians.
Present area, or parts of it, formerly included in
- 1812–1839 – Gallatin
- 1816–1839 – Pope
- 1801–1812 – Randolph
- 1790–1809 – Knox, Northwest Territory
County Seats
- 1840–present – Elizabethtown
History of county governing board
- 1839–1849 – County Commissioners’ Court
- 1849–1873 – County Court
- 1873–present – Board of County Commissioners
Documented Record Losses
- May 19, 1884 – Fire. Most records lost (1839–1884).
Township Government
- Hardin County has never adopted township form of government. The county has been divided into precincts.
Precinct Names
- Battery Rock
- Cave In Rock
- East Monroe
- East Rosiclare
- McFarlan
- Peters Creek
- Rock Creek
- Stone Church
- West Monroe
- West Rosiclare
County Map
Pertinent Databases