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Lee County
Contact InformationCounty Clerk and Recorder
Lee County Courthouse
112 E. Second St.
Dixon, IL 61021
815-288-3309
Circuit Clerk
Lee County Courts Building
309 S. Galena Ave.
Dixon, IL 61021
815-284-5234
IRAD Depository
Founders Memorial Library
Rm. 245B
Northern Illinois University
DeKalb, IL 60115
815-753-1807
Established
- February 27, 1839 (Laws, 1839, p. 170)
Origin of the name of the county
- Named for Richard Henry Lee, an orator and statesman of the American Revolutionary period, a member of the Continental Congress, a Representative in Congress and United States Senator from Virginia.
Present area, or parts of it, formerly included in
- 1836–1839 – Ogle
- Eastern Part
- 1831–1836 – LaSalle
- 1825–1831 – Putnam
- Western Part
- 1827–1836 – JoDaviess
- 1823–1825 – Fulton
- 1821–1823 – Pike
- Eastern Part:
- 1819–1821 – Clark
- 1816–1819 – Crawford
- 1815–1816 – Edwards
- Western Part
- 1817–1821 – Bond
- 1815–1817 – Madison
- 1812–1817 – Madison
- 1801–1812 – St. Clair
County Seats
- 1839–present – Dixon
History of county governing board
- 1839–1850 – County Commissioners’ Court
- 1850–present – County Board of Supervisors
Township Government
- Adopted – November 6, 1849
Township Names
- Alto – Formed from Willow Creek on February 28, 1860.
- Amboy
- Ashton – Formed as Ogle from Bradford on February 12, 1861; name changed to Ashton on November 7, 1867.
- Bradford
- Brooklyn
- China – Name changed from Fremont on May 14, 1850.
- Dixon
- East Grove – Formed from Hamilton on November 9, 1864.
- Hamilton
- Harmon – Formed from Marion on March 3, 1857.
- Lee Center
- Marion – Formed from Hamilton and Amboy in September, 1854.
- May – Formed from Hamilton in September, 1854.
- Nachusa – Formed from China on February 8, 1871.
- Nelson – Formed from Dixon on February 28, 1860.
- Palmyra
- Reynolds – Formed from Brooklyn in September, 1858.
- South Dixon – Formed from Dixon on February 12, 1867.
- Sublette – Name changed from Hanno (date unknown).
- Viola – Formed as Stockton from Brooklyn on February 12, 1861; name changed to Viola in September, 1861.
- Willow Creek – Formed from Wyoming in September, 1854.
- Wyoming – Name changed from Paw Paw on May 14, 1850.
Township Map
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