Illinois Regional Archives Depository (IRAD) System Illinois State Archives

Monroe County

Contact Information
Monroe County Courthouse
100 S. Main St.
Waterloo, IL 62298
618-939-8681, ext. 302 – County Clerk
618-939-8681, ext. 223 – Circuit Clerk
618-939-8681, ext. 306 – 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

• January 6, 1816 (Laws, 1815/16, p. 25)

Origin of the name of the county

• Named for James Monroe, statesman and fifth president of the United States. He held numerous state and national offices in nearly 50 years of public service, and was a popular Democratic-Republican president (1817–1825).

Present area, or parts of it, formerly included in

• 1790–1816 – St. Clair
• 1795–1816 – Randolph

County Seats

• 1816–1825 – Harrisonville
• 1825–present – Waterloo

History of county governing board

• 1816–1818 – County Court
• 1818–1819 – Justices’ Court
• 1819–1849 – County Commissioners’ Court
• 1849–1873 – County Court
• 1873–present – Board of County Commissioners

Township Government

• Monroe County has never adopted township form of government. The county has been divided into precincts.

Precinct Names

• Bluff
• Columbia
• Harrisonville
• Mitchie
• Moredock
• New Design
• New Hanover
• Prairie Du Long
• Renault
• Waterloo

County Map

Pertinent Databases

• Illinois Public Domain Land Tract Sales Database
• Illinois Statewide Death Index, 1916–1950
• Illinois Statewide Marriage Index
• Local Governmental Records Database
• Name Index to Illinois Local Governments