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Rock Island County
Contact InformationCounty Clerk
Rock Island County Office Building
1504 Third Ave.
Rock Island, IL 61201
309-558-3569
Recorder
Rock Island County Courthouse
210 15th St.
Rock Island, IL 61201
309-558-3360
Circuit Clerk
Rock Island County Courthouse
210 15th St.
Rock Island, IL 61201
309-786-4451
IRAD Depository
University Library
Western Illinois University
1 University Circle
Macomb, IL 61455-1390
309-298-2716
Established
- February 9, 1831 (Laws, 1831, p. 52)
- County organization was completed in 1833.
Origin of the name of the county
- Named from Rock Island, a two-mile-long, thousand-acre block of limestone in the Mississippi River between the cities of Rock Island–Moline, Illinois and Davenport–Bettendorf, Iowa. Fort Armstrong was built on the island to protect settlers for Indian incursions. The island was used to store army supplies and produce artillery during the American Civil War and was known as Rock Island Arsenal. The site is generally referred to as Arsenal Island today.
Present area, or parts of it, formerly included in
- 1831–1833 – Attached to JoDaviess County (Laws, 1831, p. 53)
- 1827–1831 – JoDaviess
- 1825–1827 – Mercer
- 1825–1827 – Henry
- 1821–1825 – Pike
- 1823–1825 – Fulton
- 1812–1821 – Madison
- 1794–1812 – St. Clair
County Seats
- 1833–1835 – Farnhamsburg (House of John Barrell, temporary designation).
- 1835–1841 – Stephenson (Name changed to Rock Island in 1841.)
- 1841–present – Rock Island
History of county governing board
- 1833–1835 – County Commissioners’ Court
- 1849–1857 – County Court
- 1857–present – County Board of Supervisors
Township Government
- Adopted – November 4, 1856
Township Names
- Andalusia – Formed from Edgington in September, 1858.
- Blackhawk – Name changed from Camden on October 1, 1857.
- Bowling
- Buffalo Prairie – Name changed from Buffalo to Copper on October 1, 1857; from Copper to Buffalo Prairie in January, 1858.
- Canoe Creek
- Coal Valley
- Coe – Name changed from Fremont to Penn on October 1, 1857; from Penn to Coe in January, 1858.
- Cordova
- Drury
- Edgington
- Hampton
- Moline
- Port Byron
- Rock Island
- Rural – Formed from Coal Valley (date unknown).
- South Moline – Formed from Moline in March, 1879.
- South Rock Island – Formed from Rock Island on March 1, 1878.
- Zuma – Name changed from Walker on October 1, 1857.
Township Map
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