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Whiteside County
Contact InformationWhiteside County Courthouse
200 E. Knox St.
Morrison, IL 61270
815-772-5189 – County Clerk
815-772-5188 – Circuit Clerk
815-772-5192 – Recorder
IRAD Depository
Founders Memorial Library
Rm. 245B
Northern Illinois University
DeKalb, IL 60115
815-753-1807
Established
- January 16, 1836 (Laws, 1836, p. 274)
- County organization was completed in 1839.
Origin of the name of the county
- Named for Samuel Whiteside, a Colonel of the Territorial militia, Representative in the First General Assembly, and Brigadier General of the militia during the Black Hawk War.
Present area, or parts of it, formerly included in
- 1837–1839 – Attached to Ogle (Laws, 1836, p. 277)
- 1836–1837 – Attached to JoDaviess (Laws, 1836, p. 277)
- 1827–1836 – JoDaviess
- 1825–1836 – Henry
- 1825–1827 – Putnam
- 1823–1825 – Fulton
- 1821–1823 – Pike
- 1812–1821 – Madison
- 1795–1812 – St. Clair
County Seats
- 1839–1841 – Lyndon
- 1841–1842 – Sterling
- 1842–1846 – Lyndon
- 1846–1847 – Circuit Court at Sterling, County Commissioners’ Court at Lyndon
- 1847–1857 – Sterling
- 1857–present – Morrison
History of county governing board
- 1839–1849 – County Commissioners’ Court
- 1849–1852 – County Court
- 1852–present – County Board of Supervisors
Township Government
- Adopted – November 4, 1851
Township Names
- Albany
- Clyde
- Coloma
- Erie
- Fenton – Name changed from Eden in September, 1852.
- Fulton
- Garden Plain
- Genesee
- Hahnaman
- Hopkins
- Hume – Name changed from Jackson in September, 1852. Como (originally named Homer, but changed in September, 1852) was absorbed into Hume (date unknown, before 1921).
- Jordan
- Lyndon
- Montmorency
- Mount Pleasant
- Newton – Name changed from Greenfield in September, 1852.
- Portland
- Prophetstown – Volney (originally named Washington but changed in September, 1852) was absorbed into Prophetstown (date unknown, before 1921).
- Sterling
- Tampico
- Union Grove
- Ustick – Name changed from Eustick (date unknown).
Township Map
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