White County, Illinois

Founding: 1815
Parent county: Gallatin

Namesake: Leonard White, early Illinois settler
Seat: Carmi (1816–)

Land area: 495 square miles

Population (2020): 13,877

Population (historic): 4,828 (1820); 8,925 (1850); 16,846 (1870); 25,386 (1900); 18,149 (1930)

Periods of population growth: pre-1820–1900; 1930–1950; 1970s

Subdivisions: Two cities; eight villages; ten townships

Pre-1940 residences (estimated): 1,362 (19%)
Pre-1940 housing survival rate: 29.2%
Pre-1860 housing survival rate (1940): 7.2%

Farm housing in disrepair (1950): 6.1%

Nonfarm housing in disrepair (1950): 6.4%

Average farmhouse value (1930): $989
Average outbuilding value (1930): $738

Average farmhouse size (1940): 4.5 rooms
Number of farms (1920): 2,419
Average farm size (1920): 107.5 acres
Sources of settlement: Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Ohio
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Carmi

Namesake: A reference to Ein Karem, supposed birthplace of St. John the Baptist

Founding: 1816 (platting); 1817 (post office); 1819 (incorporation)

Population (2020): 4,865

Population (historic): 2,512 (1880); 2,939 (1900); 2,932 (1930)

Periods of population growth: pre-1880–1900; 1920–1960
Pre-1940 residences (estimated): 431 (16.6%)
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Outstanding Buildings

1. McHenry Methodist Church (c. 1915). Road 1500 North and Road 1400 East. Hawthorne. Classical Revival.
2. Big Prairie Methodist Church (c. 1905). State Route 7 and Road 1175 North. Hawthorne. Gothic Revival.
3. Lewis Bayley House (c. 1850). Road 400 North, east of Road 900 East. Herald's Prairie. Greek Revival. Razed.

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