Coles County, Illinois

Founding: 1830
Parent counties: Clark and Edgar

Namesake: Edward Coles, Illinois governor
Seat: Charleston (1831–)

Land area: 508 square miles

Population (2020): 46,863

Population (historic): 9,616 (1840); 14,203 (1860); 27,042 (1880); 34,146 (1900); 37,315 (1930)

Periods of population growth: pre-1840; 1850–1980; 1990–2010

Subdivisions: Two cities; four villages; 12 townships

Pre-1940 residences (estimated): 5,292 (22.5%)
Pre-1940 housing survival rate: 50.5%
Pre-1860 housing survival rate (1940): 8.3%

Farm housing in disrepair (1950): 9%

Nonfarm housing in disrepair (1950): 6.7%
Average farmhouse value (1930): $1,906
Average outbuilding value (1930): $1,516

Average farmhouse size (1940): 5.8 rooms
Number of farms (1920): 2,332
Average farm size (1920): 111 acres
Sources of settlement: Indiana, Ohio, and Kentucky
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Charleston

Namesake: Uncertain—perhaps Charles Morton, the city's first postmaster

Founding: 1831 (platting); 1831 (post office); 1835 (incorporation)

Population (2020): 17,286

Population (historic): 849 (1850); 2,849 (1870); 4,135 (1890); 5,884 (1910); 8,012 (1930)

Periods of population growth: pre-1850–2010
Pre-1940 residences (estimated): 1,540 (17.1%)
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