Pope County, Illinois

County: Pope

State: Illinois

Lat/Long: 37.4167, -88.5667

The legislature of Illinois Territory created Pope County in 1816 from parts of Gallatin and Johnson counties. In May 1816, the county commissioners' court designated Golconda, then known as Sarahsville, as the county seat. The county was named for Nathaniel Pope.

“An Act to Erect a New County out of the Counties of Gallatin and Johnson,” 10 January 1816, Laws of Illinois Territory (1816), 66-69; Pope County Illinois (Paducah, KY: Turner, 1986), 11-12; John Clayton, comp., The Illinois Fact Book and Historical Almanac, 1673-1968 (Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1970), 33.