Cook County, IllinoisCook County is a
county located in the
U.S. state of
Illinois. As of 2006, the population was 5,288,655, making it the
second largest county by population in the
United States (after
Los Angeles County, California), and accounting for 43.3% of the state's population (if Cook County were an independent state, it would have the 21st largest population). The
county seat is
Chicago, the principal city of
its metropolitan area; Chicago makes up about 54% of the population of the county, the rest being provided by various
suburbs. Cook County is the 19th largest government in the United States. Cook County has by far more
Democratic Party members than any other
Illinois county, and is one of the most Democratic counties in the United States. It has only voted once for a
Republican candidate in a Presidential election in the last forty years, in
1972, when county voters preferred
Richard Nixon to
George McGovern by 53.4% to 46%.
Cook County's current County Board president is
Todd Stroger.
HistoryCook County was created on
January 15,
1831 by an act of the
Illinois State Legislature. It was the 54th county established in Illinois and was named after
Daniel Pope Cook, one of the earliest and youngest statesmen in Illinois history, who served as the second
U.S. Representative from Illinois and the first Attorney General of the State of Illinois. Shortly thereafter, in
1839,
DuPage County was carved out of Cook County.
GovernmentThe Circuit Court of Cook County, which is the largest unified court system in the world, disposing of over 6 million cases in 1990 alone, the Cook County Department of Corrections, which is the largest single-site jail in the nation, and the Cook County Juvenile Detention Center, the first juvenile center in the nation and one of the largest in the nation, are solely the responsibility of Cook County government. The Cook County Law Library is the second largest county law library in the nation.
The Bureau of Health Services administers the county's public health services and is the second largest public health system in the nation. Three hospitals are part of this system:
John H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital of Crook County, Provident Hospital, and
Oak Forest Hospital of Cook County, along with over 30 outpatient clinics.
The Cook County Highway Department is responsible for the design and maintenance of over 578
miles of roadways in the county. These thoroughfares are mostly composed of major and minor arterials, with a few local roads. Although the Highway Department was instrumental in designing many of the expressways in the county, today they are under the jurisdiction of the state.
The
Forest Preserve District, organized in 1915, is a separate, independent taxing body, but the Cook County Board of Commissioners also acts as the Forest Preserve District Board of Commissioners. The District is a belt of 68,000
acres (275 km²) of forest reservations surrounding the City of Chicago. The
Brookfield Zoo (managed by the Chicago Zoological Society) and the
Chicago Botanic Garden (managed by the Chicago Horticultural Society) are located in the forest preserves.
In the
1980s, Cook County was ground zero to an extensive
FBI investigation named
Operation Greylord. Ninety-two officials were indicted, including 17 judges, 48 lawyers, 8 policemen, 10 deputy sheriffs, 8 court officials, and 1 state legislator.
Cook County is the fifth largest employer in Chicago.
[1]Secession movementsTo establish more localized government control and policies which reflect the often different values and needs of large suburban sections of the sprawling county, several
secession movements have been made over the years which called for certain
townships or
municipalities to form their own independent counties.
In the late 1970s, a movement started which proposed a separation of six northwest suburban townships, Cook County's
panhandle (
Barrington,
Hanover,
Palatine,
Wheeling,
Schaumburg, and
Elk Grove) from Cook to form
Lincoln County, in honor of the native former U.S. president who ironically does not have an Illinois county named after him.
[2] It is likely that
Arlington Heights would have been the county seat. This northwest suburban region of Cook is moderately
conservative and has a population over 500,000. Local legislators, led by State Senator
Dave Regnar, went so far as to propose it as official legislation in the
Illinois House. The legislation died, however, before coming to a vote.
In
2004,
Blue Island mayor Donald Peloquin tried to organize a coaliton of fifty-five south and southwest suburban municipalities to form a new county, also proposing the name Lincoln County. The county would include everything south of
Burbank, stretching as far west as
Orland Park, as far east as
Calumet City, and as far south as
Matteson, covering an expansive area with a population of over one million residents. Peloquin cited that the south suburbs are often shunned by the city and blamed the Chicago-centric policies of Cook County government for failing to jumpstart the long-depressed local economy of the south suburban region. Pending sufficient interest from local communities, Peloquin planned a petition drive to place a question regarding the secession on the general election ballot.
[3]GeographyAccording to the
U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 4,235
km² (1,635
sq mi). 2,449 km² (946 sq mi) of it is land and 1,785 km² (689 sq mi) of it (42.16%) is water, most of it in
Lake Michigan.
Adjacent countiesLake County, Illinois - north
Berrien County, Michigan - east; boundary is in Lake Michigan
Porter County, Indiana - southeast; boundary is in Lake Michigan
Lake County, Indiana - southeast
Will County, Illinois - south
DuPage County, Illinois - west
Kane County, Illinois - west
McHenry County, Illinois - northwest
DemographicsAs of the
2000 Census², there were 5,376,741 people, 1,974,181 households, and 1,269,398 families residing in the county. The
population density was 2,195/km² (5,686/sq mi). There were 2,096,121 housing units at an average density of 856/km² (2,216/sq mi). The
racial makeup of the county was 56.27%
White, 26.14%
Black or
African American, 0.29%
Native American, 4.84%
Asian, 0.05%
Pacific Islander, 9.88% from other races, and 2.53% from two or more races. 19.93% of the population were
Hispanic or
Latino of any race. 17.63% reported speaking
Spanish at home; 3.13% speak
Polish [1].
2005 Census estimates placed the non-Hispanic white popuation of Cook County at 45.4% of the total population of the county. Other racial groups were African-Americans at 26.4%, Latinos at 22.2% and Asians at 5.5%.
[5] 2006 estimates showed the non-Hispanic white percentage of the population down to 44.7%.
[6]According to the 2000 Census there were 1,974,181 households out of which 30.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.0% were
married couples living together, 15.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.7% were non-families. 29.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.68 and the average family size was 3.38.
In the county the population was spread out with 26.0% under the age of 18, 9.9% from 18 to 24, 31.7% from 25 to 44, 20.7% from 45 to 64, and 11.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 93.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.5 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $45,922, and the median income for a family was $53,784. Males had a median income of $40,690 versus $31,298 for females. The
per capita income for the county was $23,227. About 10.6% of families and 13.5% of the population were below the
poverty line, including 18.9% of those under age 18 and 10.3% of those age 65 or over.
According to Census Bureau estimates, the county's population was down to 5,303,683 in
2005 [2].
TownshipsSuburban townships by populationThornton Township - 180,802
Wheeling Township - 155,834
Proviso Township - 155,831
Worth Township - 152,239
Maine Township - 135,623
Schaumburg Township - 134,114
Palatine Township - 112,740
Bremen Township - 109,575
Lyons Township - 109,264
Niles Township - 102,638
Elk Grove Township - 94,969
Leyden Township - 94,685
Bloom Township - 93,901
Orland Township - 91,418
Cicero Township - 85,616
Hanover Township - 83,471
Northfield Township - 82,880
Evanston Township - 74,239
Rich Township - 67,623
New Trier Township - 56,716
Berwyn Township - 54,016
Palos Township - 53,419
Oak Park Township - 52,524
Stickney Township - 38,673
Norwood Park Township - 26,176
Calumet Township - 22,374
Lemont Township - 18,002
Riverside Township - 15,704
Barrington Township - 14,026
River Forest Township - 11,635
Chicago townshipsThe city of Chicago had a population of 2,896,016 as of the 2000 Census. Its eight former townships and annexed parts of others no longer have any formal structure or responsibility since their annexation, but their names and boundaries are still used by Cook County for tax assessment purposes.
Calumet TownshipCicero TownshipJefferson TownshipHyde Park TownshipLake TownshipLake View TownshipLeyden TownshipMaine TownshipNorwood Park TownshipRogers Park TownshipStickney TownshipLake View TownshipCommunitiesCitiesBerwynBlue IslandBurbankCalumet CityChicago - small part of
O'Hare in
DuPageChicago HeightsCountry Club HillsCountrysideDes PlainesElgin - mostly in
Kane CountyEvanstonHarveyHickory HillsMarkhamNorthlakeOak ForestPalos HeightsPalos HillsPark RidgeRolling MeadowsTownsCalumet ParkCiceroVillagesAlsipArlington HeightsBarrington - partly in
Lake CountyBarrington Hills - partly in
Kane,
Lake,
McHenry CountiesBartlett - partly in
DuPage County, very small parcel in
Kane CountyBedford ParkBellwoodBensenville - primarily in
DuPage CountyBerkeleyBridgeviewBroadviewBrookfieldBuffalo Grove - partly in
Lake CountyBurnhamBurr Ridge - partly in
DuPage CountyChicago RidgeCrestwoodDeer Park - primarily in
Lake CountyDeerfield - primarily in
Lake CountyDixmoorDoltonEast Dundee - primarily in
Kane CountyEast Hazel CrestElk Grove Village - partly in
DuPage CountyElmwood ParkEvergreen ParkFlossmoorFord HeightsForest ParkForest ViewFrankfort - primarily in
Will CountyFranklin ParkGlencoeGlenviewGlenwoodGolfHanover Park - partly in
DuPage CountyHarwood HeightsHazel CrestHillsideHinsdale - partly in
DuPage CountyHodgkinsHoffman Estates - very small parcel in
Kane CountyHometownHomewoodIndian Head ParkInvernessJusticeKenilworthLa GrangeLa Grange ParkLansingLemontLincolnwoodLynwoodLyonsMattesonMaywoodMcCookMelrose ParkMerrionette ParkMidlothianMorton GroveMount ProspectNilesNorridgeNorth RiversideNorthbrookNorthfieldOak LawnOak ParkOlympia FieldsOrland HillsOrland ParkPalatinePalos ParkPark Forest - partly in
Will CountyPhoenixPosenProspect HeightsRichton ParkRiver ForestRiver GroveRiverdaleRiversideRobbinsRoselle - primarily in
DuPage CountyRosemontSauk Village - small parcel in
Will CountySchaumburg - partly in
DuPage CountySchiller ParkSkokieSouth BarringtonSouth Chicago HeightsSouth HollandSteger - partly in
Will CountyStickneyStone ParkStreamwoodSummitThorntonTinley Park - partly in
Will CountyUniversity Park - primarily in
Will CountyWestchesterWestern SpringsWheelingWillow SpringsWilmetteWinnetkaWoodridge - primarily in
DuPage, small section in
Will County and a very small parcel in Cook County.
WorthPop culture referencesIn the 1980 film,
The Blues Brothers, the title characters are racing to the offices of the Assessor of Cook County to pay the back taxes owed by the orphanage in which they grew up. In reality, however, back taxes are paid in the Office of the Cook County Treasurer, and church-owned property is tax exempt anyway.
Murphy Dunne, who played the pianist in the movie, is the son of then Cook County Board President George Dunne.
[7]In the film
The Fugitive, jail visitation is placed not in the jail but in the County Building, again for better visual effect. This film also places the lead character in the old Cook County Hospital for some key scenes.
In “
Otis”, an episode of the television series
Prison Break,
LJ Burrows is sent to a court hearing at the Cook County Courthouse, while his father,
Lincoln Burrows, and his uncle,
Michael Scofield, attempt to take him out of custody by extracting him while he is in the elevator.
In the film
Chicago, Roxie is sent to the Cook County Jail.
External linksCook County Government WebsiteCook County AssessorCook County Board of ReviewCircuit Court of Cook CountyClerk of the Circuit Court of Cook CountyClerk of Cook CountyVote! from the Cook County Election Department
Cook County Recorder of DeedsCook County SheriffCook County JailCook County State's AttorneyCook County TreasurerForest Preserve District of Cook County