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Scott County Illinois
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Scott County
Named for Scott County, KY
Scott County covers 251 square miles and was organized in 1839
County seat: Winchester

SCOTT COUNTY, lies in the western part of the State adjoining the Illinois River, and has an area of 248 square miles. The region was originally owned by the Kickapoo Indians, who ceded it to the Government by the treaty of Edwardsville, July 30, 1819. Six months later (in January, 1820) a party of Kentuckians settled near Lynnville (now in Morgan County), their names being Thomas Stevens, James Scott, Alfred Miller, Thomas Allen, John Scott and Adam Miller. Allen erected the first house in the county, John Scott the second and Adam Miller the third. About the same time came Stephen M. Umpstead, whose wife was the first white woman in the county.
Other pioneers were Jedediah Webster, Stephen Pierce, Joseph Densmore, Jesse Roberts, and Samuel Bogard. The country was rough and the conveniences of civilization few and remote. Settlers took their corn to Edwardsville to be ground, and went to Alton for their mail. Turbulence early showed itself, and, in 1822, a band of "Regulators" was organized from the best citizens, who meted out a rough and ready sort of justice, until 1830, occasionally shooting a desperado at his cabin door. Scott County was cut off from Morgan and organized in 1839. It contains good farming land, much of it being originally timbered, and it is well watered by the Illinois River and numerous small streams. Winchester is the county-seat.
Population of the county (1880), 10,741; (1890), 10,304; (1900), 10,455.
[Source: "Historical Encylopedia of Illinois, 1901"]



Towns and Cities in Scott County

City
Winchester

Town
Naples

Villages
Alsey ~ Bluffs ~ Exeter ~ Glasgow ~ Manchester

Unincorporated Communities
Bloomfield ~ Merritt ~ Oxville ~ Riggston


Scott County Courthouse
23 East Market Street
Winchester, IL 62694-1209