Clay County, Illinois
Historic newspapers, landmarks, and county history layers for genealogists and local historians.
At a glance
SummaryThe Library of Congress U.S. Newspaper Directory lists 22 newspaper titles published in Clay County, Illinois, with the earliest starting in 1800. None of these titles are currently digitized on Chronicling America. The National Register of Historic Places includes 6 listed properties in the county, first listed in 1983. Most listings are in or near Flora, Louisville, Xenia.
Summary generated automatically from the source data on this page.
Newspapers published in Clay
Library of Congress22 newspaper titles
| Title | Place | Years |
|---|---|---|
| The Louisville Ledger-Democrat | Louisville | 1800–1999 |
| The Louisville Visitor | Louisville | 1851–1999 |
| Louisville Weekly Democrat | Louisville | 1857–1999 |
| The Clay County Herald | Louisville | 1862–1999 |
| The Clay County Union | Louisville | 1865–1999 |
| The Clay County Journal | Xenia | 1867–1899 |
| The Louisville Ledger | Louisville | 1869–1899 |
| The Clay County Tribune | Louisville | 1870–1877 |
| The Louisville Republican | Louisville | 1895–1999 |
| Clay County Record | Flora | 1899–? |
| The Daily Record | Flora | 1913–1999 |
| The Flora Record | Flora | 1919–1920 |
| The Flora Journal-Record | Flora | 1921–1933 |
| Flora Daily News | Flora | 1930–1933 |
| Flora Daily News-Record | Flora | 1934–1979 |
| The Flora Sentinel | Flora | 1945–1999 |
| Clay County Advocate-Press | Flora, Clay City | 1973–1979 |
| The Daily Clay County Advocate-Press | Clay City, Flora | 1979–? |
| The Hometown Journal | Flora | 1999–? |
| Clay County Advocate | Clay City | ?– |
| Clay County Republican | Louisville | ?– |
| The Clay County Democrat | Louisville | ?– |
Source: Library of Congress U.S. Newspaper Directory. “Digitized” links lead to page images on Chronicling America.
Coverage timeline
NewspapersEach bar is one title’s publication span. brown = digitized on Chronicling America Open-ended runs extend to today.
National Register of Historic Places
NPS NRHP5 of 6 listings mapped; some locations are restricted by NPS to protect sensitive sites.
6 listed properties
| Property | City | Listed |
|---|---|---|
| Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Depot | Flora | 1998 |
| Clay County Courthouse | Louisville | 2015 |
| Clay County Jail | Louisville | 1998 |
| Meyer, Pearl and Bess, House | Flora | 2001 |
| Paine House | Xenia | 1985 |
| Shriver House | Flora | 1983 |
Source: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Property links open NRHP nomination files at the National Archives.
County formation
Newberry AHCBClay was formed in 1824 (1824-12-23) from Crawford, Fayette, Lawrence, Wayne.
CLAY created from CRAWFORD, FAYETTE, LAWRENCE, and WAYNE.
Source: Newberry Library, Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
Population by decade
CensusClay County population from 1830 to 2020 (Census historical series).
| 1830 | 1840 | 1860 | 1880 | 1900 | 1920 | 1940 | 1950 | 1960 | 1980 | 2000 | 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 755 | 3,228 | 9,336 | 16,192 | 19,553 | 17,684 | 18,947 | 17,445 | 15,815 | 15,283 | 14,560 | 13,288 |
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau historical county population (Forstall 1790–1990) and public-domain / CC0 county population series through 2020.
Cemeteries & historical places
USGS GNIS85 cemeteries and 1 historical populated places (ghost towns / former settlements) recorded in USGS GNIS for this county.
Cemeteries — 80 of 85 listed
| Name |
|---|
| Barnes Cemetery |
| Bethel Cemetery |
| Bible Grove Cemetery |
| Bloom Cemetery |
| Brooks Cemetery |
| Burge Cemetery |
| Camp Ground Cemetery |
| Christian Home Cemetery |
| Clay City Cemetery |
| Conly Cemetery |
| Craig Cemetery |
| Dillman Cemetery |
| Ditter Cemetery |
| Edwards Family Cemetery |
| Elmwood Cemetery |
| Fender Cemetery |
| Fields Cemetery |
| Foster Hill Cemetery |
| Garden of Memories Cemetery |
| German Cemetery |
| Golden Cemetery |
| Greenwood Cemetery |
| Higginbothan Cemetery |
| Holy Cross Cemetery |
| Hoosier Cemetery |
| Hord Cemetery |
| Ingraham Cemetery |
| Iola Cemetery |
| Jenkins Cemetery |
| Keen Chapel Cemetery |
| Kincaid Cemetery |
| Kinnamon Cemetery |
| Kneff Cemetery |
| Krantz Cemetery |
| Landdreth Cemetery |
| Leonard Cemetery |
| Levitt Cemetery |
| Lewis Cemetery |
| Little Prairie Cemetery |
| Littleton Cemetery |
| Logan Family Cemetery |
| Mascgher Family Cemetery |
| McCawley Cemetery |
| McCawley Cemetery |
| McKinney Cemetery |
| Meisenheimer Cemetery |
| Morgan Cemetery |
| Newton Chapel Cemetery |
| Nixion Cemetery |
| Number Four Cemetery |
| Oak Mound Cemetery |
| Oddfellows Cemetery |
| Old Baptist Cemetery |
| Old Dilman Cemetery |
| Old Kneff Cemetery |
| Old Louisville Cemetery |
| Old Union Cemetery |
| Onstott Cemetery |
| Ooton Cemetery |
| Orchard Hill Cemetery |
| Oskaloosa Cemetery |
| Parker Cemetery |
| Price Cemetery |
| Red Brush Cemetery |
| Reed Cemetery |
| Riffle Cemetery |
| Riffle Cemetery |
| Rogers Cemetery |
| Rusk Cemetery |
| Saint Johns Cemetery |
| Saint Paul Cemetery |
| Saint Stephens Cemetery |
| Shouse Chapel Cemetery |
| Smith Cemetery |
| Songer Cemetery |
| Speaks Cemetery |
| Stipp Cemetery |
| Toliver Cemetery |
| Tolliver Cemetery |
| Travis Cemetery |
Historical populated places — 1 of 1
| Name |
|---|
| Bethel |
Source: USGS Geographic Names Information System (public domain). Cemeteries from the 2021 NationalFile archive; historical places from GNIS HistoricalFeatures topical extract.
Historical markers
HMdb linkMarker text and photos from the Historical Marker Database (HMdb) are not embedded here. HMdb allows non-commercial reuse with attribution, but commercial/compensated use needs written permission; this is a commercial site, so we only link out.
Search HMdb for Clay County, Illinois
Terms: hmdb.org/copyright.asp. Linking is encouraged by HMdb.