Shelby 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 13 newspaper titles published in Shelby 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 1975. Most listings are in or near Shelbyville, Clarksburg, Cowden.
Summary generated automatically from the source data on this page.
Newspapers published in Shelby
Library of Congress13 newspaper titles
| Title | Place | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Cowden Reflector | Cowden | 1800–1949 |
| Central Illinois Times | Shelbyville | 1866–1899 |
| The Illustrated Baptist | Shelbyville | 1879–1899 |
| The Card Printer's Monthly | Shelbyville | 1880–1999 |
| The Enterprise | Oconee | 1884–1999 |
| Home and Fireside | Shelbyville | 1885–1999 |
| The Daily Union | Shelbyville | 1887–1899 |
| The Findlay Enterprise | Findlay | 1890–1898 |
| The Enterprise | Findlay | 1898–1899 |
| The Findlay Enterprise | Findlay | 1899–1986 |
| The Herrick Reporter | Herrick | 1926–1999 |
| Herrick Bulletin | Herrick | 1932–1968 |
| Golden Prairie News | Assumption, Macon, Moweaqua | 1977–? |
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 NRHP3 of 6 listings mapped; some locations are restricted by NPS to protect sensitive sites.
6 listed properties
| Property | City | Listed |
|---|---|---|
| Chautauqua Auditorium | Shelbyville | 1978 |
| Clarksburg Schoolhouse | Clarksburg | 2001 |
| Shelbyville Historic District | Shelbyville | 1976 |
| Tallman, Horace M., House | Shelbyville | 1988 |
| Thompson Mill Covered Bridge | Cowden | 1975 |
| Westervelt Christian Church | Westervelt | 2006 |
Source: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Property links open NRHP nomination files at the National Archives.
County formation
Newberry AHCBShelby was formed in 1827 (1827-01-23) from Fayette.
SHELBY created from FAYETTE; part of FAYETTE became Non-County Area 7 and was attached to SHELBY "until otherwise provided by law."
Source: Newberry Library, Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
Population by decade
CensusShelby County population from 1830 to 2020 (Census historical series).
| 1830 | 1840 | 1860 | 1880 | 1900 | 1920 | 1940 | 1950 | 1960 | 1980 | 2000 | 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2,972 | 6,659 | 14,613 | 30,270 | 32,126 | 29,601 | 26,290 | 24,434 | 23,404 | 23,923 | 22,893 | 20,990 |
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau historical county population (Forstall 1790–1990) and public-domain / CC0 county population series through 2020.
Cemeteries & historical places
USGS GNIS157 cemeteries and 2 historical populated places (ghost towns / former settlements) recorded in USGS GNIS for this county.
Cemeteries — 80 of 157 listed
| Name |
|---|
| Anderson Cemetery |
| Armstrong Cemetery |
| Armstrong Cemetery |
| Ash Grove Cemetery |
| Askins Cemetery |
| Austin Cemetery |
| Barker Cemetery |
| Bateman Cemetery |
| Bethany Cemetery |
| Bethany Cemetery |
| Bethel Cemetery |
| Bluff Cemetery |
| Bruce Cemetery |
| Brunswick Cemetery |
| Bryson Cemetery |
| Buchanan Cemetery |
| Caldwell Cemetery |
| Campbell Cemetery |
| Carpenter Cemetery |
| Center Cemetery |
| Chaffee Cemetery |
| Chisenhall Cemetery |
| Claridge Cemetery |
| Clark Cemetery |
| Coal Creek Cemetery |
| Cochran Cemetery |
| Combest Cemetery |
| Coons Cemetery |
| Copperas Creek Cemetery |
| Corley Cemetery |
| County Home Cemetery |
| Craig Cemetery |
| Cutler Cemetery |
| Devore Cemetery |
| Downey Cemetery |
| Edwards Cemetery |
| Eiler Cemetery |
| Elbert Cemetery |
| Ellis Cemetery |
| Findlay Cemetery |
| Finley Cemetery |
| Firgason Cemetery |
| Fortner Cemetery |
| Foster Cemetery |
| Gallagher Chapel Cemetery |
| Gaskill Cemetery |
| Giles Cemetery |
| Glenwood Cemetery |
| Grace Cemetery |
| Graybill Cemetery |
| Harmon Cemetery |
| Harmon Cemetery |
| Helton Cemetery |
| Henderson Cemetery |
| Henton Cemetery |
| Hidden Cemetery |
| Hilligoss Cemetery |
| Hodson Cemetery |
| Horsman Cemetery |
| Howe Cemetery |
| Hubbartt Cemetery |
| Hudson Cemetery |
| Hudson Cemetery |
| Independent Order of Oddfellows Cemetery |
| James Rose Cemetery |
| Johnson Cemetery |
| Jordan Cemetery |
| Knobs Baptist Cemetery |
| Liston Cemetery |
| Little Flock Cemetery |
| Locust Grove Cemetery |
| Lower Ash Grove Cemetery |
| Ludwig Cemetery |
| Lutheran Cemetery |
| Mahoney Cemetery |
| Martin Cemetery |
| Masonic Cemetery |
| Mautz Cemetery |
| McCoy Cemetery |
| Methodist Cemetery |
Historical populated places — 2 of 2
| Name |
|---|
| Westminster |
| Williamsburg |
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 Shelby County, Illinois
Terms: hmdb.org/copyright.asp. Linking is encouraged by HMdb.