County Past
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Union County, Illinois

Historic newspapers, landmarks, and county history layers for genealogists and local historians.

23newspaper titles
0digitized titles
8historic places
1849earliest paper
1818formed
17,244pop. 2020
124cemeteries
1CW battlefields

At a glance

Summary

The Library of Congress U.S. Newspaper Directory lists 23 newspaper titles published in Union County, Illinois, with the earliest starting in 1849. None of these titles are currently digitized on Chronicling America. The National Register of Historic Places includes 8 listed properties in the county, first listed in 1977. Most listings are in or near Anna, Jonesboro, Alto Pass.

Summary generated automatically from the source data on this page.

Newspapers published in Union

Library of Congress
23 newspaper titles
TitlePlaceYears
Jonesborough Gazette, and Southern Illinois ReflectorJonesboro1849–1899
Jonesboro GazetteJonesboro1850–1859
The Egyptian JokerJonesboro1855–1999
Jonesboro Weekly GazetteJonesboro1859–1862
Jonesboro GazetteJonesboro1862–1865
Jonesboro Gazette and Egyptian VindicatorJonesboro1865–1866
Jonesboro Weekly GazetteJonesboro1866–1867
Jonesboro GazetteJonesboro1867–1939
The AdvertiserJonesboro1871–1899
The Argus and HarbingerAnna1874–1879
Anna UnionAnna1875–1899
The Farmer and Fruit GrowerAnna1877–1881
The Farmer and Fruit GrowerAnna1877–1881
Fruit-Growers' JournalCobden1880–1999
The Cobden SentinelCobden1880–1999
The Farmer and Fruit Grower of Southern IllinoisAnna1881–1899
The Farmer and Fruit Grower of Southern IllinoisAnna1881–1899
The Cobden ReviewCobden1924–1959
The Dongola RecordDongola1932–1934
The Dongola Tri-County RecordDongola1934–?
The Gazette-Democrat, the Talk and Cobden ReviewAnna1968–?
The Gazette-Democrat, the Talk and Cobden ReviewAnna1968–?
The DemocratAnna?–

Source: Library of Congress U.S. Newspaper Directory. “Digitized” links lead to page images on Chronicling America.

Coverage timeline

Newspapers

Each bar is one title’s publication span. brown = digitized on Chronicling America Open-ended runs extend to today.

18401886193319792026

National Register of Historic Places

NPS NRHP

3 of 8 listings mapped; some locations are restricted by NPS to protect sensitive sites.

8 listed properties
PropertyCityTypeListed
Campground Church and Cemetery SiteAnnaSite2017
Rendleman OrchardsAlto PassDistrict2025
St. Anne's Episcopal ChurchAnnaBuilding2003
St. Paulus Evangelisch Lutherischen GemeindeJonesboroBuilding1980
Stinson Memorial LibraryAnnaBuilding1978
Thompson Brothers Rock ArtMakandaSite2015
Union LookoutJonesboroStructure2003
Ware Mounds and Village SiteWareSite1977

Source: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Property links open NRHP nomination files at the National Archives.

County formation

Newberry AHCB

Union was formed in 1818 (1818-01-02) from Johnson.

UNION created by Illinois Territory from JOHNSON.

Source: Newberry Library, Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

Population by decade

Census

Union County population from 1820 to 2020 (Census historical series).

23k12k2,3621820184018801920196020002020
182018401860188019001920194019501960198020002020
2,3625,52411,18118,10222,61020,24921,52820,50017,64517,76518,29317,244

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau historical county population (Forstall 1790–1990) and public-domain / CC0 county population series through 2020.

Cemeteries & historical places

USGS GNIS

124 cemeteries and 0 historical populated places (ghost towns / former settlements) recorded in USGS GNIS for this county.

Cemeteries — 80 of 124 listed
NameLatLon
Alto Pass City CemeteryNoneNone
American Legion Cemetery37.36909-89.16671
Anna City CemeteryNoneNone
Anna State Hospital CemeteryNoneNone
Antioch Cemetery37.5924-89.14953
Bankston CemeteryNoneNone
Beech Grove Church CemeteryNoneNone
Beeds Grove CemeteryNoneNone
Bell Hill CemeteryNoneNone
Benjamin Vancil CemeteryNoneNone
Bethany CemeteryNoneNone
Bethel CemeteryNoneNone
Big Creek Church CemeteryNoneNone
Bittle CemeteryNoneNone
Blessing CemeteryNoneNone
Bolte Hill CemeteryNoneNone
Brown CemeteryNoneNone
Brown CemeteryNoneNone
Brownrig Wiggs CemeteryNoneNone
Campground Church CemeteryNoneNone
Casper Church CemeteryNoneNone
Catholic CemeteryNoneNone
Cauble CemeteryNoneNone
Cedar Grove CemeteryNoneNone
Chapel CemeteryNoneNone
Christian Chapel CemeteryNoneNone
Clay CemeteryNoneNone
Cobden City CemeteryNoneNone
Collins Cemetery37.57196-89.33524
Conner CemeteryNoneNone
Cummins CemeteryNoneNone
Davis CemeteryNoneNone
Duck Ponds CemeteryNoneNone
Ebenezer Hall Cemetery37.52531-89.09877
Ebenezer Hall CemeteryNoneNone
Ebenezer Methodist CemeteryNoneNone
Fellowship Church CemeteryNoneNone
Frick CemeteryNoneNone
Friendship CemeteryNoneNone
Garrot CemeteryNoneNone
Goddard Cemetery37.49591-89.05706
Grammer CemeteryNoneNone
Grammer CemeteryNoneNone
Green CemeteryNoneNone
Grieb Cemetery37.4207-89.27008
Guthrie CemeteryNoneNone
Hall Union CemeteryNoneNone
Hamburg Hill CemeteryNoneNone
Hinkle Cemetery37.3808-89.12976
Hinkle CemeteryNoneNone
Hittenmeir CemeteryNoneNone
Holshouser CemeteryNoneNone
Housman CemeteryNoneNone
Hunsaker CemeteryNoneNone
IOOF CemeteryNoneNone
Jonesboro City CemeteryNoneNone
Karaker Cemetery37.49983-89.19314
Keith CemeteryNoneNone
Keller Cemetery37.53613-89.1163
Kelly Cemetery37.52672-89.18358
Kimmel Cemetery37.40163-89.23963
Kimmel Cemetery37.47631-89.29277
Kimmel CemeteryNoneNone
Kollehner Cemetery37.4156-89.28576
Lamer CemeteryNoneNone
Le Yerle CemeteryNoneNone
Lick Creek Baptist Church CemeteryNoneNone
Lick Creek CemeteryNoneNone
Limestone Church CemeteryNoneNone
Lingle CemeteryNoneNone
Lockard Cemetery37.57834-89.20139
Lutheran Chapel CemeteryNoneNone
Lyerly CemeteryNoneNone
Martin CemeteryNoneNone
McGinnis Cemetery37.44365-89.09868
Meisenheimer CemeteryNoneNone
Miles CemeteryNoneNone
Miller CemeteryNoneNone
Mission Chapel Cemetery37.38824-89.23349
Morgan CemeteryNoneNone

Source: USGS Geographic Names Information System (public domain). Cemeteries from the 2021 NationalFile archive; historical places from GNIS HistoricalFeatures topical extract.

Civil War battlefields nearby

ABPP

American Battlefield Protection Program (ABPP) Civil War study areas near this county.

BattlefieldStudy acresDist.Site ID
Cape Girardeau3,58333.3 kmMO020

Source: NPS American Battlefield Protection Program Civil War Study Areas (public ArcGIS feature service).

Historical markers

HMdb link

Marker 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 Union County, Illinois

Terms: hmdb.org/copyright.asp. Linking is encouraged by HMdb.