DeKalb County

DeKalb county, formed in 1837 in northern Illinois, had an interesting "battle" to establish its county seat.

Rufus Colton, founder of Coltonville and the Circuit Clerk of the area, held an election to determine the county seat. However, he neglected to inform anyone outside of town and the vote was later overturned by the Illinois Assembly. Sycamore was finally agreed upon and order restored.

In the early 1900's, two wealthy DeKalb (city) residents, attempted to "buy" the county seat by pledging $20,000 each to move the seat to DeKalb. The effort was in vain as the citizens of Sycamore raised $70,000 to maintain the status quo.

The county population on July 1, 1999, was 86,993, an increase of 9,061 over the 1990 census.

For information on county government, contact the National Association of Counties Web site.

Additional information is available at these pages:

• Illinois Counties
• Illinois Cities

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