Hardin county was formed in 1839 out of parts of Gallatin County and Pope County. It is located near the southeastern tip of Illinois on the Ohio River.
The first three organized townships, by virtue of their militia, were Cave-in-Rock, Elizabethtown (the current county seat) and Rosiclare (no longer on the map). Cave-in-Rock was the hangout for such outlaws as Logan Belt, Duff the Counterfeiter, Samuel Mason, Colonel Plug and the Sturdivant Gang.
Battery Rock, an 80-foot high sandstone bluff rising above the Ohio, was a strategic location during the Civil War owing to the presence of sandbars in the river which caused boats to veer toward the bluffs.
The county population on July 1, 1999, was 4,907, a decrease of 282 over the 1990 census.
For information on county government, contact the National Association of Counties Web site.
Additional information is available at these pages:
