Henry county, named for Patrick Henry, the famous statesman and orator, was formed from parts of Fulton County in 1825. Later, Carroll County, Jo Daviess County, Knox County, Rock Island County, and Whiteside County would be spun off. The present-day boundaries were finally set in 1837.
The county is located in northwestern Illinois near the Quad Cities, one county removed from the Mississippi River.
The county seat is Cambridge and the county population on July 1, 1999, was 51,862, an increase of 703 over the 1990 census.
Bishop Hill, dubbed "Utopia on the Prairie", was founded in 1846 by Swedish religious dissenters including preacher Eric Janson. The town is named for Bishopskulla, Sweden.
For information on county government, contact the National Association of Counties Web site.
Additional information is available at these pages: