Menard County is a county in Illinois, United States, part of the Springfield metropolitan area along the Sangamon River. It had a population of 12,297 at the 2020 census and covers 314 square miles (810 km2) of land centred near 40°02′N 89°48′W.
Petersburg is the county seat, and its postal code is 62675. The county has 2 cities, 3 villages and several unincorporated communities. Menard is one of only 16 Illinois counties that has opted out of the township form of local government, so there is no separate layer of civil townships here. The county sits in the Central time zone, and its FIPS code is 17129.
Towns & Villages in Menard County
Five places in Menard County are incorporated — two cities and three villages — alongside a longer list of unincorporated communities and rural crossroads. Unincorporated places (marked “Unincorp.” below) have no municipal government of their own.
| Place | Type | Pop. | ZIP |
|---|---|---|---|
| Petersburg | City · seat | 2,258 | 62675 |
| Athens | City | 1,977 | 62613 |
| Greenview | Village | — | 62642 |
| Oakford | Village | — | 62673 |
| Tallula | Village | — | 62688 |
| Atterberry | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Bobtown | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Fancy Prairie | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Hubly | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Lewisburg | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Loyd | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Old Salem Chautauqua | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Sweet Water | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Tice | Unincorp. | — | — |
Old Salem Chautauqua is a small historic assembly-ground community on Lake Petersburg, adjacent to New Salem State Historic Site, and is sometimes rendered simply “Chautauqua” in older county records. Two nearby spellings of the same crossroads — “Hill Top” and “Hilltop” — refer to the same unincorporated place near Petersburg and are combined here as one entry.
ZIP Codes
- 62675 — Petersburg (also serves the rural southwest of the county)
- 62613 — Athens (also serves the northeast toward Sangamon County)
- 62642 — Greenview
- 62673 — Oakford
- 62688 — Tallula
Smaller unincorporated communities such as Atterberry, Bobtown, Fancy Prairie, Hubly, Lewisburg, Loyd, Sweet Water and Tice use the ZIP code of the nearest post-office town rather than a code of their own.
Geography
Menard County lies in west-central Illinois along the Sangamon River, which crosses the county roughly west to east before turning south toward the Illinois River. The terrain is a mix of river-bottom farmland and gently rolling prairie upland, with Lake Petersburg, an impoundment on Rock Creek, providing local recreation near the county seat. Farmland dominates the landscape, and the county has almost no public water beyond the lake and the river itself.
Menard County borders Mason County to the north, Logan County to the east (Logan County, Illinois), Sangamon County to the south (Sangamon County, Illinois), and Cass County to the west.
Demographics
Menard County had a population of 12,297 at the 2020 census. Petersburg and Athens are the two largest communities, together accounting for roughly a third of county residents. Median household income in Illinois runs well above the national figure — the state’s 2023 ACS median is $80,306 — and Menard County, a largely agricultural and commuter county, tracks close to that state figure. Population density works out to roughly 39 people per square mile, well below the Illinois statewide average, reflecting the county’s rural, farm-dominated land use.
Economy & Local Life
Agriculture, principally corn and soybeans, remains the backbone of the Menard County economy, and much of the county’s workforce also commutes to jobs in Springfield and the wider Sangamon County metro area to the south. Petersburg’s historic downtown and the nearby Lincoln’s New Salem State Historic Site, a reconstruction of the village where Abraham Lincoln lived as a young man, draw regional heritage tourism. The county fairgrounds in Petersburg host the annual Menard County Fair, a longstanding summer fixture.
History
Menard County was organized in 1839 out of the western portion of Sangamon County. It is named for Pierre Menard, a French-Canadian fur trader and merchant who served as the first lieutenant governor of Illinois. The county’s best-known historical site is New Salem, the village on the Sangamon River where a young Abraham Lincoln worked as a store clerk, postmaster and surveyor in the late 1820s and early 1830s before moving to Springfield; the site is preserved today as a reconstructed pioneer village at Lincoln’s New Salem State Historic Site, and the nearby Old Salem Chautauqua grounds grew up as a summer assembly community in the following decades.
Getting There
Illinois Route 97 is the county’s main north–south highway, running through Petersburg and Athens and linking the county to Springfield. Illinois Route 123 and several county roads connect the smaller villages.
- Springfield — 20 miles south
- Lincoln — 25 miles east
- Jacksonville — 25 miles west
- Peoria — 60 miles north
Abraham Lincoln Capital Airport in Springfield is the nearest commercial airport.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Menard County, Illinois?
It is in west-central Illinois along the Sangamon River, just northwest of Springfield.
What is the population of Menard County?
Menard County had a population of 12,297 at the 2020 census.
How big is Menard County?
The county covers 314 square miles (810 km2) of land.
What is the county seat of Menard County?
Petersburg is the county seat.
How many towns and villages are in Menard County?
Five places are incorporated — two cities and three villages — alongside about a dozen unincorporated communities.
What ZIP codes are in Menard County?
The main ZIP codes are 62675 (Petersburg), 62613 (Athens), 62642 (Greenview), 62673 (Oakford) and 62688 (Tallula).
What historic site is in Menard County?
Lincoln’s New Salem State Historic Site, a reconstruction of the village where Abraham Lincoln lived as a young man, sits on the Sangamon River near Petersburg.
More counties in this state: Towns and villages in Illinois.