Stephenson County is a county in Illinois, United States, on the Wisconsin state line in the far northwest corner of the state. It had a population of 44,630 at the 2020 census and covers 565 square miles (1,460 km2), of which 0.5 square miles (1.3 km2) is water, centred near 42\u00b021\u2032N 89\u00b040\u2032W.<\/p>\n
Freeport is the county seat, and its postal code is 61032. The county has one city, roughly a dozen villages, and numerous small unincorporated communities, all within the Central time zone. Stephenson County is part of the Rockford–Freeport–Rochelle, IL Combined Statistical Area.<\/p>\n
Freeport is the only city and by far the largest place in the county. The remaining settlements are a mix of incorporated villages, each with its own post office and ZIP code, and smaller unincorporated crossroads communities, mobile-home parks, and lake developments that have no separate municipal government. The table below carries the county’s full published list of places.<\/p>\n
| Place<\/th>\n | Type<\/th>\n | Pop.<\/th>\n | ZIP<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n |
|---|---|---|---|
| Freeport<\/td>\n | City · seat<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | 61032<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Lena<\/td>\n | Village<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | 61048<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Davis<\/td>\n | Village<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | 61019<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Pearl City<\/td>\n | Village<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | 61062<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Orangeville<\/td>\n | Village<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | 61060<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Rock City<\/td>\n | Village<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | 61070<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Dakota<\/td>\n | Village<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | 61018<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| German Valley<\/td>\n | Village<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | 61039<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Cedarville<\/td>\n | Village<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | 61013<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Winslow<\/td>\n | Village<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | 61089<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Ridott<\/td>\n | Village<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | 61067<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Kent<\/td>\n | Village<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | 61044<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| McConnell<\/td>\n | Village<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | 61050<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Eleroy<\/td>\n | Village<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | 61027<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Lake Summerset<\/td>\n | CDP<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | 61019<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Afolkey<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Bolton<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Browns Mill<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Buckhorn Corners<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Buena Vista<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Damascus<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Epplyanna<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Evarts<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Florence<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Hunt Corners<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Knollwood Estates MH Park<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Loran<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Oneco<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Red Oak<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Ridott Corners<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| River Road MH Park<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Rock Grove<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Salem<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Scioto Mills<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| South Freeport<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Stephenson MH Estates<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Sunnyside<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Timber Ridge MH Park<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Waddams Grove<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| West Junction<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Willow Lake<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Winneshiek<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Woodruff Corners<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Yellow Creek<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n Waddams Grove, near the Wisconsin line, was the county’s first settlement, founded by William Waddams in 1832, five years before the county itself was organised.<\/p>\n ZIP Codes<\/h2>\nEvery unincorporated community and mobile-home park in the county draws mail through the nearest of these post offices rather than having a ZIP code of its own.<\/p>\n Geography<\/h2>\nStephenson County sits on the Driftless-edge rolling terrain of far northwestern Illinois, drained by the Pecatonica River and its tributary Yellow Creek, which crosses the county past Freeport and Cedarville. The land is mostly rolling farmland, with the more dissected, wooded terrain typical of the Driftless Area appearing in the county’s northern townships near the Wisconsin border.<\/p>\n Stephenson County borders Winnebago County<\/a> to the east, Ogle County<\/a> to the southeast, Carroll County to the southwest, Jo Daviess County<\/a> to the west, and Green County, Wisconsin<\/a> to the north and Lafayette County, Wisconsin<\/a> to the northwest.<\/p>\n Stephenson County had 44,630 residents at the 2020 census, a density of about 79 people per square mile. Freeport, the county seat, is home to well over half the county’s population; Lena is the second-largest community. As a largely rural county outside the Chicago metropolitan area, Stephenson County’s median household income runs below the Illinois median of $80,306, a pattern typical of counties in this part of the state.<\/p>\n Freeport has been the county’s manufacturing and health-care hub for well over a century, historically tied to Illinois-based industry along the Chicago-adjacent rail corridors; FHN Memorial Hospital and the Highland Community College campus are among its larger institutions today. Away from Freeport, the county’s economy remains anchored in corn and soybean farming and dairying across its rolling townships, with village grain elevators and implement dealers serving the surrounding farms.<\/p>\n Stephenson County was organised in 1837, named for Colonel Benjamin Stephenson, an official of the Illinois Territory. Its first settlement, Waddams Grove, was founded by William Waddams in 1832. Freeport, platted a few years later at a Pecatonica River crossing, grew into the county’s dominant town on the strength of its rail connections and became a stop on the Illinois Central and Illinois Central Gulf lines. Freeport also hosted one of the 1858 Lincoln–Douglas debates, held on the city’s west side and commemorated today by a public monument.<\/p>\n U.S. Route 20 crosses the county through Freeport, linking it east to Rockford and west toward Galena and Dubuque, Iowa; Illinois Routes 26, 73, and 75 connect the outlying villages to the county seat.<\/p>\n Where is Stephenson County?<\/strong> What is the population of Stephenson County?<\/strong> How big is Stephenson County?<\/strong> What is the county seat of Stephenson County?<\/strong> How many towns are in Stephenson County?<\/strong> |