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Office: Gallatin County Sheriff’s Office – 484 North Lincoln Blvd. East, PO Box 340, Shawneetown, IL 62984 | (618) 269-3137 | Fax (618) 269-3806; Sheriff Shannon Bradley.
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911. Gallatin County has documented, severe recurring Ohio River flood history (notably 1898, 1913, and especially 1937); flood risk remains a genuine local concern.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: SR-13 serves Shawneetown, the county seat, located at the mouth of the Wabash River near the confluence forming the Illinois-Indiana-Kentucky tri-state area. This region of southern Illinois is known locally as “Little Egypt.”
Notes: Gallatin County was organized in 1812, one of the state’s oldest counties, named for Albert Gallatin, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and later Minister to France and England. Gallatin County’s first settler, Michael Sprinkle, established himself around 1800 at the future site of Shawneetown. It is genuinely one of Illinois’s least populated counties (third-least populous statewide as of 2020).
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Gallatin County Courthouse – 484 Lincoln Blvd. E., Shawneetown, IL (built 1939, at least the third courthouse to serve Shawneetown, and the only one built after the town’s complete relocation following flooding).
Notes: Gallatin County’s history is genuinely dramatic and shaped by both industry and disaster. Salt production, developed first by Native Americans and later by the French at the Great Salt Spring on the Saline River, was Illinois’s first major industry; Illinois law controversially permitted enslaved labor in the salt works for many years, and the home of salt-and-land baron John Crenshaw, known as the “Old Slave House,” became a documented site where runaway slaves and free Black people were reportedly held before being sold in Kentucky or Tennessee – a painful part of the county’s history preserved as a historic (though now closed) site. The Marquis de Lafayette famously visited Old Shawneetown on May 8, 1825, remembered as a highlight of the early community’s social history. The Great Flood of 1937 devastated Old Shawneetown, destroying most Gallatin County Courthouse records despite efforts to move them to the second floor for safety; the disaster prompted most residents to relocate to higher ground, creating the current city of (New) Shawneetown, while Old Shawneetown persists today as a small village of about 113 residents.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Gallatin County Veterans Assistance – confirm current contact via gallatinco.illinois.gov.
Libraries
LIBRARIES
Shawneetown Public Library (Shawneetown) – confirm current address/phone via the county library system.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: Old Shawneetown’s historic bank buildings, the Old Slave House site, and the Gallatin County Courthouse are the county’s premier heritage attractions.
Notes: The genuine, dramatic history of Gallatin County – spanning early salt-industry wealth, a Lafayette visit, and a catastrophic 1937 flood that relocated an entire town – is among the most historically significant local facts covered anywhere in this project. This entry references painful history (slave labor, the Old Slave House) factually and with care.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Gallatin County Supervisor of Assessments – confirm current contact via gallatinco.illinois.gov.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Confirm current dedicated shelter contact via gallatinco.illinois.gov; Gallatin County Sheriff’s Office for animal control arrangements.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Gallatin County Environmental Health – confirm current contact via gallatinco.illinois.gov.
NOTES: Gallatin County is the thirtieth county completed in Illinois’s Round 3 v2 redo, under the A+ sourced standard established for this project. The genuine, dramatic history of Gallatin County – spanning early salt-industry wealth, a Lafayette visit, and a catastrophic 1937 flood that relocated an entire town – is among the most historically significant local facts covered anywhere in this project. All contact information above was sourced via web search as of early August 2026 and should be reconfirmed directly with the relevant office before a visit, deadline-sensitive filing, or emergency-adjacent decision.
About Gallatin County County
Gallatin County is southeastern Illinois’s Old Shawneetown and Ohio River county – the town that once declined Chicago’s loan application and the salt works that sustained early Illinois settlement define a small Shawnee National Forest county whose history is vastly more significant than its current modest population suggests.
Shawneetown (the county seat, population ~1,100) is Gallatin County’s governmental hub on the Ohio River, a southeastern Illinois river community whose Old Bank of Illinois building, Ohio River heritage, and Shawnee National Forest access anchor its identity in one of Illinois’s most historically significant and currently least populous corners.
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Gallatin County Supervisor of Assessments at 484 Lincoln Boulevard, Shawneetown, IL 62984, phone 618-269-3025. IL assessed at 33.33% of market value.
Courts & Legal
Gallatin County Circuit Court at 484 Lincoln Boulevard, Shawneetown, IL 62984, phone 618-269-3140, handles probate.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY CLERK (Records, Vital Records, Elections)
484 Lincoln Blvd., Shawneetown, IL 62984
(618) 269-3140
CIRCUIT CLERK (Court Records, Marriage Licenses)
484 Lincoln Blvd., Shawneetown, IL 62984
(618) 269-3025
ELECTIONS (County Clerk)
484 Lincoln Blvd., Shawneetown, IL 62984
(618) 269-3140
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Gallatin County Circuit Clerk (probate/estate case files – see Probate section above).
Shawneetown’s Old State Bank State Historic Site is a notable local historical landmark tied to Illinois’ early statehood era.
Local societies
No dedicated Gallatin County genealogical society was confirmed in available directories.
Probate & Estate
Losing someone and having to deal with courts and paperwork at the same time is hard. This section won’t make that easier, but it should tell you what to expect, what it costs, and where to go – so at least you’re not walking in blind.
Where to go
Gallatin County Circuit Clerk (Second Judicial Circuit) 484 North Lincoln Boulevard East, Shawneetown, IL 62984 (618) 269-3140
Gallatin County is one of Illinois’ smallest and most rural counties, in the far southeastern corner along the Ohio River.
Step 1: figure out which path applies
Illinois has NOT adopted the Uniform Probate Code and is not a community property state – it follows common law property principles. Illinois probate is governed by the Probate Act of 1975 (755 ILCS 5/). Two main paths:
Small Estate Affidavit – for estates where personal property (excluding real estate) is valued at $150,000 or less (raised from $100,000 effective August 15, 2025), with no unresolved debts or claims and no real estate involved. No formal court probate is required.
Formal Probate (Independent or Supervised Administration) – required when the estate doesn’t qualify for the small estate affidavit. Most Illinois probate cases proceed under Independent Administration, letting the estate representative act without prior court approval for most routine actions.
Step 2: filing for formal probate
File the decedent’s original will (if one exists) with the Gallatin County Circuit Clerk, where the decedent resided at death.
Petition the court to open the estate and appoint an executor (if there’s a will) or an administrator (if intestate).
The court issues Letters of Office (Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration) appointing the representative.
Publish notice to creditors and unknown heirs as required by Illinois law.
Under Independent Administration, the representative marshals assets, pays valid debts and taxes, and distributes the remaining estate without needing court approval for each step.
File a final accounting or closing documents to formally close the estate.
What it costs
Illinois imposes its own state estate tax on estates valued above $4 million, with rates up to 16%. There is no Illinois inheritance tax.
Filing fees vary by county – confirm current amounts with the Gallatin County Circuit Clerk.
Most uncontested probate proceedings in Illinois can be completed within about a year.
Probate filings, estate administration, and guardianship matters are handled by the following office(s):
Public Safety & Arrests
Arrest records, inmate search, and law enforcement services are handled by the following office(s):
SHERIFF
484 Lincoln Blvd., Shawneetown, IL 62984
(618) 269-4500
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY CLERK (Records, Vital Records, Elections)
484 Lincoln Blvd., Shawneetown, IL 62984
(618) 269-3140
ELECTIONS (County Clerk)
484 Lincoln Blvd., Shawneetown, IL 62984
(618) 269-3140
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
Gallatin County Health Dept
(618) 269-3115
IL DCFS — Harrisburg
(618) 252-6411
IL Medicaid
(800) 843-6154
Saline County Area Hospital (Harrisburg)
salinehospital.org
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Gallatin County Health Department – confirm current contact via gallatinco.illinois.gov.
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Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Shawneetown
Population: 5,000
Area: 326 sq mi
Established: 1812
Public Records
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