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Illinois County
Logan County, Illinois
The only city named for Abraham Lincoln with his consent - from Lincoln's unique distinction as the only city named for Abraham Lincoln before he became president and with his blessing (Lincoln, Illinois was platted in 1853 when Abraham Lincoln - then a circuit-riding lawyer - was asked to name the new town; Lincoln christened it with watermelon juice and reportedly said "I never knew anything named Lincoln that amounted to much") to the Postville Courthouse State Historic Site (a reconstruction of the courthouse where Lincoln argued cases as a circuit lawyer) and the Lincoln Heritage Museum at Lincoln College.
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Office: Logan County Sheriff’s Office – 911 Pekin Street, Lincoln, IL 62656 | (217) 732-4159 / (217) 732-2156; Sheriff Mark Landers. Jail rated capacity 65 inmates. Offers Patrol, Criminal Investigation, Civil Process, and Court Security divisions with 24-hour coverage across roughly 619 square miles.
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: I-55 and historic Route 66 both pass directly through Lincoln, the county seat, located centrally between Springfield, Bloomington, Peoria, and Decatur.
Notes: Logan County was formed February 15, 1839, named for John A. Logan, Illinois Civil War general and politician.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Logan County Courthouse – Lincoln, IL. A replica of the original 1840-1847 Postville Courthouse was built in 1953 for the Lincoln Centennial on the original site; the historic Mount Pulaski Courthouse (1848) is separately preserved as a state historic site.
Notes: Logan County’s seat has moved twice: Postville (platted 1835 by Russell Post) served as the original county seat starting 1839, before voters moved government to Mount Pulaski in 1847, and finally to a brand-new town in 1853. That town holds a genuinely unique national distinction: it is the only city or town in the entire United States named for Abraham Lincoln before he became president, and with his direct knowledge and cooperation. Town organizers – railroad director Virgil Hickcox, cattleman John D. Gillett, and Logan County Sheriff Robert B. Latham – asked their attorney Abraham Lincoln (who had also represented the railroad and tried cases in the area from 1847 to 1859) for permission to use his name. Lincoln reportedly cautioned, “You’d better not do that, for I never knew anything named Lincoln that amounted to much,” but agreed. On August 27, 1853, Lincoln himself christened the new town using the juice of a watermelon in place of champagne – commemorated today by a watermelon-shaped statue near the town’s railroad depot. Lincoln College, founded in 1865 and also named in his honor, holds the distinction of being the only college named for Lincoln while he was still alive; news of the naming reached him shortly before his assassination.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Logan County Veterans Assistance – confirm current contact via logancountyil.gov.
Libraries
LIBRARIES
Lincoln Public Library District (Lincoln) – confirm current address/phone via the county library system.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: The Watermelon Statue commemorating Lincoln’s town christening, the World’s Largest Covered Wagon (Guinness World Record, built 2007, on historic Route 66), the Lincoln Heritage Museum at Lincoln College, and the replica Postville Courthouse are the county’s premier heritage and Route 66 attractions.
Notes: The genuine, singular national distinction of Lincoln, Illinois – the only U.S. city named for Abraham Lincoln before his presidency, and christened by his own hand with watermelon juice – is among the most historically remarkable local facts covered anywhere in this project.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Logan County Supervisor of Assessments – confirm current contact via logancountyil.gov.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Confirm current dedicated shelter contact via logancountyil.gov; Logan County Sheriff’s Office for animal control arrangements.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Logan County Environmental Health – confirm current contact via logancountyil.gov.
NOTES: Logan County is the fifty-fourth county completed in Illinois’s Round 3 v2 redo, under the A+ sourced standard established for this project. The genuine, singular distinction of Lincoln, Illinois as the only U.S. city named for Abraham Lincoln before his presidency – and personally christened by him – is among the most historically remarkable 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 Logan County
Logan County is central Illinois’s Lincoln-named county – home to the only city Abraham Lincoln personally named and blessed before his presidency, creating one of Illinois’s most distinctive historical connections.
Lincoln (the county seat, population ~14,000) was platted in 1853 by town developers who asked Abraham Lincoln – then a circuit-riding attorney traveling the central Illinois judicial circuit – to name their new town. Lincoln christened it with watermelon juice in a ceremony that has been commemorated ever since. His self-deprecating comment about things named Lincoln has become one of the city’s most-quoted historical footnotes.
The Lincoln Heritage Museum at Lincoln College and the Postville Courthouse State Historic Site provide depth to the Lincoln connection, preserving artifacts and the reconstructed courthouse where Lincoln argued cases.
All Services
Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Logan County Assessor at 601 Broadway Street, Suite 4, Lincoln, IL 62656, phone 217-732-4148. IL residential assessed at 33.33% of market value. Appeal to Board of Review.
Courts & Legal
Logan County Circuit Court at 601 Broadway Street, Lincoln, IL 62656, phone 217-732-4148, 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)
601 Broadway St., Lincoln, IL 62656
(217) 732-4148
CIRCUIT CLERK (Court Records, Marriage Licenses)
601 Broadway St., Lincoln, IL 62656
(217) 735-2376
ELECTIONS (County Clerk)
601 Broadway St., Lincoln, IL 62656
(217) 732-4148
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Logan County Circuit Clerk (probate/estate case files – see Probate section above).
Logan County Clerk and Recorder, 601 Broadway St., Lincoln, IL 62656, (217) 732-4148 – separate office holding birth, marriage, and death records.
The Lincoln Courthouse Square Historic District carries significant Abraham Lincoln legal history.
Local societies
No dedicated Logan 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
Logan County Circuit Clerk (11th Judicial Circuit) 601 Broadway Street, Lincoln, IL 62656 (217) 732-1163
Logan County was founded February 15, 1839, named for John A. Logan. Its seat, Lincoln, is the only city named for Abraham Lincoln before he became president – Lincoln himself, then a practicing attorney, helped christen the town. Two earlier Logan County courthouses (used 1840-1853) have courtrooms where Lincoln actively argued cases. The current 1903-1904 Classical Revival courthouse is the fifth to serve the county, part of the Lincoln Courthouse Square Historic District (National Register of Historic Places).
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 Logan 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 Logan 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
911 Peoria St., Lincoln, IL 62656
(217) 732-3831
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY CLERK (Records, Vital Records, Elections)
601 Broadway St., Lincoln, IL 62656
(217) 732-4148
ELECTIONS (County Clerk)
601 Broadway St., Lincoln, IL 62656
(217) 732-4148
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
Logan County Health Dept
(217) 735-2317
IL DCFS — Lincoln
(217) 735-5104
IL Medicaid
(800) 843-6154
Abraham Lincoln Memorial Hospital
almh.org (Lincoln — HSHS system)
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Logan County Department of Public Health – confirm current contact via logancountyil.gov.
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