Ronnie White
Chairman, Randolph County Board of Commissioners

Because Randolph County is home to the World Shooting & Recreation Complex and Popeye, and because our community is where Illinois began, and because of our Mississippi and Kaskaskia Rivers heritage, we receive thousands of visitors each year from all corners of the world. They come by air to Sparta’s Hunter Field, by motor vehicle and even via the Mississippi when the riverboats dock in Chester. What they leave with is the feeling of goodness and respect that we in Randolph County live by.

Randolph County is a wonderful tourism destination. The air here is pristine and the fishing is incredible. Camping, parks and hiking trails. Hunting. Kayaking. Birding. The Rendezvous at Fort de Chartres. The very first road in Illinois traverses Randolph County. The southern genesis of the Kaskaskia-Cahokia Trail is on Kaskaskia Island. You can see French History at Prairie du Rocher and Fort de Chartres. Visit the bluff at Fort Kaskaskia for an amazing view of the Mississippi and Kaskaskia Rivers. Enjoy the Roscoe Misselhorn Gallery in Sparta or the museum in Red Bud. The Randolph County Museum in Chester houses the oldest public records in Illinois.

The communities of Randolph County are as individual as fingerprints. Each has a unique identity … a distinctive culture and history. But we also have common interests and a loyalty to each other seldom seen today. Communities help one another with projects, promotions, causes and concerns. There is no pretension here. The wealthiest person in the community may have breakfast with the man who picks up the trash without a second thought about it. Each has the highest respect for the other because we understand that being the best we can be begins with a genuine concern for one another.