There is something very special about living in or visiting Randolph County. Like our storied history. This region was home to a proud Native American community and there are traces of their heritage all around us. They welcomed and traded with the French when they first explored the region and histoire française lives today in our Prairie du Rocher and Fort de Chartres. Kaskaskia became the first Illinois Capitol and the Kaskaskia-Cahokia Trail the State’s first road. Trading fostered communities and agriculture. Milling of native grains fed the area’s population and beyond. Agribusiness and manufacturing attracted immigrant populations and their lineage is our community today.
We understand the value of their hard work and perseverance and we honor them by continuing the respect they held for God, community and country. And there is something special about that. Our forefathers set a watch and lookout to protect this gift.
- Chester, Illinois
- Redbud, Illinois
- Steeleville
- Coulterville
- Ellis Grove
- Prairie du Rocher
- Sparta
- Tilden
- Rockwood
- Kaskaskia
- Evansville
- Modoc
- Ruma
- Baldwin
And we still look out for each other.
We nurture our young people in public and private education with smaller class sizes and more individual attention. Randolph County high school students can participate in Creating Entrepreneurial Opportunities (CEO), where each student has the opportunity to start their own business. There are parks and complexes throughout the community for sports like baseball, soccer tennis and more. Students can begin their college career locally and while still in high school with dual credits from Southwestern Illinois College. Our children are our future and there is nothing more important than the health and happiness of our young.
Our culture also embraces new ideas and technology in education and every day life. While you can drive ten minutes in most directions and be alone, there is virtually no area where you cannot access the world from your smart phone. We text, tweet, Instagram, Facebook and build Pinterest Boards.
There are dozens of restaurants in Randolph County, adequate shopping and amenities, and more than one hundred churches of most faiths. If you want to visit the malls and museums of the big cities, they’re just an hour’s drive up or down the river.
And nature? The Grand Kaskaskia meets the Mighty Mississippi in Randolph County and there are hundreds of forested acres looking remarkably like they have for millennia. You can walk back in time here. Observe animals … deer, turkeys, eagles, hawks … thousands of native and migrating birds, otters, bobcats and more. Marvel at plant species found nowhere else.
Visit or stay, there is comfort here … like settling into a warm wrap on a snowy night.
You’ll feel welcome and you’ll be welcome in Randolph County.
… Where Illinois Began.