Macoupin County, Illinois - Chapter 4: Topography, 1911

Macoupin county lies directly north of the 39th parallel of latitude. It is classed as one of the south-central counties. The meridian of 15° west longitude from Washington passes through almost to the center of the county. It is thirty-six miles from north to south, and twenty-four miles from east to west, measured in section lines, and contains an area of 864 square miles or 552,960 acres. It is bounded on the north by Morgan and Sangamon counties, east by Montgomery, south by Madison, west by Greene and Jersey counties.

Form - In form the county is an oblong square, and is divided into twentyfour congressional townships, and into twenty-five municipal township or voting precincts.

Population - The population of the county, according to the census of 1910, is 50,685, and is composed of persons of English, Irish and German extraction, with a few colored persons.

Land Surface - The land surface is divided between timber and prairie, the greater part being prairie. The surface is rather undulating. There are occasionally small hills or bluffs adjacent to the streams, principally along the Macoupin creek and its tributaries. The county is a portion of what has been happily termed the "Grand Prairie of the West," which extends to the heavily timbered regions of the sluggish Wabash on the east, to the pine clad Rocky Mountains on th,e west.

The greater portion of the county consisted originally of prairie. Concerning the causes that produced the vast tr.eeless plains, various theories have been advanced. The more plausible one is that the prairies were "formed under marsh - of conditions unfavorable to the growth of forests, and that these marshes in the course of time became dry, either by the subsidence of the waters or elevation of the land."

Waters - It is watered by several streams; the Macoupin creek is the largest. It rises in Bois de Arc, Montgomery county, and runs in a tortuous and meandering southwestern direction through the county, and leaves it on section 6, Ches- terfield township ; this with its numerous tributaries drains the largest area. The northwestern portion of the county is admirably drained by Hodges', Bear, Lick, Otter, Solomon's, Joe's and Apple creeks. These with their tributaries drain about nine townships or 217,360 acres of land. The south and southeast portion of the county are drained by Cahokia, Sweet and Indian creeks, and the streams running into Wood river. Each of these streams possesses its tributaries, so that the entire surface of the county is well watered and drained. In portions of the county good water is afforded by copious springs. The surface is higher than adjacent counties, as may be inferred from the fact that so many streams here have their source. The high grounds are the water sheds between the creeks. A few mounds exist, of which Coop's and Brush Mounds are the most noted. The natural and artificial groves, the fringed banks of the water courses, the smiling farms, with their fields of maize and grain and herds of cattle, all go to form a picture of surpassing loveliness. But little of the land is too flat for drainage, or broken for tillage, and hence the greater portion is susceptible of cultivation and affords the widest application of machinery. The climate is healthful and is a happy medium between extremes of heat and cold. The county forms part of the great maize belt of the continent and its soil is unsurpassed in fertility. It is very uniform throughout. Corn, wheat, oats, barley, rye, potatoes, flax or hemp, beans or turnips, or any other farm products yield a bountiful crop.

Grasses - Blue grass, red and white top clover and timothy grow with great luxuriance. The chief industry of the people is agriculture and stock-raising, which employs a majority of the people of the county, who possess all the sterling virtues of the rural freeholder. Directly upon the broad shoulders of the tiller of the soil rests the prosperity of every other class of men. He holds in his hands the destinies of all. His prosperity means universal prosperity ; his failure, universal distress.

Soil and Agriculture - This county is situated in the heart of the best corn producing region in the state, and its prairie lands, which constitute by far the largest part of its area, are unsurpassed among the uplands in the state in fertility, and annually produce large crops of Indian corn, as well as the small grains and grass, without the aid of fertilizers or artificial stimulants of any kind. With a judicious system of rotation of crops, these lands may be thus cultivated for an indefinite period without any serious deterioration in their productive qualities.

The soil on the level prairie is of a black, peaty character, becoming of a chocolate brown color on the more rolling surfaces, and degenerating into a light ash-gray color on the oak ridges, which are the poorest lands in the county. But these poorer soils upon the broken lands that border the streams are excellent fruit lands, and also produce good crops of wheat and clover, if properly cultivated.

The bottom lands in this county are restricted to a narrow belt along the lower course of the Macoupin, and some portion of this has been cleared of the heavy growth of timber and brought under cultivation, and is equal to the best prairie soils, especially in the growth of corn.

Natural Mounds - There are some natural mounds in the eastern portion of the county, among the most conspicuous of which is Coop's Mound, eight miles northeast of Carlinville. This mound covers an area of several acres, and is about sixty feet in height above the level of the adjacent prairie. It was originally covered with a heavy growth of oak and hickory, and from its summit a beautiful view of the surrounding country may be seen.

Timber - The native kinds of timber are fully set forth in the chapter on flora of the county. The largest bodies of timber are found along the Macoupin, Otter, Solomon's, Hodges', Coop's and Cahokia creeks and their tributaries, and the head waters of the Wood river. The largest timber districts are in Brushy Mound, Polk, Chesterfield, Western Mound and Barr townships. Artificial groves and belts, consisting chiefly of hard and soft maple, elm, and fruit trees have been planted on the prairies for shade and shelter from winter winds for stock.

Fine belts of timber skirt the banks of all the streams in the county, furnishing an adequate supply for fencing and for fuel to those who prefer wood to coal. The principal growth upon the uplands is two or three varieties of oak and hickory on the ridges adjacent to the streams, while on the more level lands skirting the prairies there are fine groves, which, in addition to these varieties, contain elm, linden, wild cherry, honey locust, black walnut and hackberry, and indicate a soil of excellent quality. On the creek bottoms the cottonwood, sycamore, white and sugar maple, ash, redbud, dogwood, sassafras, persimmon, pawpaw and white walnut are common.