Monroe County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. Monroe County is part of the St. Louis Metro Area. As of 2000, the population was 27,619 (estimated at 31,876 in 2006). Its county seat is Waterloo, Illinois. Its largest city is Columbia, Illinois.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 398 square miles (1,030 km²), of which 388 square miles (1,006 km²) is land and 9 square miles (24 km²) (2.37%) is wat...
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Monroe County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. Monroe County is part of the St. Louis Metro Area. As of 2000, the population was 27,619 (estimated at 31,876 in 2006). Its county seat is Waterloo, Illinois. Its largest city is Columbia, Illinois.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 398 square miles (1,030 km²), of which 388 square miles (1,006 km²) is land and 9 square miles (24 km²) (2.37%) is water.
The western part of the county on the Mississippi River is part of the American Bottom floodplain, while the eastern portion of the county is relatively flat and was originally prairie. The transition zone between has high bluffs of limestone and dolomite and has distinctive Karst topography with numerous sinkholes, caves, and springs.
Indigenous peoples lived along the Mississippi River and related waterways for thousands of years before European contact. French Jesuit priests in the Illinois Country encountered the Kaskaskia and Cahokia,...
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