The county received its name from John C. Calhoun who served as Vice President of the United States under Presidents John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson. Prior to becoming a county, the area between the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers which encompasses present-day Calhoun County was part of the Military Tract. These were bounty lands given to War of 1812 veterans. Calhoun County was established in 1825 from a portion of what was then Pike County, Illinois. Pike County's early days were rather wild & wooly! Click here for further information on the history of Calhoun County.
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