Map - Vermilion County, Illinois (Vermilion County)

Vermilion County is a county in the eastern part of the U.S. state of Illinois, between the Indiana border and Champaign County. It was established in 1826 and was the 45th of Illinois' 102 counties. According to the 2010 United States Census, it had a population of 81,625, a decrease of 2.7% in 2000. It contains 21 incorporated settlements; the county seat and largest city is Danville.

Vermilion County is part of the Danville, Illinois, Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Vermilion County is named after the Vermilion River, which passes through the county and empties into the Wabash River in Indiana near Cayuga; the river was so named because of the color of the earth along its route.

The area which became Vermilion County was under the flag of France from 1682 to 1763, as part of New France.

It was taken over by Great Britain for fifteen years after the French and Indian War; it then became part of the colonies after the Revolutionary War when the area was ceded to Virginia, titled "the Illinois County of Virginia". Later it was part of the Indiana Territory, then the Illinois Territory, and finally the state of Illinois. The county was created on 18 January 1826, from a portion of Edgar County. There was an unorganized territory to the north and west which was attached to the county; Champaign and Iroquois counties were formed from part of this territory in 1833. The remainder was used to create Ford County in 1859, the last Illinois county to be formed.

The county's saline springs were a strong attraction to early explorers; they were mentioned as early as 1801. Joseph Barron, an interpreter fluent in several Native American languages, stated in an affidavit that he was present at the "Vermilion Salines" that year. The production required 100 gallons of water for one bushel of salt and proved to be profitable from the first run (1822–1829), when salt became less expensive and the venture was no longer economical.

The area's first settlement was made in 1819 near these saline springs, by the Treat, Beckwith, and Whitcomb. James Butler, from Ohio, followed in 1820 and settled in the Catlin area; within a few years, the settlement grew to encompass several families and became known as "Butler's Point". In the southern part of the county, Henry Johnson built a cabin west of present-day Georgetown; this area was known as "Johnson's Point". The southern portion of the county was soon filled with small settlements. Most settlers in Vermilion County came from the American South, who had left because of their opposition to slavery.

Some of the early settlers were of the Religious Society of Friends, or Quakers. They founded the settlement of Vermilion Grove in the south part of the county, one of the county's first settlements and the site of the county's second public school.

The county has strong ties to Abraham Lincoln, who practiced law in Danville from 1841 to 1859 with Ward Hill Lamon; Lamon later served as Lincoln's bodyguard. Lincoln spoke in Danville during his 1858 campaign for a seat in the US Senate. Lincoln gave the speech in his stocking feet from the balcony of Dr. William Fithian, a prominent local physician. The Fithian home is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places and serves as the Vermilion County Museum; visitors can see Lincoln memorabilia including a bed in which Lincoln slept.

The various stages in the evolution of Vermilion County are shown below.