Buying Land in Logan County, Illinois

The only US city named for Lincoln before he was president

Logan County has an unusually direct connection to Abraham Lincoln. The county itself was named by Lincoln, then a member of the Illinois General Assembly and the prime mover behind organizing the county, in honor of his friend Dr. John Logan, a well-known Illinois pioneer and fellow legislator. More strikingly, the county seat -- the city of Lincoln -- was founded and officially named on August 27, 1853, when Abraham Lincoln was still a Springfield attorney, seven years before he was elected president in 1860. Lincoln was acting as attorney both for Logan County and for the Chicago & Alton Railroad when three town proprietors asked him to handle the legal work for laying out the new town along the railroad; he reportedly christened it with the juice of a watermelon. Lincoln, Illinois is documented as the only town in the United States named after Abraham Lincoln before he became president.

That history doesn't affect zoning or septic permitting, but it's worth knowing if you're evaluating land near the city -- Logan County leans into this heritage with dedicated Lincoln-history sites and attractions around town.

Zoning: a comprehensive ordinance that also covers some villages

Logan County's Zoning Office, located in the county Highway Department building (529 S. McLean Street, Lincoln, four blocks south of the courthouse), administers a comprehensive zoning ordinance covering districts, minimum lot sizes, setbacks, floodplain regulations, sign regulations, and variance criteria. The Zoning Office also reviews and issues building permits and processes applications for variances, conditional uses, special use permits, and rezoning requests; the Planning Commission generally meets the first Wednesday of each month.

One detail worth flagging specifically for Logan County: per the county's own zoning FAQ, the ordinance applies not only to unincorporated county land but also to any village within Logan County that has not adopted its own separate zoning ordinance. That's a broader reach than the strictly-unincorporated-only pattern typical of Illinois county zoning under 55 ILCS 5 Division 5-12 -- if you're evaluating a parcel inside a small Logan County village, confirm directly with the Zoning Office whether that village has its own ordinance or falls under the county's. Logan County uses Illinois's standard township form of government, with a 12-member county board elected from districts, rather than the commission form used by 17 of the state's 102 counties.

Five wind projects, three already operating

Logan County has become a genuinely active wind-energy county. HillTopper Wind Farm, built by Enel Green Power near Mount Pulaski in southeastern Logan County, has been operating since 2018: 74 turbines totaling 185 MW, a roughly $325 million project. Sugar Creek Wind Farm, in western Logan County, was completed in December 2019 with 57 turbines and 202 MW of capacity. Whitney Hill Wind Farm, also near Mount Pulaski, was completed the same month -- December 2019 -- with 24 turbines designed to generate up to 65.3 MW.

Two more projects are newer. ConnectGen's Pike Creek Wind Project, near Middletown and Elkhart, received its final Conditional Use Permit from the Logan County Board in late November 2022 -- an approximately 200 MW facility planned across an estimated 45 turbines. And Top Hat Wind Energy, a 60-turbine project in rural Logan County near Chestnut, was still working through environmental and historic-preservation review as of a March 2024 IDNR memorandum of agreement. See our dedicated wind and solar leasing page for Logan County for what buying land near any of these projects, or evaluating a lease offer, actually involves.

The statewide rules behind local wind and solar siting

Illinois counties don't have unlimited discretion over commercial wind and solar siting. Public Act 102-1123, signed January 27, 2023, amended 55 ILCS 5/5-12020 of the Counties Code to set statewide siting standards -- covering setbacks, turbine height, decommissioning, and agricultural-land considerations -- that a county's own ordinance cannot exceed in restrictiveness, and it bars counties from imposing outright moratoriums on wind or solar development. Confirm Logan County's own current, specific wind-siting provisions directly with the Zoning Office given how many projects have already been sited here.

Septic, GIS, and other departments to know

Septic (private on-site wastewater) permitting in Logan County runs through the Logan County Department of Public Health (LCDPH), whose Environmental Health division -- funded in part through an IDPH Local Health Protection Grant -- also inspects food establishments, private water wells, and handles public health nuisance complaints under the statewide IDPH Title 77 Part 905 framework. The department asks residents to report any septic installation done without a valid state contractor license or county construction permit.

Logan County's Supervisor of Assessments office handles property valuation, GIS mapping, and mobile home registrations from its Lincoln office. University of Illinois Extension serves Logan County jointly with Menard and Sangamon Counties, with a local office in Lincoln. For recorded deeds, easements (including wind-lease documents), and plats affecting a specific parcel, contact the Logan County Clerk and Recorder.