Hardin County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. As of 2000, the population was 4,800. Its county seat is Elizabethtown.
History
Hardin County was formed in 1839. Hardin County was named for Hardin County, Kentucky, which was named for John Hardin, an officer in the Revolutionary War and Northwest Indian War. John Hardin was killed by Shawnee Indians in 1792 in what is now Shelby County, Ohio. The County, and particularly Cave-In-Rock, was a stronghold for outlaws, bandits, pirates, and counterfeiters.
