 It was the last of Illinois's 102 counties to be formed, and was created at the behest of some residents of Vermilion County, who complained to the General Assembly that they lived too far from the county seat.Ford County was named after Thomas Ford, the Governor of Illinois from 1842 to 1846.According to the US Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (0.1%) is water.