Blog · October 14, 2026 · Illinois
Jersey County Plat Book: finding and using one
Out toward Grafton, plat books show ownership by township; the parcel viewer shows it today.
Main page: Jersey County, IL GIS & Parcel Viewer (official map link, county facts and neighboring maps).
Platbookmapper is an Amazon Associate. If you buy through an Amazon link on this page, we earn a commission. The link is a product, not the county map.
Looking for a Jersey County plat book? A plat book shows owners and tract lines on township pages, and it's handy for land around Pere Marquette State Park. In this county guide: what's in a plat book, where to look for printed copies, and how the county viewer fills the gaps around Otterville.
The Jersey County plat book: start here
In and around Delhi, plat books are commercial atlases, that map ownership across the countryside, page by page across the county.
Opening the official parcel viewer
Your first stop is the Jersey County ArcGIS parcel map; it includes each assessed parcel around Elsah and Otterville. Without an address in hand, follow US Route 67 on the aerial and select the outline, whether the land is near Otterville or elsewhere in the county. For a home near Grafton, write down the parcel ID while you have it open; each clerk in the county uses it to find the file.
Printing your own
Print parcel views near Dow township by township and keep them in a binder for the truck.
Getting your bearings
Jerseyville serves as the county seat, home to the main records offices. Other places on the map include Grafton, Brighton, Elsah, and Fidelity, each with its own cluster of lots. Roughly 21,091 people call Jersey County home (Census Bureau estimate, 2023) across roughly 370 square miles. Jersey County dates to 1839, so old deeds can run back a long way. Features like Pere Marquette State Park help you orient on the aerial.
Buying or borrowing a copy
Editions come and go depending on publishers, so ask at the courthouse, extension office or a local library near Pere Marquette State Park.
Legal descriptions in Illinois
Illinois uses the Public Land Survey System, so deeds around Chautauqua reference sections and townships. Each section is nominally a mile square, about 640 acres, and a township holds 36 of them, though corrections make some sections near Two Rivers National Wildlife Refuge odd-sized. Write down the legal description for the tract near Otterville for any title or survey request.
Before you lean on the lines
With a lot near Grafton, the acreage figure is a tax-roll number; only a licensed surveyor sets the real boundary on the ground. For a home near Beltrees, owner names and values update on a schedule, so a deed recorded last month might lag behind.
Backing up the map with records
For anything that matters, get the recorded deed through the county Recorder of Deeds (in many counties the County Clerk and Recorder); the viewer just points to it, which applies near East Newbern as much as anywhere. For acreage around Elsah, have ready the book and page listed on the parcel record to skip a name search.
Why people still buy them
Buyers and seed dealers around Grafton rely on them for a big-picture view of who owns what.
Using the parcel viewer instead
For current names, use the Jersey County ArcGIS parcel map, including rural land around Fidelity.
Two kinds of plat
Near Fidelity, don't confuse the atlas with a recorded subdivision plat: the recorded plat at the county Recorder of Deeds (in many counties the County Clerk and Recorder) is a legal document, and the atlas is just a guide.
Land on the county line
Jersey County borders Calhoun County, Greene County, Macoupin County, Madison County, and St. Charles County, MO, and each of those keeps its own parcel map. Acreage along the edge near Delhi can show up across two assessors' files, so check the adjacent map too. Closer to Delhi, the Platbookmapper state page links each neighboring county map for Illinois.
Which office to call
Anything recorded against property around Dow sit in the index kept by the county Recorder of Deeds (in many counties the County Clerk and Recorder), sometimes only in person. Questions about what you can build around Fieldon are for the local planning and health departments, depending on whether the land is inside town limits.
Field tips
Most viewers work in a phone browser, useful out on a road near Beltrees, but coverage can be spotty out of town. A screenshot of the parcel near Grafton with its ID keeps working without signal.
Quick answers
Is there a current Jersey County plat book?
If the land is near Fieldon, it depends on whether a publisher has a current edition.
Are old plat books online for land near Beltrees?
For most people, state archives near Fieldon may have copies.
Is a plat book the same as a recorded plat around Jerseyville?
Near Grafton, recorded plats are legal documents at the county Recorder of Deeds (in many counties the County Clerk and Recorder), and plat books are references.
Is the online parcel map better than a plat book near East Newbern?
It depends, but the viewer covers town lots near Two Rivers National Wildlife Refuge too; a printed atlas is still handy offline.
What's the tax parcel number used for around Pere Marquette State Park?
It's the number the Supervisor of Assessments, working with township assessors uses to track a tract near Pere Marquette State Park; copy it before you call anyone.
Open the official Jersey County, IL parcel map See it in the Platbookmapper directory
Not a survey. County GIS and tax parcel maps are assessment and planning layers. They are not a substitute for a recorded plat, deed, or licensed survey, especially for fences, setbacks, or boundary disputes.