BlockFrom the record
2 National Register listings published here.
Sources: the National Register database, National Park Service
Brown County, Illinois
38 topographic sheets cover 16 settlements here, and 2 properties are on the National Register of Historic Places.
Research this county
What the record shows
- 195 topographic sheet readings cover the county's settlements.
- 2 properties here are on the National Register of Historic Places: 2 districts.
- The Geographic Names Information System records 16 populated places in this county; 16 are covered by at least one topographic sheet.
Places on the National Register
2Every property in this county listed on the National Register of Historic Places, with the year it was listed and the federal nomination document.
| Photograph | Property | Type | Listed | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | La Grange Lock and Dam Historic District | district | 2004 | 04000170 |
 | Mount Sterling Commercial Historic District | district | 1987 | 87000724 |
Wildfire, 2011
1 fireEvery wildfire the federal occurrence database records inside this county: 1 of them, burning about 1 acre. None started naturally and none was recorded as arson. Each settlement page carries the fires within five miles of it.
| Reported cause | Fires |
|---|---|
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1 |
The five largest, by the area the report gives. None of them was recorded as arson.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 31 March 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Illinois Division of Forestry Resources | 1183 |
Every settlement page carries the fires within five miles of it - see the settlement index below.
Storms, 1955 to 2026
60 of 145 shownThe NOAA Storm Events Database holds 145 reports for this county, causing 1 death, 22 injuries and about $3,327,000 in recorded property damage. Each settlement page carries the reports that name it.
| Kind of event | Reports |
|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 68 |
| Hail | 52 |
| Flash Flood | 11 |
| Tornado | 10 |
| Flood | 4 |
The most serious of them, by death, then injury, then recorded damage. The accounts are quoted exactly as the forecast office filed them.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 2013 | Flash Flood | Daisy | 1 killed | Up to five inches of rain fell in about a three hour period. Several roads were flooded including County Road 550N. A man, along with his two year old son, tried to drive his car through 2 feet of flowing water on County Road 550N, about a mile and an half west of Illinois Route 107. The vehicle was swept off the road. He managed to unbuckle his son from the car seat, but could not get a hold of him because of the rushing waters. The man made it to dry ground. The child's body was found the next morning about half a mile down stream. |
| October 1966 | Tornado (F2) | not stated | 20 hurt, $2,500,000 | no account filed |
| October 2023 | Tornado (EF1) | Gilbirds | 1 hurt | A very weak thunderstorm amidst a multicell cluster of showers produced a tornado that caused damage to a double-wide residence, its adjacent garage, and a carport behind the home. The home experienced some roof loss. Several trees on and around the property sustained damage. The tornado was rated an EF-1 with a path length of 0.42 miles, path width of 25 yards, and maximum wind gusts of 110mph. |
| February 2017 | Tornado (EF1) | Versailles | 1 hurt | The tornado first touched down on the far west side of Versailles where it caused minor tree damage. The tornado traveled northeast and impacted a house which sustained roof damage. On the other side of the road, two single wide mobile home trailers were overturned. Damage at this location was rated high end EF1. Farther to the northeast, more substantial tree damage occurred. Several mature trees were topped, split and snapped at various heights above the ground. The surrounding structures sustained corresponding roof, siding and fascia damage. Damage was also rated high end EF1 along this portion of the track. The tornado continued northeast and crossed Illinois Route 99 and caused additional minor tree damage. The tornado moved northeast through the far northeast portion of town causing additional EF0 tree, roof and fascia damage to structures. The tornado dissipated as it moved out of the northeast corner of Versailles. Overall, the tornado was rated EF1 with a path length of 0.66 miles and a maximum path width of 50 yards. |
| July 2021 | Thunderstorm Wind | Mt Sterling | $300,000 | Widespread wind damage from the north side of Mt. Sterling to south of Hersman. Numerous trees, tree limbs, power poles and power lines were blown down. Several businesses and homes, especially on the south side of Mt. Sterling, sustained roof damage from fallen trees and tree limbs. One of the baseball dugouts at the high school was destroyed, with other minor damage around the school campus. A couple of trees fell onto unoccupied vehicles causing major damage. |
| September 1959 | Tornado (F1) | not stated | $250,000 | no account filed |
| July 2021 | Hail | Mt Sterling | $100,000 | Hail up to baseball size fell over Mt. Sterling and surrounding areas causing widespread damage to several dozen vehicles, buildings and crops. At least one farmer lost about a 1000 acres of corn and soybeans due to the large hail. |
| June 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Versailles | $30,000 | The Brown County emergency manager reported power poles and trees down over the north side of Versailles. |
| May 1996 | Flash Flood | Countywide | $25,000 | no account filed |
| March 1959 | Tornado (F2) | not stated | $25,000 | no account filed |
| April 1956 | Tornado (F2) | not stated | $25,000 | no account filed |
| December 1955 | Tornado (F1) | not stated | $25,000 | no account filed |
| August 1999 | Tornado (F1) | Mt Sterling | $20,000 | no account filed |
| March 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Gilbirds | $10,000 | Thunderstorm winds caused minor roof damage to a house near Illinois Route 107. Also, just east of there an open sided car port was flipped over. |
| April 2013 | Flood | La Grange | $5,000 | The Illinois River At La Grange set a new record reaching 34.50 feet on April 27th. The river remained above flood stage into May. Agriculture lowland damage was the only know damage. |
| June 1994 | Thunderstorm Wind | Mt Sterling | $5,000 | The county sheriff reported golf ball-size hail over northwest Brown County with hail up to one inch in diameter at Mt Sterling. Several trees were uprooted at Mt Sterling and across the southern part of the county. |
| May 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Versailles | $2,000 | A twelve inch diameter maple tree top was snapped off. |
| May 2013 | Flood | La Grange | $2,000 | The Illinois River at LaGrange remained in flood at major flood levels in early May, dropping below flood stage on the 22nd at 0600 CST. The river then rose again into flood on the on the 28th and continued in flood into June. |
| June 2013 | Flood | La Grange | $1,000 | The Illinois River started June in flood and hit major flood levels cresting on the 6th. The river then slowly fell dropping below flood stage on the 23rd. Damage was minimal. |
| April 2013 | Flood | Daisy | $1,000 | The La Moine River along the border of Brown County hit major flood levels. The river crested at Ripley on April 21st at a new record of 32.54 feet. The river fell below flood stage on April 26. Damage was limited to agricultural lowlands. |
| August 1993 | Thunderstorm Wind | Mount Sterling | $500 | The county sheriff reported large trees down which blocked city streets. |
| June 1994 | Hail | Timewell | $500 | no account filed |
| April 2026 | Thunderstorm Wind | Versailles | - | Thunderstorm winds heavily damaged a machine shed in the bottoms of the Illinois River southeast of Versailles. Winds also knocked a tree onto a mobile home in Versailles around the same time. |
| June 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Mt Sterling | - | Thunderstorm winds knocked small limbs and snapped some large branches from trees. |
| March 2023 | Hail | Mt Sterling | - | A wide swath of large hail up to two inches in diameter fell across the central portions of Brown County. The hail fell in Mt. Sterling, Hersman, Gilbirds, Jaques and Versailles. |
| June 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Versailles | - | Thunderstorm winds blew down several trees in and around Versailles. |
| July 2020 | Flash Flood | Damon | - | Up to seven inches of rain fell in a short amount of time causing flash flooding. Several roads were flooded including County Road 775 S about 2 miles south southeast of Mount Sterling. |
| July 2019 | Thunderstorm Wind | Mt Sterling | - | Thunderstorm winds blew down numerous large tree limbs around town. |
| May 2019 | Thunderstorm Wind | Daisy | - | Thunderstorm winds blew down several telephone poles along County Road 845E. |
| May 2018 | Thunderstorm Wind | Versailles | - | Thunderstorm winds blew down two large trees in town. |
| June 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Mt Sterling | - | Thunderstorm winds blew down several large trees around town. A couple fell across roadways blocking them for a time. |
| June 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Mt Sterling | - | Thunderstorm winds blew down a number of trees in the Mt. Sterling area. Also, in LaGrange, there was minor roof damage to a house. |
| July 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Hersman | - | Thunderstorm winds blew down two trees. |
| July 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Versailles | - | Thunderstorm winds blew down at least 6 trees along Illinois Route 99 from Versailles southeastward towards the Brown/Pike County line. |
| July 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Ripley | - | Thunderstorm winds blew down several trees around town. |
| July 2015 | Flash Flood | Damon | - | Up to four inches of rain fell onto already saturated soils causing flash flooding. Numerous roads were flooded. Also, in Mount Sterling, 10 residents of an apartment building had to be evacuated due to flash flooding. |
| July 2015 | Thunderstorm Wind | Buckhorn | - | Thunderstorm winds blew down several large trees onto Route 107 about 5 miles south of Mount Sterling. In Versailles, several large tree limbs were blown down. |
| July 2014 | Thunderstorm Wind | Mt Sterling | - | Thunderstorm winds blew down a large tree blocking West North Street in Mt. Sterling. |
| June 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Timewell | - | An intense bow echo moved through Brown County. Numerous trees, tree limbs and power lines were blown down. Many were blocking roads. |
| April 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Daisy | - | Thunderstorm winds blew part of the roof off of a house. No injuries were reported. |
| June 2011 | Flash Flood | Timewell | - | Between two and four inches of rain fell in a short amount of time causing flash flooding. Several roads were flooded including County Road 750N about half a mile east of Illinois Route 99. |
| May 2011 | Flash Flood | Damon | - | Up to two inches of rain fell in a short amount of time causing flash flooding. Several roads were closed due to flooding including County Roads 850N and 1600E between Copperstown and Star Bridge at the Brown/Schuyler county line. |
| June 2011 | Flash Flood | Damon | - | Up to three inches of rain fell onto already saturated soils in a short amount of time causing flash flooding. Numerous roads were flooded including County Road 825 west of Cooperstown. |
| May 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Versailles | - | Thunderstorm winds blew the roof off of an outbuilding near the intersection of Illinois Route 99 and County Road 1300E. Also, three power poles were snapped off and power lines knocked down. |
| June 2010 | Flash Flood | Damon | - | Up to three inches of rain fell in a short amount of time on already saturated soils causing flash flooding. Numerous roads were flooded with some having between 6 and 8 inches of flowing water over them, mainly east of Mount Sterling. |
| August 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | Mt Sterling | - | A storm spotter estimated wind gusts between 50 and 60 mph two miles east of Mount Sterling. |
| June 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | Timewell | - | Thunderstorm winds blew down a couple of trees and large tree limbs in Timewell. One large tree limb fell onto a car causing moderate damage, one landed on a garage destroying it and several landed on roofs causing minor damage. In Mount Sterling, a couple of trees, tree limbs and power lines were blown down. No injuries were reported. |
| June 2009 | Thunderstorm Wind | Versailles | - | Several trees were blown down in Versailles. |
| August 2009 | Thunderstorm Wind | Ripley | - | Thunderstorm winds blew down several trees and power lines in town. |
| June 2009 | Tornado (EF0) | Timewell | - | The tornado crossed the Adams/Brown county line about 2.5 miles southwest of Mound Station and continued to travel to the east. Near the intersection of County roads 1000N and 100E some metal roofing was blown off of a barn, a 3 to 4 foot diameter tree was snapped off near the base, as well as other tree damage. The tornado soon lifted and dissipated. |
| July 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | Timewell | - | Thunderstorm winds blew over several trees, numerous tree limbs and power lines in Mound Station. Also, a grain silo was blown over. |
| April 2006 | Thunderstorm Wind | Mt Sterling | - | Local law enforcement reported some trees and power lines down. |
| August 2006 | Thunderstorm Wind | Mt Sterling | - | Local law enforcement reported several trees and power lines down. One building suffered roof damage. |
| September 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Mt Sterling | - | Storm spotters reported 6 inch tree limbs down on the north side of town. |
| September 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Cooperstown | - | Storm spotters reported 6 to 8 inch diameter tree limbs down. |
| September 2005 | Hail | Versailles | - | The public reported 1 inch hail west southwest of Versailles. |
| May 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | Mt Sterling | - | The Sheriff Department reported several trees down in Mt. Sterling. |
| May 2004 | Hail | Mt Sterling | - | The Sheriff Department reported nickel size hail. |
| August 2003 | Thunderstorm Wind | Mt Sterling | - | Storm chasers from St. Louis University in the Mt. Sterling area reported 65 mph wind gusts. |
| September 2003 | Thunderstorm Wind | Mt Sterling | - | Some trees and large branches were downed by thunderstorm winds in parts of Mt. Sterling. The areas hardest hit included North Maple, Northwest Cross, Forrest, and North Capitol streets. |
Mines and quarries
6 recordedThe Survey's mineral resources record lists 6 workings inside this county. 1 still produces and 5 are closed or unrecorded. Each settlement page carries the workings within five miles of it.
| Commodity | Workings |
|---|---|
| Clay | 2 |
| Sand and Gravel, Construction | 1 |
| Limestone, General | 1 |
| Fire Clay (Refractory) | 1 |
| Stone, Crushed/Broken | 1 |
The least common of them first, because a county's hundredth gravel pit says nothing its first ten did not.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hollenbeak Sand and Gravel Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Ill.Highway Shale Exposure | Fire Clay (Refractory) | Prospect | ||
| Mt. Sterling Plant No. 13 & Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Plant | ||
| Pea Ridge Rock Number 1 | Limestone, General | Past Producer | ||
| Frederick North Shale Clay Pit | Clay | Past Producer | ||
| Mt.Sterling Clay Pit & Mill | Clay | Past Producer |
Every populated place in the county
16Named settlements recorded in the Geographic Names Information System, each with the topographic sheets covering it. Villages, hamlets and abandoned places alike. Each is shown with the nearest named watercourse or landform and the survey quadrangle it falls on.
-
Benville
Buckhorn township · 62353 · On Little Missouri Creek · Perry West quadrangle
11 sheets, 1926 to 1990
-
Damon
Pea Ridge township · 62353 · On South Branch · Lake Mount Sterling quadrangle
14 sheets, 1946 to 1990
-
Hersman
Mount Sterling township · 62353 · Near Wheeler Ridge · Versailles quadrangle
12 sheets, 1928 to 1990
-
Jaques
Elkhorn township · 62378 · Near Sarrah Hollow · Versailles quadrangle
12 sheets, 1928 to 1990
-
White Oak Springs
Buckhorn township · 62353 · On Dry Fork · Mount Sterling quadrangle
12 sheets, 1926 to 1990
No longer a settlement
The vanished settlements of Brown County: the places named above that are no longer on the map.
Provenance
- Topographic sheets. USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection, county index, measured from the bulk metadata.
- Fire insurance maps. Library of Congress Sanborn collection, faceted to this county.
- Photographs. Each place queried individually against the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs search.
- Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
- Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
- Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.