Lee County, Illinois

51 topographic sheets cover 37 settlements here, and 10 properties are on the National Register of Historic Places.

Research this county

From the record

“The history of China records but one criminal murder, and this, too, in the pure, primitive days. In the fall of 1847, or early the following winter, Moody Thompson, a widower, had bought a small place on the bank of the creek, in the grove, about one and a half miles "west of town." During the winter Thompson lived with the family of whom ho had purchased.”
Tragedy - History of Lee County (1881). Machine-read text.

10 National Register listings published here · the county-history sources tell 5 stories and name 6 people · people the book names include Contributed By William B. Andruss (Ashton Township, 1881) · In Memory Op John Dixon (Dixon Township, 1880) (machine-read).

Sources: the county history on the Internet Archive · the National Register database, National Park Service

Illinois within the United States

Lee County within Illinois

What the record shows

388 topographic sheet readings cover the county's settlements.
10 properties here are on the National Register of Historic Places: 7 buildings, 2 districts and 1 structure.
The Geographic Names Information System records 37 populated places in this county; 37 are covered by at least one topographic sheet.
5 public-domain county histories, 1880 to 1920, supply 386,911 words of narrative reproduced here.

What happened here

5 accounts

Among them: Cyclone Of 1890; The City Of Dixon, 107; Deceased. These passages come from the identified county-history source books. Each inset names its own source and opens the exact section it comes from.

From History of Lee County, published 1881 - Wyoming Township

Cyclone Of 1890

"The first account of this frightful visitation is from a point twelve to fifteen miles, a little south of west from the village of Sublette, at what is known as the Blackburn Herd, where a number of cattle were killed; from there it took an easterly direction, a little north in a zig-zag course, from twenty to forty rods wide, mowing everytlung before it.

Read the rest of this passage

From History of Dixon and Lee County, Chronological Record .., published 1880 - Dixon Township

The City Of Dixon, 107

The month of July had not passed, however, before the rejoicing of Independence day was shrouded in the deepest lamentation for those who had fallen victims to the cholera scourge of that year of sad memory. A writer of July 27, 1854, referring to this epidemic, said, " Death in its most frightful form swept through our heretofore healthy town like an avalanche, carrying away within twenty-four hours eighteen souls.

Read the rest of this passage

From History of Lee County, published 1881 - Sublette Township

Deceased

JSTelson F. SwARTwouT, farmer, Sublette, brother of Abram Swartwont, was born in Rock Island county, Illinois, in 1844. He attended the Lee Center Academy as well as a commercial school ; enlisted at Dixon, October 1861, in the 34th 111. Inf.; went into Tennessee, was first engaged at Nashville, and was there wounded.

Read the rest of this passage

From History of Lee County, published 1881 - Alto Township

Tragedy

TRAGEDY. The history of China records but one criminal murder, and this, too, in the pure, primitive days. In the fall of 1847, or early the following winter, Moody Thompson, a widower, had bought a small place on the bank of the creek, in the grove, about one and a half miles " west of town." During the winter Thompson lived with the family of whom he had purchased.

Read the rest of this passage

From History of Lee County, published 1881 - Alto Township

Tragedy

The history of China records but one criminal murder, and this, too, in the pure, primitive days. In the fall of 1847, or early the following winter, Moody Thompson, a widower, had bought a small place on the bank of the creek, in the grove, about one and a half miles "west of town." During the winter Thompson lived with the family of whom ho had purchased.

Read the rest of this passage

Places on the National Register

Every property in this county listed on the National Register of Historic Places, with the year it was listed and the federal nomination document.

Property	Type	Listed	Reference
Amboy Illinois Central Depot	building	1992	92001015
Christopher Brookner House	building	1984	84000319
Dixon Downtown Historic District	district	2012	12000059
Illinois Central Stone Arch Railroad Bridges	structure	1987	87002048
Lowell Park	district	2006	06000680
Nachusa House	building	1983	83000323
Ronald Reagan's Boyhood Home	building	1982	82002580
William H. Van Epps House	building	1982	82002581
Col. Nathan Whitney House	building	1990	90001726
Stephen Wright House	building	2005	05000433

Wildfire, 2008 to 2018

30 fires

Every wildfire the federal occurrence database records inside this county: 30 of them, burning about 252 acres. 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	17
Debris and open burning	8
Power generation/transmission/distribution	2
Smoking	1
Equipment and vehicle use	1
Other causes	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
22 April 2014	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	52 acres	Illinois Division of Forestry Resources	14-103
13 May 2013	Debris and open burning	50 acres	Illinois Division of Forestry Resources	13-95
12 April 2014	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	50 acres	Illinois Division of Forestry Resources	14-90
31 October 2008	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	50 acres	Illinois Division of Forestry Resources	1684
14 October 2013	Debris and open burning	10 acres	Illinois Division of Forestry Resources	13-208
25 October 2013	Other causes	10 acres	Illinois Division of Forestry Resources	13-0000221
19 October 2013	Power generation/transmission/distribution	5.0 acres	Illinois Division of Forestry Resources	13-223
28 March 2008	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	4.0 acres	Illinois Division of Forestry Resources	GRUCHALSKI

Every settlement page carries the fires within five miles of it - see the settlement index below.

Storms, 1956 to 2026

60 of 389 shown

The NOAA Storm Events Database holds 389 reports for this county, causing no deaths, 15 injuries and about $3,301,500 in recorded property damage. Each settlement page carries the reports that name it.

Kind of event	Reports
Thunderstorm Wind	200
Hail	115
Tornado	38
Flash Flood	18
Flood	10
Funnel Cloud	3
Heavy Rain	3
Lightning	2

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 2015	Tornado (EF2)	Maytown	7 hurt, $1,000,000	Very significant tree damage occurred with many large trees snapped or uprooted in Woodhaven Lakes Camping Resort. At least one house was pushed off of its foundation. Several trees fell onto recreational vehicles and it was estimated that around 100 of the 300 homes in the area received some degree of damage. One person was taken to the hospital in serious condition, and six others were injured. Peak winds were estimated to be 130 mph. (Tornado 3 of 10).
April 1972	Tornado (F2)	not stated	6 hurt, $250,000	no account filed
June 2001	Thunderstorm Wind	Countywide	1 hurt, $55,000	no account filed
May 1986	Tornado (F1)	not stated	1 hurt, $25,000	no account filed
April 2015	Tornado (EF1)	Franklin Grove	$1,000,000	This is the beginning of the Rochelle-Fairdale EF-4 tornado. At its strongest, peak winds were estimated to be 200 mph. The tornado touched down just northeast of Franklin Grove. A large sheet metal building on IL-38 collapsed with failure of column anchorage. Several smaller sheet metal buildings were destroyed along E Gurler Road. Peak winds in Lee County were estimated to 110 mph. The tornado continued into Ogle County. (Tornado 2a of 7).
April 1967	Tornado (F1)	not stated	$250,000	no account filed
August 1958	Tornado (F2)	not stated	$250,000	no account filed
June 2013	Thunderstorm Wind	Harmon	$100,000	Winds were estimated in excess of 80 mph and upwards of 100 mph for a 13 mile swath. A large outbuilding bolted to its foundation was destroyed. One part of the barn wall was lifted taking a portion of the foundation with it. Numerous large trees were snapped or uprooted, including one that fell onto the front portion of a house. In Walton, four large grain storage bins were destroyed. Also in Walton, a metal outbuilding was destroyed with debris thrown over 200 yards. Shingle damage was also noted on a few homes.
October 2010	Tornado (EF1)	Ashton	$100,000	A tornado touched down near Meridian Road southeast of Ashton. The damage path was convergent and narrow. Some of the damage included a couple of outbuildings with poor structural integrity and a few that had their roofs ripped off. The top of a metal silo was 'punched' in and a grain cart was flipped onto its side. In addition to the structural damage, numerous 2x4's were speared into the ground and metal siding was strewn into the fields to the northeast of the farm.
March 2009	Thunderstorm Wind	Dixon	$30,000	A garage was destroyed. A roof was blown off a building and trees were blown down.
April 1991	Tornado (F1)	not stated	$25,000	no account filed
May 1988	Tornado (F0)	not stated	$25,000	no account filed
April 1967	Tornado (F2)	not stated	$25,000	no account filed
September 1959	Tornado (F1)	not stated	$25,000	no account filed
June 2010	Thunderstorm Wind	Eldena	$20,000	A roof was blown off a building near Route 52 and Robbins Road. Numerous trees were blown down along Route 30.
June 2009	Thunderstorm Wind	Walton	$20,000	A barn was destroyed. Trees were also blown down.
July 2004	Thunderstorm Wind	Amboy	$20,000	A roof was blown off the addition of a house and into a barn. Many rows of corn were knocked down. These events occurred at Bryer Knoll and Rocky Ford.
June 2013	Tornado (EF0)	Harmon	$10,000	The tornado mainly traveled over farm fields but did take down numerous utility poles, including a few that were bent sharply to the south, opposite of the storm motion which was to the northeast. A weakly constructed barn was destroyed near the end of the path.
May 2010	Flash Flood	Lincoln Hgts	$10,000	River Road was closed one half mile east of Galena Avenue with a car stranded in flood water up the bumpers. Six to eight inches of water was reported at the intersection of Route 2 and Willett Avenue. High standing water was reported in many areas in Dixon. Storm total rainfall of 2.73 inches was reported 3 miles north northwest of Dixon.
August 2014	Thunderstorm Wind	Ashton	$5,000	A grain storage bin was damaged by severe winds.
June 2013	Thunderstorm Wind	Sublette	$5,000	Up to 18 inch diameter trees were blown down as well as numerous power lines.
June 2010	Thunderstorm Wind	West Brooklyn	$5,000	A large tree was blown down onto an above ground pool. The pool was destroyed.
June 2010	Thunderstorm Wind	Sublette	$5,000	Two trees blew down along U.S. 52. Portable toilets blew over at a park. Part of the roof of a maintenance building blew off.
August 2008	Thunderstorm Wind	Compton	$5,000	Wind gusts were estimated to 80 mph. Multiple one foot diameter trees were blown down. Shingles were also blown off of houses.
August 2007	Thunderstorm Wind	Franklin Grove	$5,000	Utility poles blown down.
August 2006	Lightning	Dixon	$5,000	Lightning struck a utility pole, the pole and power lines caught on fire.
August 2006	Thunderstorm Wind	Amboy	$5,000	Wind gusts were estimated to 70 mph, which blew down trees, tree limbs and power lines.
April 2010	Thunderstorm Wind	Franklin Grove	$3,000	Two utility poles and a power line were blown down near Daysville and Nalor Roads.
May 1985	Tornado (F1)	not stated	$2,500	no account filed
June 1975	Tornado (F1)	not stated	$2,500	no account filed
August 1956	Tornado (F2)	not stated	$2,500	no account filed
August 2016	Flash Flood	Harmon	$2,000	A foot of water moving across Pump Factory Rd between Amboy Rd and McCoy Rd approximately 10 miles south of Dixon.
June 2007	Thunderstorm Wind	Dixon	$2,000	Trees and power lines were blown down.
November 2010	Thunderstorm Wind	Dixon	$1,000	Trees and power lines were blown down.
June 2010	Thunderstorm Wind	Amboy	$1,000	Trees, tree limbs and power lines were blown down.
June 2010	Thunderstorm Wind	Dixon	$1,000	A tree was blown down across a road. Power lines and a utility pole were also blown down.
June 2009	Thunderstorm Wind	Dixon	$1,000	Trees and power lines were blown down.
June 2007	Thunderstorm Wind	Dixon	$1,000	Tree limbs were blown down onto powerlines.
May 2006	Thunderstorm Wind	Dixon	$1,000	Trees and power lines were blown down.
June 2010	Thunderstorm Wind	Dixon	$500	A street light pole was blown down.
June 1975	Tornado (F0)	not stated	$250	no account filed
June 1975	Tornado (F0)	not stated	$250	no account filed
April 2026	Tornado (EF1)	Prairieville	-	An NWS damage survey confirmed that an EF-1 tornado with estimated peak winds of 100 mph began in far northeastern Whiteside County west of Palmyra before moving northeast into Lee County. It tracked for over 6.5 miles before lifting near the town of Woosung. The tornado damaged or destroyed multiple farm outbuildings, downed several trees and power poles, and caused minor damage to a few residences.
April 2026	Thunderstorm Wind	Dixon	-	An emergency manager estimated 60 to 70 mph thunderstorm winds in Dixon.
May 2025	Thunderstorm Wind	Kingdom	-	A photo shared on social media showed several utility poles leaning over Route 2, resulting in power outages.
July 2025	Thunderstorm Wind	West Brooklyn	-	Tree limbs up to 6 inches in diameter were blown down near Brooklyn Road and Route 30. Corn was blown over at 35 to 40 degree angles.
July 2025	Hail	Franklin Grove	-	A Cocorahs obsever in Amboy reported totally destroyed soybean and corn crops six miles north of his location, which would be just south of Interstate 88.
August 2025	Flash Flood	Paw Paw	-	A couple of rounds of torrential rainfall brought flash flooding to parts of southeast Lee County. A video shared to social media showed a house in the Paw Paw area surrounded by floodwater with significant flooding in the yard and in nearby fields. Paw Paw Rd was flooded approximately one mile north of Paw Paw. In Compton, water was seen flowing over roads and parking lots. A private weather station in Paw Paw recorded 7.02 of storm total rain, 5.03 of which fell between 3:15 and 5:15 CST. Another private weather station near Dunn Airport northwest of Paw Paw recorded 4.67 of storm total rainfall. The flooding is estimated to have resulted in $5,000 worth of damages, mostly to crops.
February 2024	Tornado (EF0)	Paw Paw Airport	-	A brief tornado, which was sighted by storm chasers, touched down along Beemerville Road northeast of Compton and caused roof damage to a farm outbuilding.
February 2024	Hail	Sublette	-	Photo received of golf ball sized hail.
February 2024	Hail	Maytown	-	A report of 1 hail was relayed via mPING.
March 2024	Hail	Dixon	-	Quarter size hail was reported on the north side of Dixon.
June 2024	Thunderstorm Wind	Grand Detour	-	A picture was received of a downed tree near Dixon.
July 2024	Thunderstorm Wind	Lee	-	A large tree limb was blown down.
June 2024	Heavy Rain	Walton	-	Private weather KILDIXON53 recorded 2.71 inches of rain in an hour and a half's time. 2.28 inches of that fell in 40 minutes with over an inch being recorded in a 15 minute span.
March 2023	Tornado (EF1)	Sublette	-	This tornado developed just south of the town center of Sublette snapping multiple utility poles as it crossed US Rt. 52. The tornado strengthened as it progressed into the town of West Brooklyn. There, it downed several large trees, folded an approximately 120-foot tall tower, and tore the roof off of a bank in downtown West Brooklyn. A wooden beam from the roof of the bank impaled a nearby garage roof to the north-northeast of the bank. The tornado then lifted north of Shaw Rd just west of Carnahan Rd just over 2 miles northeast of West Brooklyn.
March 2023	Thunderstorm Wind	Maytown	-	A photo shared by the public via social media shows a barn that had been destroyed. Wind magnitude and time were estimated based on radar.
March 2023	Tornado (EF2)	Woodhaven Lakes	-	The tornado touched down in the Woodhaven Lakes campground south of Amboy. There, multiple campers were damaged by the tornado including two that were rolled. Farther along its northeastward track, two trees had fallen onto a home destroying it. The tornado appeared to have reached its maximum intensity with wind speeds estimated at 115 mph shortly after crossing US Hwy 52 where it destroyed a large garage and snapped several trees at their trunks. Several dozen other large trees were snapped and many branches sheared off along its path. Toward the end of its lifespan, the tornado also did minor damage to an outbuilding before lifting near Butler Hill Rd north of West Brooklyn.
April 2023	Thunderstorm Wind	Woodland Shores	-	A semi truck was blown over on Interstate 88 near Atkinson Road.
April 2023	Thunderstorm Wind	(C73) Dixon Municipal Airport	-	A private weather station measured a wind gust to 66 mph with an abrupt wind shift from easterly to westerly, then back to easterly.

Mines and quarries

58 recorded

The Survey's mineral resources record lists 58 workings inside this county. 10 still produce and 48 are closed or unrecorded. Each settlement page carries the workings within five miles of it.

Commodity	Workings
Stone, Crushed/Broken	53
Sand and Gravel, Construction	3
Limestone, General	1
Limestone, Dimension	1

The least common of them first, because a county's hundredth gravel pit says nothing its first ten did not.

Site	Commodity	Status
Dixon Quarry & Cement Plant	Limestone, General	Producer
Stoneridge Quarry	Limestone, Dimension	Producer
Medusa Quarry	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer
Nelson Sand and Gravel Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer
Rock River Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer
Ashton Quarry	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Producer
Delhotal Quarry & Portable Mill	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Producer
Dixon Quarry	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Past Producer
Gerdes Quarry	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Producer
Hallquist Quarry	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Past Producer
Inlet Quarry	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Past Producer
Law Quarry	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Past Producer
Limestone Prospect	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Occurrence
Limestone Prospect	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Occurrence
Limestone Prospect	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Occurrence
Limestone Prospect	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Occurrence
Limestone Prospect	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Occurrence
Nelson Quarry - Portable Unit #1	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Producer
Palmyra Quarry	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Producer
Robbin's Quarry	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Producer
Russell/Miller Portable #1 Quarry	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Producer
Sandusky Quarry	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Past Producer
Sheely's Quarry	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Producer
Steder Quarry	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Past Producer
Steward Pit	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Past Producer
Unnamed Limestone Quarry	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Past Producer
Unnamed Limestone Quarry	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Past Producer
Unnamed Limestone Quarry	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Past Producer
Unnamed Limestone Quarry	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Past Producer
Unnamed Limestone Quarry	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Past Producer
Unnamed Limestone Quarry	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Past Producer
Unnamed Limestone Quarry	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Past Producer
Unnamed Limestone Quarry	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Past Producer
Unnamed Limestone Quarry	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Past Producer
Unnamed Limestone Quarry	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Past Producer
Unnamed Limestone Quarry	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Past Producer
Unnamed Limestone Quarry	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Past Producer
Unnamed Limestone Quarry	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Past Producer
Unnamed Limestone Quarry	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Past Producer
Unnamed Limestone Quarry	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Past Producer
Unnamed Limestone Quarry	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Past Producer
Unnamed Limestone Quarry	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Past Producer
Unnamed Limestone Quarry	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Past Producer
Unnamed Limestone Quarry	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Past Producer
Unnamed Limestone Quarry	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Past Producer
Unnamed Limestone Quarry	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Past Producer
Unnamed Limestone Quarry	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Past Producer
Unnamed Limestone Quarry	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Past Producer
Unnamed Limestone Quarry	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Past Producer
Unnamed Limestone Quarry	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Past Producer
Unnamed Limestone Quarry	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Past Producer
Unnamed Limestone Quarry	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Past Producer
Unnamed Limestone Quarry	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Past Producer
Unnamed Limestone Quarry	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Past Producer
Unnamed Limestone Quarry	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Past Producer
Unnamed Limestone Quarry	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Past Producer
Unnamed Ls Quarry	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Past Producer
W. Hemenway Quarry	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Past Producer

The townships, in 1914

386,911 words

History of Lee County, Illinois devotes a chapter to each township: its boundaries and streams, who settled it and when, the mills, the schools and the churches. All 16 are reproduced here in full. Each row shows the township's own shape and where it lies in the county, drawn from the Census Bureau's boundary. Which settlements belong to which township is computed from that same boundary, not taken from the book.

Township	Settlements in it	Length	Sections
Alto Township	Steward	32,762 words	11
Amboy Township	Amboy, Binghampton, Shelburn	51,232 words	13
Ashton Township	Ashton	12,008 words	5
Brooklyn Township	Compton, Melugin Grove, The Burg, West Brooklyn	4,456 words	1
Dixon Township	Dixon	52,260 words	29
Harmon Township	Harmon, Van Petten	8,638 words	1
Lee Center Township	Inlet, Lee Center, Shaws	13,635 words	2
Marion Township	Walton	1,143 words	0
Nachusa Township	Kingdom, Nachusa	17,213 words	2
Nelson Township	Nelson, Woodland Shores	10,735 words	1
Palmyra Township	Lincoln Heights, Palmyra, Prairieville	21,708 words	3
South Dixon Township	Eldena	12,108 words	4
Sublette Township	Henkel, Sublette	16,840 words	5
Viola Township	Twelvemile Corner	1,581 words	0
Willow Creek Township	Lee, Scarboro	62,092 words	13
Wyoming Township	Paw Paw, Radley, Roxbury, South Paw Paw	68,500 words	22

The county's history books

548,618 words

3 books written about this county, cut here where the book itself is cut, at its printed chapters: 61 chapters in all. Every chapter is public domain, machine-read from the scan and reproduced complete. A chapter already given under one of the county's towns is not repeated in this list.

History of Lee County, Together with Biographical Matter, Statistics, Etc. .. (1881)

Chapter	Length
The whole text	371,547 words in 24 parts

History of Lee County, Illinois (1914)

Chapter	Length
Chapter 1: The Indians	3,686 words
Chapter 2: The Beginning of Things	4,062 words
Chapter 3: Old Trails	9,111 words
Chapter 4: Lee County While a Part Oe Ogle	2,539 words
Chapter 5: Organization of Lee County	4,045 words
Chapter 6: The Geology of Lee County	3,390 words
Chapter 7: Lee County in the Civil War	3,790 words
Chapter 8: Internal Improvements in Lee County	1,490 words
Chapter 9: The French in Lee County	4,364 words
Chapter 10: The Norwegians in Lee County	2,502 words
Chapter 11: The Bench and the Bar of Old Lee County	5,104 words
Chapter 12: The Lee County Agricultural Societies and	1,437 words
Chapter 13: The Dixon Schools	4,968 words
Chapter 14: Educational History of Lee County Schools	6,378 words
Chapter 15: Historical Sketch Op the Swamp	6,663 words
Chapter 16: Johx Dixon	8,445 words
Chapter 20: Bradford Township	16,300 words in 2 parts
East Grove Township	3,282 words
Chapter 27: Mariox Township	2,129 words
Chapter 28: May Township	2,067 words
Chapter 29: Melugin's Grove Township Vi'-'^-Va --/	6,370 words
Chapter 33: Reynolds Township	1,327 words
Chapter 35: Sublette Township	3,486 words

War History of Lee County, Illinois, 1917-'18-'19 : a History of the Part Taken by the People of Lee County, Illinois, in the World War, 1917-1918-1919 (1920)

Chapter	Length
Chapter 2	2,545 words
Chapter 4	2,250 words
Chapter 5	652 words
Chapter 7	1,967 words
Chapter 8	2,171 words
Chapter 11	657 words
Chapter 12	1,018 words
Chapter 14	1,146 words
Chapter 15	6,919 words
Chapter 16	763 words
Chapter 17	1,282 words
Chapter 18	465 words
Chapter 19	874 words
Chapter 20	554 words
Chapter 21	502 words
Chapter with an unread heading (no. 16 of those read)	1,495 words
Chapter 23	1,512 words
Chapter 25	2,845 words
Chapter 26	548 words
Chapter 27	3,444 words
Chapter 28	6,348 words
Chapter 29	414 words
Chapter 30	950 words
Chapter 31	917 words
Chapter 32	677 words
Chapter 33	1,594 words
Chapter 34	429 words
Chapter 35	433 words
Chapter 36	534 words
Chapter 37	1,192 words
Chapter 38	827 words
Chapter 39	653 words
Chapter 40	909 words
Chapter 41	2,393 words
Chapter 42	518 words
Chapter 43	16,576 words in 2 parts
Chapter 44	1,163 words

The people it describes

6 named

Everyone History of Lee County, Illinois stops to write about, with the section that describes them. Among them are the men who founded the place and governed the Territory. Each name opens the passage itself, in the words of 1914.

Every populated place in the county

Named 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.

Amboy

Amboy township · 61310 · Amboy quadrangle

10 sheets, 1951 to 1985
Ashton

Ashton township · 61006 · Ashton quadrangle

10 sheets, 1952 to 1985
Binghampton

Amboy township · 61310 · Amboy quadrangle

10 sheets, 1951 to 1985
Compton

Brooklyn township · 61318 · Compton quadrangle

11 sheets, 1952 to 1993
Dixon

Dixon township · 61021 · On Plum Creek · Dixon East quadrangle

12 sheets, 1918 to 1985
East Paw Paw

60518 · Paw Paw quadrangle

8 sheets, 1951 to 1985
Eldena

South Dixon township · 61021 · Dixon East quadrangle

12 sheets, 1918 to 1985
Franklin Grove

Franklin Grove township · 61031 · Franklin Grove quadrangle

12 sheets, 1918 to 1985
Harmon

Harmon township · 61042 · Harmon quadrangle

12 sheets, 1949 to 1985
Henkel

Sublette township · 61342 · Mendota West quadrangle

10 sheets, 1952 to 1985
Inlet

Lee Center township · 61310 · Sublette quadrangle

10 sheets, 1952 to 1985
Kingdom

Nachusa township · 61021 · On Chamberlain Creek · Grand Detour quadrangle

12 sheets, 1918 to 1985
Lee

Willow Creek township · 60530 · Lee quadrangle

9 sheets, 1934 to 1985
Lee Center

Lee Center township · 61310 · Amboy quadrangle

10 sheets, 1951 to 1985
Lincoln Heights

Palmyra township · 61021 · On Plum Creek · Dixon West quadrangle

11 sheets, 1930 to 1985
Maytown

May township · 61310 · Amboy quadrangle

10 sheets, 1951 to 1985
Melugin Grove

Brooklyn township · 61378 · Compton quadrangle

11 sheets, 1952 to 1993

No longer a settlement
Nachusa

Nachusa township · 61057 · Dixon East quadrangle

12 sheets, 1918 to 1985
Nelson

Nelson township · 61021 · Dixon West quadrangle

11 sheets, 1930 to 1985
Palmyra

Palmyra township · 61021 · On Reid Creek · Dixon West quadrangle

11 sheets, 1930 to 1985
Paw Paw

Wyoming township · 61353 · Paw Paw quadrangle

8 sheets, 1951 to 1985
Prairieville

Palmyra township · 61081 · Dixon West quadrangle

11 sheets, 1930 to 1985
Radley

Wyoming township · 60518 · Paw Paw quadrangle

8 sheets, 1951 to 1985
Roxbury

Wyoming township · 61353 · Compton quadrangle

11 sheets, 1952 to 1993
Scarboro

Willow Creek township · 60553 · On Dry Run · Steward quadrangle

11 sheets, 1952 to 1993
Shaws

Lee Center township · 61310 · Sublette quadrangle

10 sheets, 1952 to 1985
Shelburn

Amboy township · 61310 · Amboy quadrangle

10 sheets, 1951 to 1985

No longer a settlement
South Paw Paw

Wyoming township · 60518 · Paw Paw quadrangle

8 sheets, 1951 to 1985
Steward

Alto township · 60553 · Steward quadrangle

11 sheets, 1952 to 1993
Sublette

Sublette township · 61367 · Sublette quadrangle

10 sheets, 1952 to 1985
The Burg

Brooklyn township · 61318 · Compton quadrangle

11 sheets, 1952 to 1993
Twelvemile Corner

Viola township · 61318 · Steward quadrangle

11 sheets, 1952 to 1993
Van Petten

Harmon township · 61071 · Harmon quadrangle

12 sheets, 1949 to 1985
Walton

Marion township · 61021 · Walton quadrangle

10 sheets, 1951 to 1985
Welland

61342 · Compton quadrangle

11 sheets, 1952 to 1993
West Brooklyn

Brooklyn township · 61378 · Sublette quadrangle

10 sheets, 1952 to 1985
Woodland Shores

Nelson township · 61021 · Dixon West quadrangle

11 sheets, 1930 to 1985

The vanished settlements of Lee 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.