72 topographic sheets cover 51 settlements here, and 8 properties are on the National Register of Historic Places.
8 National Register listings published here · the county-history sources name 1 person · people the book names include C. J. Keiser & Company, Bankers (Mount Olive Township, 1911) (machine-read).
Sources: the county history on the Internet Archive · the National Register database, National Park Service
Every 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | John C. Anderson House | building | 1992 | 92001535 |
 | Carlinville Chapter House | building | 1980 | 80001385 |
 | Carlinville Historic District | district | 1976 | 76000721 |
 | J. L. Robinson General Store | building | 1980 | 80001386 |
| Route 66, Girard to Nilwood | structure | 2002 | 99000117 | |
| Shriver Farmstead | building | 1980 | 80001387 | |
 | Soulsby Service Station | building | 2004 | 04000420 |
 | Union Miners Cemetery | site | 1972 | 72000463 |
Every wildfire the federal occurrence database records inside this county: 50 of them, burning about 228 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 | 47 |
| Debris and open burning | 2 |
| Smoking | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16 March 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 75 acres | Illinois Division of Forestry Resources | LOVELESS |
| 15 January 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 40 acres | Illinois Division of Forestry Resources | 90117 |
| 12 March 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 30 acres | Illinois Division of Forestry Resources | THEOBALD |
| 6 March 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 15 acres | Illinois Division of Forestry Resources | PARK |
| 17 September 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 15 acres | Illinois Division of Forestry Resources | not named |
| 6 March 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 13 acres | Illinois Division of Forestry Resources | BENNETT |
| 15 March 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 8.0 acres | Illinois Division of Forestry Resources | SEGARRA |
| 13 October 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5.0 acres | Illinois Division of Forestry Resources | STARKS |
Every settlement page carries the fires within five miles of it - see the settlement index below.
The NOAA Storm Events Database holds 528 reports for this county, causing 3 deaths, 16 injuries and about $7,447,375 in recorded property damage. Each settlement page carries the reports that name it.
| Kind of event | Reports |
|---|---|
| Hail | 233 |
| Thunderstorm Wind | 210 |
| Tornado | 48 |
| Flash Flood | 27 |
| Lightning | 6 |
| Heavy Rain | 2 |
| Flood | 1 |
| Funnel Cloud | 1 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 1950 | Tornado (F2) | not stated | 1 killed, 3 hurt, $25,000 | no account filed |
| April 2001 | Lightning | Girard | 1 killed | A 49 year old woman was struck and killed by lightning while working outside at her home at Sunset Lake west of Girard. Witnesses reported that the woman was planting and watering flowers and had knelt down at the edge of the lake to dip out some more water when the lightning struck. |
| September 2001 | Lightning | Sawyerville | 1 killed | A man was killed by a lighting strike while working on a roof in the Sawyerville area. The group of workers saw the storm approaching and climbed off the roof. The man killed was the last man and unfortunately did not make in off in time. |
| May 1989 | Hail | not stated | 6 hurt | no account filed |
| May 2013 | Tornado (EF2) | Mt Olive | 3 hurt | A tornado touched down in the downtown portion of Mt. Olive and traveled to the east. The damage path was 4 blocks long and ranged from 50 to 75 yards wide. The second story of a brick building was blown off. Large sections of several roofs were blown 2 blocks to the north. A historic 2 story home had the roof blown off and windows were blown out of several homes and businesses. Three people sustained minor injuries. |
| April 2011 | Tornado (EF3) | Girard | 2 hurt | The path of this tornado was a very curved one as it initially tornado touched down about 2.5 miles west of Girard, Illinois, on Emerson Airline Road. It caused extensive damage to a couple of houses in this location. It then travelled to the northeast crossing Henry Road, north of the intersection with Emerson Airline Road, and damaging 3 farmsteads. One home was destroyed and another home sustained moderate damage, trapping the residents in the basement until they could be rescued. Also, several barns were destroyed in this area. The tornado began to travel on a more easterly course, damaging or destroying several farmsteads on Neff Road. Numerous outbuildings were destroyed in this area and one house was destroyed. As it approached Pleasant Hill Road approximately 1.2 miles northwest of Girard, it caused major damage to a brick home and destroyed all of the outbuildings. The tornado continued to travel to the east, destroying a farm about a mile north of town on Illinois Route 4. Several cows were killed in this location. Then the tornado began to curve back to the southeast, crossing Prose Road about half a mile south of the intersection with Substation Road. In this location it caused extensive damage to a brick home with most of the exterior walls destroyed but with the interior wall structure intact. This damage was rated EF3. The tornado continued to the southeast. It caused moderate roof damage to a house on Kimes Road near intersection with Adams Road. The tornado then lifted and dissipated on Adams Road after hitting one last farmstead and causing minor damage. Several farms sustained damage along the path of the tornado with many of the houses that were damaged rated EF2 with large portions of the roofs badly damaged. Numerous outbuildings were either destroyed or sustained major damage along this track as well. Also, about 20 power poles were blown down along Illinois Route 4 just north of town. The average path width of the tornado was 150 yards with a maximum width of 200 yards. The highest rating of the damage was EF3 and with peak wind speeds of 150 mph. Two miles west of Girard, two people heading for the basement to seek shelter from the tornado, sustained minor cuts and bruises. Because the path of the tornado was curved the actual total path length of the tornado was 5.1 miles, not 4.3 miles as displayed in the main header for this event. |
| May 1978 | Tornado (F2) | not stated | 1 hurt, $250,000 | no account filed |
| May 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Staunton | 1 hurt | Thunderstorm winds blew over a semi on the north bound lanes of I-55 just south of the Staunton exit. The driver lost control when the truck was hit by the winds and ended up in a ditch about 50 feet from the road. The driver sustained minor injuries. |
| May 2002 | Hail | Mt Olive | $2,000,000 | no account filed |
| April 2002 | Hail | Gillespie | $2,000,000 | no account filed |
| April 2002 | Hail | Carlinville | $1,000,000 | no account filed |
| May 1996 | Tornado (F1) | Carlinville | $250,000 | no account filed |
| May 1990 | Tornado (F2) | not stated | $250,000 | no account filed |
| January 1967 | Tornado (F2) | not stated | $250,000 | no account filed |
| May 2000 | Hail | Medora | $160,000 | no account filed |
| May 2000 | Hail | Brighton | $160,000 | no account filed |
| May 2000 | Hail | Shipman | $160,000 | no account filed |
| May 2000 | Hail | Woodburn | $160,000 | no account filed |
| May 2000 | Hail | Bunker Hill | $160,000 | no account filed |
| July 2001 | Lightning | Chesterfield | $100,000 | A lightning strike caused an estimated $100,000.00 damage to grain bins at a grain elevator business in Chesterfield. |
| May 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Womac | $50,000 | A downburst hit a small stretch of Womac Road south of Route 108 knocking down 9 power poles, downing several trees, and causing roof damage to an outbuilding. |
| April 2024 | Tornado (EF1) | Standard City | $50,000 | A brief, weak tornado touched down 2.7 miles south of Standard City, to the west of Standard City Road. crossing Standard City Road. In this location it caused moderate roof damage to three farm buildings before moving to the south southeast. It crossed Standard City Road and broke several large limbs off of trees before lifting and dissipating. Overall, the tornado was rated EF1 (max wind speed of 95 mph) with a path length of 0.23 miles and a max path width of 75 yards. No deaths or injuries were reported. |
| June 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Womac | $50,000 | Widespread wind damage between Womac and Honey Bend. Multiple small to medium sized trees snapped off. Also, several trees were uprooted near the intersection of Kirkland and Sumpter Roads. One large tree was blown down blocking Illinois Route 108 near intersection with Standard City Road. On Barnett Road, several power poles were blown down between Leefers Road and South Atwater Road. An unoccupied camper was blown over at a house on Illinois Route 108 near intersection with South Atwater Road. A machine shed was destroyed on Dickey Road with the debris blown approximately a quarter of a mile to the east southeast. No deaths or injuries were reported. |
| June 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Shipman | $50,000 | Widespread wind damage across the county. In Shipman and Bunker Hill, numerous large tree limbs as well as several large trees were blown down. In Carlinville, two power poles were snapped off at the base and a large tree was blown over onto a house causing moderate roof damage. About 3 miles west of Girard, multiple mature trees were snapped off near the base, another one was uprooted and a power pole was blown over. A couple of large trees were blown over in Staunton. |
| May 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | Staunton | $50,000 | Wind gusts estimated at 60 to 65 mph downed large tree limbs, a few power lines and blew roof shingles off homes. The garage at a new home under construction was blown apart. A few cars suffered minor damage from falling tree limbs. |
| November 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Nilwood | $50,000 | no account filed |
| May 1998 | Tornado (F1) | Palmyra | $50,000 | no account filed |
| April 2000 | Tornado (F1) | Shipman | $25,000 | A small tornado (low end of F1) struck briefly near Shipman. Two farm buildings were destroyed and some trees and power lines were downed. The tornado was witnessed by several people driving to work that morning. |
| August 1959 | Tornado (F2) | not stated | $25,000 | no account filed |
| June 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Modesto Weber Arpt | $20,000 | Thunderstorm winds numerous trees blown down west of Girard in the Otter Lake area. |
| April 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Girard | $20,000 | no account filed |
| July 2022 | Flash Flood | Mt Olive | $15,000 | Up to 5 inches of rain fell in a 6 hour period causing flash flooding the far southeastern portions of Macoupin County. Several roads were flooded. Just south of Mt. Olive, an unoccupied car became submerged due to flooding. |
| May 1996 | Thunderstorm Wind | Virden | $15,000 | no account filed |
| February 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | White City | $10,000 | Thunderstorm winds blew down several large trees as well as numerous tree limbs around town. |
| March 2023 | Tornado (EF0) | Mc Vey | $10,000 | At 6:47 PM CDT, a weak tornado touched down in northern Macoupin County near the intersection of Waggoner and Boston Chapel Roads. Here the tornado ripped a portion of the roof off of a farm building and threw some of the debris with enough force to embed a plank of wood into the rood of a home. The tornado then traversed a few fields and wooded areas, crossing into Montgomery County at West County Line Road. In Macoupin County, the tornado was rated EF0 with a max wind speed of 74 mph. The path length was 0.85 miles and a max path width of 50 yards. |
| May 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wilsonville | $10,000 | Thunderstorm winds took the roof off a machine shed, and tore some roof shingles and siding off a home on Route 138 near Wilsonville. |
| March 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Gillespie | $5,000 | Thunderstorm winds blew down numerous large tree limbs around town. One very large limb briefly blocked a road in town. |
| May 2008 | Flash Flood | Piasa | $5,000 | Heavy rain of two to five inches caused flash flooding across the southern third of the County. Routes 16 and 159 were flooded. Some roads in Brighton and Piasa had water up to five feet deep. Portions of Panther Creek Road near Mt. Olive, Prairie Dell Road near Shipman, Spanish Needle Road near Gillespie, Moulton Road near Bunker Hill, and Brighton-Bunker Hill Road were all temporarily barricaded. Two vehicles were disables by flooding on Brighton-Bunker Hill Road. A flooded culvert on another part of Bunker Hill-Brighton Road washed away much of an embankment and took out about four feet of the road. |
| June 1995 | Thunderstorm Wind | Brighton | $3,500 | Wind gusts as high as 75 mph knocked down numerous trees, power poles, and power lines. One tree fell and completely demolish a bandstand in Brighton. A tractor-semitrailer was blown off the road along Interstate 55 near Mount Olive as well. |
| June 1995 | Thunderstorm Wind | Mount Olive | $3,300 | Wind gusts as high as 75 mph knocked down numerous trees, power poles, and power lines. One tree fell and completely demolish a bandstand in Brighton. A tractor-semitrailer was blown off the road along Interstate 55 near Mount Olive as well. |
| March 1960 | Tornado (F2) | not stated | $2,500 | no account filed |
| June 2022 | Hail | Nilwood | $1,000 | Large hail damaged a car windshield just west of Nilwood. |
| November 1994 | Thunderstorm Wind | Beaver Dam St.Park | $900 | County officials reported large trees down and a sign damaged at the Beaver Dam State Park. |
| June 1995 | Thunderstorm Wind | Girard | $400 | Wind gusts as high as 75 mph knocked down numerous trees, power poles, and power lines. One tree fell and completely demolish a bandstand in Brighton. A tractor-semitrailer was blown off the road along Interstate 55 near Mount Olive as well. |
| August 1966 | Tornado (F0) | not stated | $250 | no account filed |
| July 1995 | Thunderstorm Wind | Palmyra | $200 | Large trees were blown down. |
| July 1995 | Thunderstorm Wind | Womac | $200 | Large trees were blown down. |
| June 1995 | Thunderstorm Wind | Girard | $125 | Five to six homes were damaged and trees and power lines were blown down. |
| January 2026 | Thunderstorm Wind | Mt Olive | - | Thunderstorm winds felled a tree across County Road 000E. This storm went on to cause damage in Macoupin County. |
| March 2026 | Thunderstorm Wind | Brighton | - | Thunderstorm winds downed trees and power lines in Brighton at North Main Street and Oak Street. |
| March 2026 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bunker Hill | - | Thunderstorm winds downed power lines near Dorsey. |
| March 2026 | Thunderstorm Wind | Staunton | - | National Weather Service survey concluded that snapped wooden power poles along Reservoir Road were the result of approximately 100 mph wind gusts. |
| March 2026 | Tornado (EF1) | Staunton | - | The tornado continued into Macoupin County from Madison County where it uprooted trees along Double Arch Road before dissipating. |
| March 2026 | Tornado (EF1) | White City | - | A tornado touched down just west of the Staunton Reservoir where it damaged trees along Bono Road. The tornado then travelled northeast, causing minor damage to the roofs of a few structures before directly hitting Mount Olive. In Mount Olive, the tornado damaged mostly trees, but the roof of a business was impacted as well. The tornado weakened as it exited town and approached Montgomery County. |
| May 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bunker Hill | - | Thunderstorm winds knocked down tree limbs that were 12 inches in diameter. The caller reported estimated winds of 70 mph. |
| May 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Staunton | - | Thunderstorm winds downed one large tree. |
| May 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Carlinville | - | Thunderstorm winds caused tree damage of an unknown extent throughout Carlinville. |
| July 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Macoupin Station | - | Thunderstorm winds downed a tree on Valley Road. |
| July 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Mt Olive | - | Thunderstorm winds downed a tree along Route 66. |
| March 2024 | Tornado (EF0) | Macoupin Station | - | A weak tornado touched down 4.7 miles southwest of Carlinville on Shipman Road. At this location, it damaged a couple of small sheds, snapped off several large tree limbs, blew down a large tree and caused minor shingle damage to a house. As the tornado tracked to the southeast, it snapped off several more tree limbs and caused minor roof damage to another house on Stagecoach Road before lifting and dissipating 4.2 miles south southeast of Carlinville. Overall, the tornado was rated EF0 with a path length of 2.13 miles and a maximum width of 100 yards. The maximum sustained winds were estimated to be near 80 mph. No deaths or injuries were reported. |
The Survey's mineral resources record lists 12 workings inside this county. None of them still produces: all are closed or unrecorded. Each settlement page carries the workings within five miles of it.
| Commodity | Workings |
|---|---|
| Stone, Crushed/Broken | 8 |
| Vermiculite | 2 |
| Stone | 1 |
| Clay | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Honey Creek Clay Shale Exposure | Clay | Prospect | ||
| Macoupin County Pit | Stone | Past Producer | ||
| I. V. Quarry | Vermiculite | Past Producer | ||
| I. V. Quarry | Vermiculite | Past Producer | ||
| Gillespie 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 | ||
| Limestone Prospect | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Occurrence | ||
| Shaw Point Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer |
History of Macoupin County, Illinois : Biographical and Pictorial devotes a chapter to each township: its boundaries and streams, who settled it and when, the mills, the schools and the churches. All 19 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.
2 books written about this county, cut here where the book itself is cut, at its printed chapters: 28 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.
| Chapter | Length |
|---|---|
| A Brief Sketch of the North-West Territory | 23,082 words in 2 parts |
| Chapter 3: Pioneers and Early Settlers | 8,490 words |
| Chapter 4: Customs of Early Days | 4,621 words |
| Chapter 5: Geography, Agricultural and Manufacturing Resources, and Railroad Facilities | 3,712 words |
| Chapter 6: Geology | 25,653 words in 2 parts |
| The Press of Macoupin County by D. Mackenzie | 11,615 words |
| Blackburn University | 31,578 words in 2 parts |
| Biographical sketches | 224,847 words in 15 parts |
| Chapter | Length |
|---|---|
| Chapter 1: Introduction | 31,058 words in 2 parts |
| Chapter 2: Geology | 3,443 words |
| Chapter 3: Organization | 4,937 words |
| Chapter 4: Topography | 1,188 words |
| Chapter 5: The Pioneer | 11,613 words |
| Chapter 6: Memory's Store House | 9,253 words |
| Chapter 7: Government | 955 words |
| Chapter 8: The Primitive | 3,877 words |
| Chapter 9 | 2,832 words |
| Chapter 10: Macoupin's "white Elephant. | 7,245 words |
| Chapter 11: Civil War | 5,334 words |
| Chapter 12: Religious | 16,775 words in 2 parts |
| Chapter 13: Educational | 13,153 words |
| Chapter 14: Pioneer Schools | 3,861 words |
| Chapter 15: The Healing Art | 5,755 words |
| Chapter 16: Bench and Bar | 4,885 words |
| Chapter 17: Autobiography of John M. Palmer. Lawyer Soldier Statesman - Gave | 7,824 words |
| Chapter 19: Various Things | 2,232 words |
| Chapter 20: Reminiscences | 5,697 words |
| Chapter 21: Jersey Street. | 16,053 words in 2 parts |
Everyone History of Macoupin County, Illinois : Biographical and Pictorial 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 1911.
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.
Shaws Point township · 62572 · On Shearles Branch · Atwater quadrangle
10 sheets, 1923 to 1982
Carlinville township · 62626 · On Briar Creek · Carlinville West quadrangle
14 sheets, 1923 to 1998
Hillyard township · 62685 · On Elm Creek · Bunker Hill quadrangle
12 sheets, 1912 to 1998
Chesterfield township · 62063 · On Coop Branch · Summerville quadrangle
12 sheets, 1925 to 1985
Cahokia township · 62023 · On Spring Creek · Gillespie South quadrangle
11 sheets, 1912 to 1982
Cahokia township · 62069 · On Panther Creek · Mount Olive quadrangle
12 sheets, 1915 to 1998
Hillyard township · 62685 · On Elm Creek · Bunker Hill quadrangle
12 sheets, 1912 to 1998
Mount Olive township · 62085 · On Sugar Creek · Gillespie South quadrangle
11 sheets, 1912 to 1982
Shaws Point township · 62572 · Near Coops Mound · Carlinville East quadrangle
14 sheets, 1923 to 1982
Mount Olive township · 62069 · On Sugar Creek · Gillespie South quadrangle
11 sheets, 1912 to 1982
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