BlockBefore

Andalusia, Illinois

19 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1912 and the latest in 1991. It stands in Andalusia Township. It lies in ZIP code area 61232. It stands on Hills Creek. The Survey maps it on the Andalusia quadrangle.

Andalusia within Rock Island County

Topographic sheets covering this place

10 surveys from 19 printed sheets

Matched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.

In the county-history sources

1,160 words on this township

Historic Rock Island County; History of the Settlement of Rock Island County from the Earliest Known Period to the Present Time ... Embracing References of Importance, and Including a Biography of Rock Island County's Well-known Citizens, published 1908 names this settlement in its chapter on Andalusia Township. These are the passages that mention it, exactly as the scans read.

Andalusia is one of the historic towns of Rock Island Countj-. It is located ou the Mississippi River, about ten miles west of the City of Rock Island. The township has about six miles of frontage on the river, but has less depth, being less than half the size of a congressional to'WTiship. Though small in size it is one of the hustling townships of the county. Its historj^ dates from the earliest settlement of the country. One of the first settlers was Captain B. W. Clark, father of Captain W. L. Clark, of Buffalo, Scott County, Iowa, now the oldest living first settler in the State of Iowa.

Passage source: Historic Rock Island County; History of the Settlement of Rock Island County from the Earliest Known Period to the Present Time ... Embracing References of Importance, and Including a Biography of Rock Island County's Well-known Citizens, published 1908.

A quarter section of land, which forms a part of the present town plat of Andalusia, was entered by Captain B. W. Clark, and in the fall of 1832 he built a hewn log house at the west end of what is now the Milage of Andalusia. This house when first built was the only one between that of Joshua YandrufT on Yandruff's Island, at the foot of Black Hawk's Watch Tower, and Erastus Dennison's, at the upper "Yellow Banks," now New Boston. The logs used in Captain Clark's house at Andalusia are still doing good service. They were taken down long years ago and hauled across the river on the ice to the Town of Buffalo, and at the jiresent form, the west half of Henry Springmeier's residence at that place.

Passage source: Historic Rock Island County; History of the Settlement of Rock Island County from the Earliest Known Period to the Present Time ... Embracing References of Importance, and Including a Biography of Rock Island County's Well-known Citizens, published 1908.

John \'anaita, during the fall of 1834. This was afterwards bought and occupied by Jonathan Buffum, and for half a century was known as the old BufTum place, now owned by A. Hofer. This same fall Mr. Dunlap, Daniel and John Edgington came to this part of the new west and located lands just south of Andalusia. They soon returned to Ohio, and in the spring of 1835 chartered a boat and brought their families and household goods and became permanent residents. The}' also brought with them the elder McXutt and his son John, a carpenter; Moses and Charles Titterington and two other brothers and their families; also Charles and Harr}' Eberhart and families, and Adolph Dunlap, a noted gunsmith. James Robison and the Parmenters came a little later.

Passage source: Historic Rock Island County; History of the Settlement of Rock Island County from the Earliest Known Period to the Present Time ... Embracing References of Importance, and Including a Biography of Rock Island County's Well-known Citizens, published 1908.

Machine-read from a century-old scan, so expect the errors a machine makes: misspelled names, dropped words, stray characters.

Read the whole chapter on Andalusia Township - it names this place 2 more 2 times.

Fires near this place

3 since 2009

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 3 fires within 5 miles of Andalusia between 2009 and 2011, burning about 1 acre in total. None started naturally. None was recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause Fires
Missing data/not specified/undetermined2
Power generation/transmission/distribution1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
30 May 2009Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreIllinois Division of Forestry ResourcesHOLLOW
27 May 2010Power generation/transmission/distributionunder an acreIllinois Division of Forestry ResourcesCOUNTY
9 October 2011Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resources1687 HWY J-22, IA

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Rock Island County

Mines and quarries near this place

5 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 5 workings within 5 miles of Andalusia: 5 producers. All of them still produce. What was taken out: Stone, Crushed/Broken, Salt, Calcium. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Cargill Salt Terminal SaSaltProducer
Linwood Lime PlantCalciumProducer
Davenport QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
Linwood Stone Products Mine & MillStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
Martin Marietta-Buffalo Cement PlntStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer

Every working recorded in Rock Island County

Storms near this place

24 since 2001

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Andalusia in 24 storm reports between 2001 and 2025: 9 thunderstorm wind, 8 hail, 3 flood, 3 tornado. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
July 2003Thunderstorm WindAndalusia$50,000Trees & power lines down
May 2013Tornado (EF0)Andalusia$40,000An EF1 tornado touched down in Andalusia, IL around 445 pm CDT and traveled north-northeast. This weak tornado crossed the Mississippi River into Scott County and moved through eastern sections of Buffalo, IA. Wind speeds were estimated to be 95 mph. Some large trees were snapped and uprooted along the path. Some of the fallen trees fell onto houses.
April 2006HailAndalusia$5,000no account filed
June 2025Thunderstorm WindAndalusia-One half of large tree down. Time estimated from radar information.
August 2025Thunderstorm WindAndalusia-Several trees were blown down in town, time estimated from radar.
July 2024Tornado (EF1)Andalusia-An NWS Storm Survey found a tornado touched down northwest of Taylor Ridge in Rock Island County. The tornado damaged trees, dented two large grain bins, and damaged power poles. The tornado then moved into Mercer County around 18:27 CST, about a third of a mile west of US Route 67 on 190th Ave W. In Mercer County, the tornado damaged trees, power poles, and small farm outbuildings. The tornado then moved into Henry County around 18:36 CST, about 0.4 miles south of Camp Creek Road. The tornado continued to damage trees, power poles, and small farm outbuildings, before crossing Interstate 74 and lifting south of Andover. In all three counties (Rock Island, Mercer, Henry) the tornado was rated an EF-1 with maximum winds around 100 mph.
April 2023Tornado (EF1)Andalusia-A brief tornado caused sporadic damage to power poles, some trees, and some houses on its 1 mile path. Estimated max wind speeds of 105 mph.
July 2020Thunderstorm WindAndalusia-A large tree branch reported down in Andalusia on social media.
May 2019FloodAndalusia-The Mississippi River at Rock Island Lock and Dam 15 rose above its major flood stage of 18 feet during the afternoon of May 27th and continued into June. The river crested in June, with the stage rising to 21.4 feet at the end of May 31st.
February 2017HailAndalusia-A spotter reported dime size hail through social media.
July 2017Thunderstorm WindAndalusia-A trained spotter reported wind knocked down a 5 inch in diameter healthy tree branch off a silver maple tree.
October 2016Thunderstorm WindAndalusia-An area of damaged trees, including hardwood trunks snapped off were found near the Mississippi River shoreline area of Andalusia Illinois. Survey indicates that this was due to straight line wind gusts.
April 2011HailAndalusia-Quarter sized hail fell in Andalusia, IL at 844 pm CDT April 3.
May 2010HailAndalusia-Quarter-sized hail fell in Andalusia, IL at 213 pm May 25.
May 2008FloodAndalusia-The Mississippi River at Rock Island was over its major flood stage level from 12:00 am May 1 until 6:00 am May 4.
May 2008FloodAndalusia-The Mississippi River at Illinois City was over its major flood stage level from 12:00 am May 1 until 5:00 pm May 5.||The Mississippi River at Muscatine was over its major flood stage level from 12:00 am May 1 until 4:00 am May 5.
August 2007Thunderstorm WindAndalusia-Winds estimated to be 60 mph blew down some branches near Andalusia, IL.
March 2007HailAndalusia-A spotter reported hail the size of quarters.
June 2001Flash FloodAndalusia-Water on Illinois Route 92 near the Milan Beltway intersection. Reported by law enforcement.
July 2001Thunderstorm WindAndalusia-Dock ripped loose from the shore and boats damaged. Reported by Media.
August 2001Thunderstorm WindAndalusia-Thunderstorms winds blew a large tree down across a road. Reported by law enforcement.
April 2011HailAndalusia-no account filed
June 2002HailAndalusia-no account filed
June 2002HailAndalusia-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Rock Island County

Nearest settlements

The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.

Map PlaceDistance Sheets
Edgington4.4 miles15
Taylor Ridge4.5 miles19
Milan7.8 miles23
Reynolds8.0 miles18
Ginger Hill8.0 miles23
Oak Grove8.0 miles23
Castle Junction8.1 miles23
Coyne Center8.7 miles23

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 403496. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

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.