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Apple River, Illinois

12 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1902 and the latest in 1984. It stands in Apple River Township. It lies in ZIP code area 61001. The Survey maps it on the Apple River quadrangle. 347 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,010 feet above sea level.

Apple River within Jo Daviess County

On record in Apple River

Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.

On the National Register 1 record

Population over time

2 figures

Apple River fell from 366 to 347 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.

YearPeople Change
2010366
2020347-19 (-5%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

7 surveys from 12 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

8,352 words on this township

The History of Jo Daviess County, Illinois, Containing a History of the County, Its Cities, Towns, Etc., a Biographical Directory of Its Citizens, War Record of Its Volunteers in the Late Rebellion ... History of the Northwest, History of Illinois ... Constitution of the United States, published 1878 names this settlement in its chapter on Apple River Township. These are the passages that mention it, exactly as the scans read.

The oldest living resident of Apple River Township is Mr. William Colvin, whose intimate connection with the early history of the County has alreadybeen mentioned. Mr. Colvin came to Galena June 18, 1824, on the keel boat "Col. Bumford." After mining near there until 1828, he settled on the farm where he now lives, four miles west of the village of Apple River. At that time Lot L. Dimick, Wm. Hudson and Adam Vroman had already settled in the township as farmers. In 1829, Samuel Warner came from Ontario County, New York, and settled near Mr. Colvin where he has resided up to the present time.

Passage source: The History of Jo Daviess County, Illinois, Containing a History of the County, Its Cities, Towns, Etc., a Biographical Directory of Its Citizens, War Record of Its Volunteers in the Late Rebellion ... History of the Northwest, History of Illinois ... Constitution of the United States, published 1878.

For five years after the township organization, Apple River was incorporated in the Township of Thompson. The name of the township and village were derived from a river of that name by which the land is watered.

Passage source: The History of Jo Daviess County, Illinois, Containing a History of the County, Its Cities, Towns, Etc., a Biographical Directory of Its Citizens, War Record of Its Volunteers in the Late Rebellion ... History of the Northwest, History of Illinois ... Constitution of the United States, published 1878.

The first house on the site of Apple River was built of logs about 1832, by Daniel Robbins - the first settler at that place. He sold out to Francis Redfern, who came West about 1850, from Ohio. A large family of rough characters, named Daves, settled on a branch of the Apple River about the year 1835, which received, on account of their residence there, the name of " Hell Branch." In 1837 they had a dispute with a man named Alexander McKillips regarding his claim, which resulted in the Daves brothers waylaying McKillips, at night - tieing him to a stump and whipping him until almost dead. Such acts were among the lawlessness of frontier life. It may be added that a just retribution overtook these brothers, several of whom were hung, one killed by a falling mineral tub, and another chopped to pieces with an ax.

Passage source: The History of Jo Daviess County, Illinois, Containing a History of the County, Its Cities, Towns, Etc., a Biographical Directory of Its Citizens, War Record of Its Volunteers in the Late Rebellion ... History of the Northwest, History of Illinois ... Constitution of the United States, published 1878.

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 Apple River Township - it names this place 54 more 54 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 Apple River between 2009 and 2019, burning about 2 acres 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
Debris and open burning1

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
7 April 2009Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresIllinois Division of Forestry ResourcesCNR
24 April 2019Debris and open burningunder an acreWisconsin Department of Natural Resources2019010
22 March 2009Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresIllinois Division of Forestry ResourcesNIEMANN

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Jo Daviess County

Mines and quarries near this place

3 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 3 workings within 5 miles of Apple River: 2 past producers, 1 producer. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Stone, Crushed/Broken. 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
Oppie QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
Russell QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
Sweet Home QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer

Every working recorded in Jo Daviess County

Storms near this place

10 since 1997

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Apple River in 10 storm reports between 1997 and 2019: 7 thunderstorm wind, 3 hail. 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 2011Thunderstorm WindApple River$100,000Wind gusts estimated to be 70 mph blew down several large trees and a metal flag pole in Apple River, IL at 620 am CDT July 11. Almost every property in the 400 person town suffered some damage. Information from this report was also attained from a news paper article.
September 2019Thunderstorm WindApple River-A tree was blown down at the corner of Apple River Canyon Road and East Stagecoach road. Report relayed by 911 call center.
July 2016Thunderstorm WindApple River-Local law enforcement reported trees were down along with some power lines near Stagecoach Trail west of Apple River. A tree was also down across the railroad tracks along Stagecoach Trail. Winds were estimated to be up to near 70 MPH.
July 2009HailApple River-Golf ball-sized hail fell in Apple River, IL around 552 pm July 24.
August 2009Thunderstorm WindApple River-Wind gusts estimated to be 65 mph blew down several 10 to 12 inch diameter tree limbs in Apple River, IL around 152 pm August 9.
August 2006HailApple River-The fire department reported penny to nickel size hail that lasted for 1 minute with non-severe wind gusts.
April 2002Thunderstorm WindApple River-Power lines knocked down.
August 2002Thunderstorm WindApple River-Several large trees, at least 2 feet in diameter, blown down in Apple River Canyon State Park.
June 1997Thunderstorm WindApple River-Numerous trees down with diameters up to 12 inches.
May 2000HailApple River-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Jo Daviess 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
Sweet Home (historical)3.9 miles14
Millville4.6 miles14
Warren5.8 miles14
Apple Canyon Lake6.6 miles15
Scales Mound8.4 miles16
Nora8.8 miles14
Schapville9.4 miles15
Pitcherville (historical)11.0 miles14

Elsewhere

Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.

Wikipedia article on Apple RiverAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q621346The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0).

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 403578. 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.