Athens, Illinois
17 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1907 and the latest in 1985. It stands in Athens North No. 2 precinct. It lies in ZIP code area 62613. The Survey maps it on the Athens quadrangle. 1,977 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 602 feet above sea level.
On record in Athens
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 2 records
North Sangamon United Presbyterian Churchlisted 1979
Col. Matthew Rogers Buildinglisted 2005
Population over time
2 figuresAthens fell from 1,988 to 1,977 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.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 1,988 | |
| 2020 | 1,977 | -11 (-1%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
7 surveys from 17 printed sheetsMatched 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.
- 1907 USGS Springfield quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1930 USGS Springfield quadrangle1:62500, 3 printings
- 1940 USGS Springfield quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1958 USGS Decatur quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1961 USGS Decatur quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1966 USGS Athens quadrangle1:24000, 3 printings
- 1985 USGS Springfield quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
9 since 2011Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 9 fires within 5 miles of Athens between 2011 and 2017, burning about 17 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 |
|---|---|
| Debris and open burning | 8 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 September 2013 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Illinois Division of Forestry Resources | 13-0000307 |
| 19 June 2017 | Debris and open burning | 1.0 acres | Illinois Division of Forestry Resources | 2017-000137 |
| 19 April 2014 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Illinois Division of Forestry Resources | 14-0000129 |
| 17 April 2014 | Debris and open burning | 2.0 acres | Illinois Division of Forestry Resources | 14-0000125 |
| 27 March 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4.0 acres | Illinois Division of Forestry Resources | 11100 |
| 21 March 2014 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Illinois Division of Forestry Resources | 2014-000030 |
| 15 March 2014 | Debris and open burning | 3.0 acres | Illinois Division of Forestry Resources | 14-0000083 |
| 17 February 2013 | Debris and open burning | 1.0 acres | Illinois Division of Forestry Resources | 13-0000053 |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
4 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 4 workings within 5 miles of Athens: 3 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 | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Athens Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Indian Point Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Producer | ||
| Unnamed Limestone Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Unnamed Limestone Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
35 since 1996Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Athens in 35 storm reports between 1996 and 2025: 19 hail, 12 thunderstorm wind, 2 tornado, 2 flash flood. The reports record 3 injuries. 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 2008 | Flash Flood | Athens | 2 hurt, $40,000 | Two 8-inch diameter culverts were washed out on Harvest Road southwest of Athens. A car plunged into the void, resulting in two minor injuries. |
| July 1997 | Thunderstorm Wind | Athens | 1 hurt | Thunderstorm winds blew a tent over in a park in Athens resulting in a minor injury to one person. Also, numerous power lines and tree limbs were blown down. No other injuries were reported and no damage estimate was available. |
| July 2008 | Flash Flood | Athens | $65,000 | High flowing water washed out a bridge and road on the south side of Athens. Parts of IL Route 29 were flooded between IL Route 123 and the town of Athens. |
| May 2009 | Thunderstorm Wind | Athens | $15,000 | Large tree limbs were blown down in Athens. |
| April 2011 | Tornado (EF0) | Athens | $10,000 | A tornado touched down in a field 1 mile northeast of Athens at 622 PM CDT. It moved north-northwest...damaging a window, siding, and gutters on a house before dissipating 2 miles north-northeast of Athens at 624 PM CDT. |
| September 2014 | Thunderstorm Wind | Athens | $4,000 | Power lines were blown down onto a house in Athens. |
| May 2025 | Hail | Athens | - | Ping-pong ball sized hail fell at Athens Community Park. |
| May 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Athens | - | Scattered tree damage occurred throughout Athens. |
| May 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Athens | - | Wind-driven hail damage occurred to a home north of Athens. |
| August 2021 | Thunderstorm Wind | Athens | - | Several trees were blown down. |
| May 2006 | Thunderstorm Wind | Athens | - | A few trees were uprooted. |
| June 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Athens | - | A few tree limbs blown down. |
| May 2001 | Thunderstorm Wind | Athens | - | Large tree blown down, with no structural damage reported. |
| June 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Athens | - | Thunderstorm winds broke off ten power poles at the base of each. Also, numerous large tree limbs were blown down and one window was blown out on a house. No injuries were reported and no damage estimate was available. |
| March 2025 | Hail | Athens | - | no account filed |
| May 2025 | Hail | Athens | - | no account filed |
| May 2025 | Hail | Athens | - | no account filed |
| March 2023 | Hail | Athens | - | no account filed |
| March 2023 | Hail | Athens | - | no account filed |
| August 2018 | Hail | Athens | - | no account filed |
| May 2016 | Hail | Athens | - | no account filed |
| August 2016 | Hail | Athens | - | no account filed |
| March 2012 | Hail | Athens | - | no account filed |
| March 2012 | Hail | Athens | - | no account filed |
| May 2012 | Hail | Athens | - | no account filed |
| May 2011 | Hail | Athens | - | no account filed |
| May 2011 | Hail | Athens | - | no account filed |
| June 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | Athens | - | no account filed |
| May 2009 | Hail | Athens | - | no account filed |
| May 2009 | Hail | Athens | - | no account filed |
| June 2008 | Hail | Athens | - | no account filed |
| October 1998 | Hail | Athens | - | no account filed |
| March 1997 | Hail | Athens | - | no account filed |
| July 1996 | Thunderstorm Wind | Athens | - | no account filed |
| July 1996 | Tornado (F0) | Athens | - | no account filed |
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 | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Culver | 3.7 miles | 15 | |
| Tice | 4.1 miles | 14 | |
| Lewisburg | 5.8 miles | 14 | |
| Old Salem Chautauqua | 6.3 miles | 14 | |
| New Salem (historical) | 6.5 miles | 14 | |
| Sweetwater | 6.6 miles | 15 | |
| Fancy Prairie | 7.1 miles | 17 | |
| Petersburg | 7.5 miles | 13 |
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 Athens | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q578681 | The 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 403695. 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.






