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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.

Athens within Menard County

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

Population over time

2 figures

Athens 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.

YearPeople Change
20101,988
20201,977-11 (-1%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

7 surveys from 17 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.

Fires near this place

9 since 2011

Regional 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 burning8
Missing data/not specified/undetermined1

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
11 September 2013Debris and open burningunder an acreIllinois Division of Forestry Resources13-0000307
19 June 2017Debris and open burning1.0 acresIllinois Division of Forestry Resources2017-000137
19 April 2014Debris and open burningunder an acreIllinois Division of Forestry Resources14-0000129
17 April 2014Debris and open burning2.0 acresIllinois Division of Forestry Resources14-0000125
27 March 2011Missing data/not specified/undetermined4.0 acresIllinois Division of Forestry Resources11100
21 March 2014Debris and open burningunder an acreIllinois Division of Forestry Resources2014-000030
15 March 2014Debris and open burning3.0 acresIllinois Division of Forestry Resources14-0000083
17 February 2013Debris and open burning1.0 acresIllinois Division of Forestry Resources13-0000053

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Menard County

Mines and quarries near this place

4 within 5 miles

Regional 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 SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Athens QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
Indian Point QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
Unnamed Limestone QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
Unnamed Limestone QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer

Every working recorded in Menard County

Storms near this place

35 since 1996

Regional 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
July 2008Flash FloodAthens2 hurt, $40,000Two 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 1997Thunderstorm WindAthens1 hurtThunderstorm 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 2008Flash FloodAthens$65,000High 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 2009Thunderstorm WindAthens$15,000Large tree limbs were blown down in Athens.
April 2011Tornado (EF0)Athens$10,000A 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 2014Thunderstorm WindAthens$4,000Power lines were blown down onto a house in Athens.
May 2025HailAthens-Ping-pong ball sized hail fell at Athens Community Park.
May 2025Thunderstorm WindAthens-Scattered tree damage occurred throughout Athens.
May 2025Thunderstorm WindAthens-Wind-driven hail damage occurred to a home north of Athens.
August 2021Thunderstorm WindAthens-Several trees were blown down.
May 2006Thunderstorm WindAthens-A few trees were uprooted.
June 2005Thunderstorm WindAthens-A few tree limbs blown down.
May 2001Thunderstorm WindAthens-Large tree blown down, with no structural damage reported.
June 1998Thunderstorm WindAthens-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 2025HailAthens-no account filed
May 2025HailAthens-no account filed
May 2025HailAthens-no account filed
March 2023HailAthens-no account filed
March 2023HailAthens-no account filed
August 2018HailAthens-no account filed
May 2016HailAthens-no account filed
August 2016HailAthens-no account filed
March 2012HailAthens-no account filed
March 2012HailAthens-no account filed
May 2012HailAthens-no account filed
May 2011HailAthens-no account filed
May 2011HailAthens-no account filed
June 2010Thunderstorm WindAthens-no account filed
May 2009HailAthens-no account filed
May 2009HailAthens-no account filed
June 2008HailAthens-no account filed
October 1998HailAthens-no account filed
March 1997HailAthens-no account filed
July 1996Thunderstorm WindAthens-no account filed
July 1996Tornado (F0)Athens-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Menard 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
Culver3.7 miles15
Tice4.1 miles14
Lewisburg5.8 miles14
Old Salem Chautauqua6.3 miles14
New Salem (historical)6.5 miles14
Sweetwater6.6 miles15
Fancy Prairie7.1 miles17
Petersburg7.5 miles13

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 AthensAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q578681The 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.