Bethany, Illinois

14 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1935 and the latest in 1999. It stands in Marrowbone Township. It lies in ZIP code area 61914. It stands on Brush Creek. The Survey maps it on the Lovington quadrangle. 1,255 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 652 feet above sea level.

Bethany within Moultrie County

Population over time

2 figures

Bethany fell from 1,352 to 1,255 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	1,352
2020	1,255	-97 (-7%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

8 surveys from 14 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.

1935 USGS Sullivan quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
1935 USGS Sullivan quadrangle1:48000
1940 USGS Sullivan quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
1958 USGS Decatur quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
1961 USGS Decatur quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
1983 USGS Lovington quadrangle1:24000
1985 USGS Decatur quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
1999 USGS Lovington quadrangle1:24000

Storms near this place

25 since 1997

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Bethany in 25 storm reports between 1997 and 2026: 13 thunderstorm wind, 8 hail, 2 flash flood, 2 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.

When	Event	Place named	Harm	What the report says
April 1998	Hail	Bethany	$7,000,000	A severe thunderstorm dropped large amounts of hail up to two inches in diameter over Moultrie County. Two police cars were damaged severely. In Bethany, many windows and windshields were smashed by the hail, as well as, considerable roof damage. No injuries were reported. Damage was estimated between 6 and 7 million dollars.
May 2018	Thunderstorm Wind	Bethany	$125,000	Numerous tree limbs, power poles, and power lines were blown down between Bethany and Sullivan.
June 2019	Flash Flood	Bethany	$50,000	Slow moving thunderstorms with excessive rainfall rates resulted in flash flooding in the northeast part of Bethany during the afternoon of June 19th. Flash flooding affected a small creek north of Bethany which inundated the northeast part of town, including a portion of State Highway 121. A car was submerged up to the hood and pushed off of the road. First responders rescued four people and a dog. No injuries were reported.
March 2017	Thunderstorm Wind	Bethany	$25,000	A grain bin was blown off its foundation.
October 2007	Thunderstorm Wind	Bethany	$15,000	Trees and power lines were blown down.\|
March 2026	Tornado (EF0)	Bethany	-	This tornado began about two miles west of Bethany where it uprooted an old tree. The tornado then curved to the northeast, producing tree damage and destroying an outbuilding along County Road 225 E before dissipating near Highway 121. The tornado had a maximum intensity of EF-0 and was in progress for just three minutes.
March 2025	Thunderstorm Wind	Bethany	-	A farm outbuilding was destroyed by thunderstorm winds.
March 2025	Thunderstorm Wind	Bethany	-	Trees were blown down on the north side of Bethany.
March 2025	Thunderstorm Wind	Bethany	-	An outbuilding was damaged by thunderstorm wind gusts.
July 2024	Thunderstorm Wind	Bethany	-	A powerline was blown down on West Robinson Street between Dixie Street and South Hale Street.
August 2022	Thunderstorm Wind	Bethany	-	Multiple tree limbs and power poles were blown down.
May 2020	Tornado (EFU)	Bethany	-	A landspout tornado briefly touched down in an open field 2.7 miles north-northeast of Bethany at 7:25 PM CDT. The tornado tracked eastward and quickly dissipated one minute later. No damage was observed.
May 2018	Thunderstorm Wind	Bethany	-	A tree was snapped in Bethany.
November 2005	Thunderstorm Wind	Bethany	-	Numerous trees snapped off.
May 2004	Thunderstorm Wind	Bethany	-	Numerous large tree limbs were blown down between Bethany and Sullivan.
May 2004	Thunderstorm Wind	Bethany	-	Thunderstorm winds blew down numerous trees, tree limbs and power lines. In Bethany, two houses sustained minor damage due to trees falling on them. In Sullivan, the roof of a Morton building that was under construction was peeled back and the building collapsed.
May 2002	Flash Flood	Bethany	-	Numerous roads were flooded, especially in the northern half of the county. In the southeastern section of Bethany, six people had to be evacuated due to the rising waters. No injuries were reported. Illinois Route 32 south of Lovington was flooded, as well as, Illinois Route 133 between Lovington and Arthur.
June 2000	Thunderstorm Wind	Bethany	-	Several trees were blown down near Illinois State Hwy 128.
March 2026	Hail	Bethany	-	no account filed
May 2018	Hail	Bethany	-	no account filed
April 2017	Hail	Bethany	-	no account filed
May 2011	Hail	Bethany	-	no account filed
May 2003	Hail	Bethany	-	no account filed
April 2002	Hail	Bethany	-	no account filed
July 1997	Hail	Bethany	-	no account filed

Every storm recorded in Moultrie 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.

Place	Distance	Sheets
Dunn	2.8 miles	14
Dalton City	5.8 miles	11
Cushman	6.1 miles	14
Kirksville	6.4 miles	14
Ullrich	7.2 miles	14
Lovington	7.4 miles	14
Lake City	7.6 miles	11
Sullivan	7.6 miles	14

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 Bethany	An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2230049	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 404241. 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.

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.