BlockBefore

Braidwood, Illinois

23 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1892 and the latest in 1999. It stands in Reed Township. It lies in ZIP code area 60408. The Survey maps it on the Wilmington quadrangle. 6,194 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 568 feet above sea level.

Braidwood within Will County

Population over time

2 figures

Braidwood grew from 6,191 to 6,194 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
20106,191
20206,194+3 (+0%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

10 surveys from 23 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

12 since 2009

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 12 fires within 5 miles of Braidwood in 2009, burning about 332 acres in total. None started naturally. 2 were 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/undetermined10
Arson/incendiarism2

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
31 August 2009Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresIllinois Division of Forestry ResourcesBRACE13
5 May 2009Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreIllinois Division of Forestry ResourcesBRACE10
5 May 2009Arson/incendiarism5.0 acresIllinois Division of Forestry ResourcesBRACE9
29 May 2009Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresIllinois Division of Forestry ResourcesBRACE11
26 April 2009Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreIllinois Division of Forestry ResourcesBRAACE8
5 March 2009Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreIllinois Division of Forestry ResourcesBRACE2
5 March 2009Missing data/not specified/undetermined150 acresIllinois Division of Forestry ResourcesBRACE1
27 March 2009Arson/incendiarism3.0 acresIllinois Division of Forestry ResourcesBRACE6

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Will 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 Braidwood: 2 past producers, 2 producers. 2 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction. 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
Bice PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Bohac Sand PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Charles & Son Sand PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Fatlan Sand PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer

Every working recorded in Will County

Storms near this place

25 since 1993

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Braidwood in 25 storm reports between 1993 and 2025: 15 thunderstorm wind, 7 hail, 2 tornado, 1 funnel cloud. 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
November 2013Tornado (EF2)Braidwood$2,000,000This is a continuation of a tornado that began at 12:22 PM CST in Grundy County. The tornado moved into Will County on N Will Road just south of State Route 113. There was considerable damage to businesses on State Route 113 between N Will Road and I-55. An RV dealership had numerous vehicles overturned and damaged. A two story structure lost its roof and had portions of its walls ripped off. A model home was completely removed from its foundation on the north side of State Route 113. A manufactured building had its roof ripped off with all the walls collapsed. Widespread tree damage was observed along the west side of I-55 where the tornado almost tracked parallel to as it weakened. The tornado crossed I-55 near Widows Road where several hardwood trees were uprooted. The tornado tracked into the Midewin Tallgrass Prairie where it damaged several metal structures just west of Route 53. The tornado lifted just east of Route 53. Maximum wind speeds were estimated to be up to 125 mph.
June 2015Tornado (EF2)Braidwood$250,000This is a continuation of a tornado that begin in Grundy County. The tornado crossed into Will County near E Reed Road. The tornado crossed part of the property of the Braidwood Nuclear Generating Station producing tree damage. Wooden power poles were broken along Route 53, and again along Zilm Road. A garage was nearly completely destroyed along Ohlhues Road. (Tornado 8b of 10).
May 2008Thunderstorm WindBraidwood$20,000A tractor trailer was blown over on Interstate 55 near mile marker 232.
August 2007Thunderstorm WindBraidwood$20,000Estimated gust to 60 mph. Numerous trees and tree limbs blown down. One tree was blown down onto a house in Wilmington.
August 2009Thunderstorm WindBraidwood$10,000Damage was reported to a storage trailer and to the roof of a gas station near Interstate 55.
August 2011Thunderstorm WindBraidwood$5,000Numerous trees and tree limbs were blown down, including some that fell onto vehicles. Power lines were also blown down along Division Street and Main Street.
May 2025Thunderstorm WindBraidwood-Numerous trees and power lines were blown down. Five to six homes suffered roof and shingle damage from falling trees.
July 2023Thunderstorm WindBraidwood-Several trees approximately 12 inches in diameter were uprooted near the intersection of Main Street and Cook Street in Braidwood.
August 2022Thunderstorm WindBraidwood-Multiple large tree limbs were blown.
August 2021Thunderstorm WindBraidwood-A tree was blown down onto power lines along County Line Road.
July 2020Thunderstorm WindBraidwood-Wind gusts were estimated to 60 mph.
July 2016Thunderstorm WindBraidwood-Also pea size hail.
July 2012HailBraidwood-Nickel size hail was reported in Diamond.
March 2007Thunderstorm WindBraidwood-Tree limbs blown down on roadways.
August 2007Thunderstorm WindBraidwood-Tree limbs blown down at Route 113 and West River Road.
October 2006Thunderstorm WindBraidwood-A very large tree was blown down at Essex Road and Route 113.
October 2006Thunderstorm WindBraidwood-Tree limbs blown down across the city. Large tree limbs blown down at Route 53 and Coal City Road.
August 1993HailBraidwood-Hail ranging in size from marble- to golfball-size fell from 1708 CST to 1713 CST in a swath 7 miles long and 3 miles wide through Morris. Sixty- to seventy-mph winds knocked down large tree branches and caused structural damage to buildings. There was $200,000 in property damage and $300,000 in crop damage in Grundy County. The hailstorm continued southeast to Braidwood before diminishing in southern Will County.
March 2012HailBraidwood-no account filed
June 2012HailBraidwood-no account filed
May 2008HailBraidwood-no account filed
September 2000Thunderstorm WindBraidwood-no account filed
September 2000Funnel CloudBraidwood-no account filed
June 1999HailBraidwood-no account filed
April 1994HailBraidwood-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Will 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
Godley2.6 miles13
Lakewood Shores3.8 miles23
Riverwood Estates4.0 miles23
Resthaven4.0 miles23
Torino (historical)4.3 miles13
Winchester Estates4.5 miles23
Wilmington4.6 miles23
Custer Park4.6 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 BraidwoodAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q578603The 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 404791. 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.