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Brighton, Illinois

12 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1925 and the latest in 1985. It stands in Brighton Township. It lies in ZIP code area 62012. The Survey maps it on the Brighton quadrangle. 2,221 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 663 feet above sea level.

Brighton within Macoupin County

Population over time

2 figures

Brighton fell from 2,254 to 2,221 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
20102,254
20202,221-33 (-1%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

6 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

1,316 words on this township

History of Macoupin County, Illinois : Biographical and Pictorial, published 1911 names this settlement in its chapter on Brighton Township. These are the passages that mention it, exactly as the scans read.

Brighton township is bounded on the north by Shipman, on the east by Bunker Hill, on the south by Madison county and on the west by Jersey county. The land is drained by the tributaries of Wood river, while it is traversed by two railroads - the Chicago & Alton and the Rock Island division of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy railroad.

Passage source: History of Macoupin County, Illinois : Biographical and Pictorial, published 1911.

The first Sunday school was organized about 1832 and was held in a log schoolhouse located about a mile from the present town of Brighton. The two denominations represented here at that time were the Baptist and Methodist. Some of the early settlers would ride to Alton, a distance of eleven miles, in wagons drawn by ox teams, to attend religious services. Until about 1835 preaching was held here in private homes. About that time the Baptists built a house of worship and the first minister was Rev. Amos Dodge.

Passage source: History of Macoupin County, Illinois : Biographical and Pictorial, published 1911.

The town of Brighton is located mostly on the northwest quarter of section 19. Herman Griggs was the founder of the town, which was laid out in 1836 by Luke Knowlton. A short time previously a company had purchased two hundred and eighty acres of land of Mr. Brown on the same section. They proceeded at once to survey and lay off a town, which was named Bristol. The two plats were only twenty or thirty rods apart. Nathan Scarritt was manager of the latter company. Quite a competing spirit arose between the parties in town proprietorship. In 1837 there was a financial panic, which severely visited the two towns of Bristol and Brighton. Mr. Scarritt had erected what became known as the Hill House, on Main street, occupying it with a stock of merchandise. The company becoming discouraged sold the entire tract of two hundred and eighty acres to Daniel Nelson for $r,ooo, and the latter sold one half of it to J. W. Gilson. Foj a time improvements were very slow and for several months the only building that was erected was the Methodist church in 1837.

Passage source: History of Macoupin County, Illinois : Biographical and Pictorial, published 1911.

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 Brighton Township - it names this place 6 more 6 times.

Fires near this place

25 since 2007

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 25 fires within 5 miles of Brighton between 2007 and 2011, burning about 106 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/undetermined20
Debris and open burning3
Power generation/transmission/distribution1
Equipment and vehicle use1

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
1 September 2009Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreIllinois Division of Forestry Resources90902
27 July 2009Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresIllinois Division of Forestry Resources90722
29 June 2009Power generation/transmission/distributionunder an acreIllinois Division of Forestry Resources90627
21 June 2009Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreIllinois Division of Forestry Resources90620
4 May 2009Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreIllinois Division of Forestry Resources90503
12 May 2009Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresIllinois Division of Forestry Resources90506
6 April 2009Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreIllinois Division of Forestry Resources90311
1 April 2011Debris and open burning1.5 acresIllinois Division of Forestry ResourcesCRAQFTON

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Macoupin County

Storms near this place

45 since 1993

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Brighton in 45 storm reports between 1993 and 2026: 24 hail, 16 thunderstorm wind, 3 flash flood, 1 flood. 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
May 2000HailBrighton$160,000no account filed
June 1995Thunderstorm WindBrighton$3,500Wind gusts as high as 75 mph knocked down numerous trees, power poles, and power lines. One tree fell and completely demolish a bandstand in Brighton. A tractor-semitrailer was blown off the road along Interstate 55 near Mount Olive as well.
March 2026Thunderstorm WindBrighton-Thunderstorm winds downed trees and power lines in Brighton at North Main Street and Oak Street.
March 2024Tornado (EF0)Brighton-After crossing into Macoupin County it damaged a small outbuilding throwing the debris west into a field that was just over the county line in Jersey County. As it continued to the northeast it crossed Illinois Route 111 uprooting a large tree. Before lifting and dissipating 3.8 miles north northeast of Brighton, it snapped off several power poles along Bachman Road. In Macoupin County the tornado was rated EF0 with a path length of 2.36 miles and a max path width of 200 yards. Overall, the tornado was rated EF0 with a path length of 2.75 miles and a max path width of 200 yards. No deaths or injuries were reported.
May 2021Thunderstorm WindBrighton-Thunderstorm winds blew down several large trees about 3 miles southeast of Miles Station. One large tree fell onto a pole barn causing moderate damage. The tree also knocked a gas meter off of the house.
August 2019Flash FloodBrighton-Up to four inches of rain fell in a 4 hour time period causing flash flooding. Numerous roads were flooded in the southwestern portions of Macoupin County. One motorist had to be rescued from 4 feet of water at the Railroad overpass along Illinois Route 16 at Shipman.
July 2017Thunderstorm WindBrighton-Thunderstorm winds blew down numerous large tree limbs around town.
April 2017Thunderstorm WindBrighton-Thunderstorm winds blew down several trees and power lines, as well as numerous tree limbs between Brighton and Medora.
July 2016Flash FloodBrighton-Up to 4 inches of rain fell in a short amount of time causing flash flooding. Several roads across southwestern Macoupin County were flooded, including Piasa Road just northeast of Brighton.
April 2015HailBrighton-A swath of large hail fell across Macoupin County from the Brighton area to Dorchester then into Gillespie. Most of the hail was between an inch and two inches with three inch diameter hail reported in Gillespie.
April 2015Thunderstorm WindBrighton-Thunderstorm winds blew down power lines in Brighton. In Shipman, the winds caused siding and window damage from wind driven one inch diameter hail. In the Benld and Staunton areas, several trees were blown down.
April 2013Thunderstorm WindBrighton-Thunderstorm winds uprooted a six foot tall spruce tree and knocked a few shingles off of a nearby house.
June 2010Thunderstorm WindBrighton-Thunderstorm winds blew down several trees in town.
June 2009Thunderstorm WindBrighton-Several large tree limbs were blown down.
August 2008Flash FloodBrighton-Very heavy rain fell in a short amount of time on already saturated soils causing flash flooding. Illinois Route 111 was closed about 4 miles south of Piasa due to flooding.
May 2008HailBrighton-Local law enforcement reported hail up to golf ball size in Brighton.
July 2006Thunderstorm WindBrighton-Several trees and power lines were blown down.
November 2005HailBrighton-Amateur radio spotters reported 3/4 inch hail south of Brighton.
May 2004HailBrighton-Storm spotters reported 3/4 inch hail.
July 2004Thunderstorm WindBrighton-Law enforcement reported a large tree down in Brighton.
April 2003HailBrighton-The County Sheriff reported nickel size hail.
April 2003HailBrighton-Amateur radio spotters reported half dollar size hail.
May 2003HailBrighton-Amateur radio spotters reported nickel size hail.
July 2001HailBrighton-Storm spotters reported 3/4 inch hail.
May 2000HailBrighton-Storm spotters reported 1 inch hail.
June 2000HailBrighton-Storm spotters reported nickel size hail.
August 2000Thunderstorm WindBrighton-Amateur radio spotters reported a large tree down along Highway 67.
April 1998HailBrighton-Amateur radio spotters reported 3/4 inch hail.
April 1998HailBrighton-Amateur radio spotters reported 3/4 inch hail.
May 1995HailBrighton-Ham radio spotters reported threee-quarters inch diameter hail in the Brighton area. Several minutes later, the Illinois State Police and the county sheriff reported golf ball-size hail in and around Carlinville, lasting for about ten minutes.
June 1995Thunderstorm WindBrighton-Wind gusts to 60 mph broke off numerous tree limbs.
April 2013HailBrighton-no account filed
April 2013HailBrighton-no account filed
April 2011HailBrighton-no account filed
May 2010HailBrighton-no account filed
April 2010HailBrighton-no account filed
May 2009HailBrighton-no account filed
May 2008HailBrighton-no account filed
April 2006Thunderstorm WindBrighton-no account filed
May 2004HailBrighton-no account filed
June 2002Thunderstorm WindBrighton-no account filed
April 1998FloodBrighton-no account filed
June 1998HailBrighton-no account filed
June 1998Thunderstorm WindBrighton-no account filed
April 1993HailBrighton-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Macoupin 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
Miles Station2.7 miles12
Piasa5.3 miles12
Woodburn6.8 miles12
Shipman7.4 miles12
Medora9.3 miles12
Centerville9.6 miles12
Bunker Hill10.0 miles12
Summerville10.3 miles12

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 BrightonAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q915797The 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 404869. 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.

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.