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Bunker Hill, Illinois

12 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1912 and the latest in 1998. It stands in Bunker Hill Township. It lies in ZIP code area 62014. The Survey maps it on the Bunker Hill quadrangle. 1,630 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 659 feet above sea level.

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Bunker Hill within Macoupin County

Population over time

2 figures

Bunker Hill fell from 1,774 to 1,630 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
20101,774
20201,630-144 (-8%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

7 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

1,023 words on this township

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

The site on which the present town of Bunker Hill is located was once a prairie, known as Wolf ridge, from the fact that it was frequented by wolves. The earliest inhabitants of this section were the Peoria, Kickapoo and Winnebago Indians, who had a camping ground northeast of the present town of Bunker Hill. In 1826 the last of these tribes left here and moved farther west.

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

The year 1827 witnessed the arrival of James Breden, who was the first justice of the peace in the township, holding the office for more than twenty years. Simeon Jones may also be classed among the first settlers in this township. He was born and reared in Madison county, this state, and after coming to Bunker Hill township, served for many years as school treasurer.

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

In 1833 Messrs. Tuttle and Lincoln laid out a town two miles south of the present site of Bunker Hill and named the place Lincoln. However, a log cabin and a frame house marked the farthest progress to which the town ever attained. This was later converted into a farm by J. V. Hopper.

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 Bunker Hill Township - it names this place 4 more 4 times.

Fires near this place

3 since 2008

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 3 fires within 5 miles of Bunker Hill between 2008 and 2009, burning about 40 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/undetermined3

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
21 March 2009Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreIllinois Division of Forestry Resources90334
24 January 2008Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreIllinois Division of Forestry ResourcesBROWN
15 January 2009Missing data/not specified/undetermined40 acresIllinois Division of Forestry Resources90117

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Macoupin County

Mines and quarries near this place

1 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 1 working within 5 miles of Bunker Hill: 1 occurrence. None of them 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
Limestone ProspectStone, Crushed/BrokenOccurrence

Every working recorded in Macoupin County

Storms near this place

60 since 1998

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Bunker Hill in 60 storm reports between 1998 and 2026: 37 hail, 19 thunderstorm wind, 4 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
May 2000HailBunker Hill$160,000no account filed
March 2026Thunderstorm WindBunker Hill-Thunderstorm winds downed power lines near Dorsey.
May 2025Thunderstorm WindBunker Hill-Thunderstorm winds knocked down tree limbs that were 12 inches in diameter. The caller reported estimated winds of 70 mph.
December 2021Thunderstorm WindBunker Hill-Thunderstorm winds blew down a large tree onto Illinois Route 159 about a mile south of Bunker Hill. Several power lines were blown down onto School House Road east of intersection with Dorchester Road.
May 2018Thunderstorm WindBunker Hill-Several power lines were blown down in Bunker Hill.
July 2018Thunderstorm WindBunker Hill-Thunderstorm winds blew down numerous trees and power lines between Bunker Hill and Gillespie. One tree was blown down onto Illinois Route 16 in Gillespie.
March 2017Thunderstorm WindBunker Hill-Thunderstorm winds took some shingles off of roofs, knocked over fences and snapped a few small trees around town. Also, some sheet metal was torn off of a couple of barns in the area.
May 2010Thunderstorm WindBunker Hill-Thunderstorm winds blew down 15 power poles onto Illinois Route 159 just north of Mansholt Road. Route 159 was closed for about 12 hours while the poles were being replaced. Additional power poles were blown down just north of Illinois Route 138 on Whitefield Road.
July 2006HailBunker Hill-A swath of large hail to the size of quarters fell from Bunker Hill southward towards the county line. Several hundred acres of corn were damaged along and west of Illinois Route 159.
July 2006Thunderstorm WindBunker Hill-Full size pickup truck blown into ditch.
July 2006Thunderstorm WindBunker Hill-Numerous trees and tree limbs blown down.
July 2006Tornado (F0)Bunker Hill-A tornado briefly touched down in an open field north of Bunker Hill near the intersection of Illinois Routes 159 and 138. No damage or injuries were reported.
June 2005Tornado (F0)Bunker Hill-The first in a series of weak tornadoes occurred around 6:00 pm over the far west sections of Bunker Hill. Several large trees were topped and some minor structural damage occurred to some buildings. A few vehicles were also damaged by fallen trees.
June 2005Tornado (F0)Bunker Hill-The second tornado occurred 2.5 miles north of Bunker Hill near Highway 159 . A large machine shed was damaged with debris tossed up to 300 yards northeast of Highway 159 over an open farm field.
June 2005Thunderstorm WindBunker Hill-Thunderstorm winds downed trees, power lines, and blew off roof shingles.
June 2005Tornado (F1)Bunker Hill-The third tornado firmed approximately 2 miles northeast of Bunker Hill near Mansholt Road. One large machine shed was completely destroyed. The debris was tossed over 450 yards to the northeast. The tornado caused minor damage to several grain silos and a machine shed on a farm on South Dorchester Road. This tornado continued northeast across the northern part of Wilsonville and caused roof damage to a church as well as tree and power pole damage.
May 2004Thunderstorm WindBunker Hill-Some trees and large tree limbs were down in Bunker Hill. A pickup truck on West Warren Street was damaged by a large tree limb.
October 2004HailBunker Hill-A storm spotter reported 3/4 inch hail west of Bunker Hill.
April 2003HailBunker Hill-Amateur radio spotters reported golfball size hail.
April 2003HailBunker Hill-Storm spotters reported golfball size hail west of Bunker Hill.
May 2003HailBunker Hill-Storm spotters reported 3/4 inch hail just east of Bunker Hill.
May 2002HailBunker Hill-The local fire department reported nickel size hail.
September 2001Thunderstorm WindBunker Hill-Thunderstorm wind gusts downed some trees in Bunker Hill. There was also some minor roof damage.
June 2000HailBunker Hill-Amateur radio spotters reported 3/4 inch hail.
August 2000Thunderstorm WindBunker Hill-Amateur radio spotters reported large trees down in town.
July 2000Thunderstorm WindBunker Hill-Storm spotters reported 60 mph wind gusts in the Bunker Hill area.
April 2026HailBunker Hill-no account filed
April 2026HailBunker Hill-no account filed
March 2017HailBunker Hill-no account filed
September 2017HailBunker Hill-no account filed
April 2015HailBunker Hill-no account filed
April 2015HailBunker Hill-no account filed
May 2013HailBunker Hill-no account filed
April 2012HailBunker Hill-no account filed
May 2012HailBunker Hill-no account filed
May 2011HailBunker Hill-no account filed
June 2009HailBunker Hill-no account filed
January 2008HailBunker Hill-no account filed
May 2005HailBunker Hill-no account filed
August 2005Thunderstorm WindBunker Hill-no account filed
May 2004Thunderstorm WindBunker Hill-no account filed
July 2004HailBunker Hill-no account filed
July 2004HailBunker Hill-no account filed
March 2003HailBunker Hill-no account filed
March 2003HailBunker Hill-no account filed
May 2002HailBunker Hill-no account filed
April 2002HailBunker Hill-no account filed
October 2001Thunderstorm WindBunker Hill-no account filed
June 1999HailBunker Hill-no account filed
June 1999HailBunker Hill-no account filed
June 1999Thunderstorm WindBunker Hill-no account filed
June 1998Thunderstorm WindBunker Hill-no account filed
May 1998HailBunker Hill-no account filed
May 1998HailBunker Hill-no account filed
June 1998HailBunker Hill-no account filed
June 1998HailBunker Hill-no account filed
June 1998HailBunker Hill-no account filed
June 1998HailBunker Hill-no account filed
June 1998HailBunker Hill-no account filed
May 1998HailBunker Hill-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
Millville1.3 miles12
Woodburn3.2 miles12
Centerville4.2 miles12
Dorchester4.5 miles12
Royal Lakes4.7 miles12
Baylestown5.1 miles12
Wilsonville5.4 miles11
Shipman7.1 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 Bunker HillAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q575935The 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 405195. 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.