Cantrall, Illinois

17 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1907 and the latest in 1985. It stands in Fancy Creek Township. It lies in ZIP code area 62625. The Survey maps it on the Athens quadrangle. 144 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 591 feet above sea level.

Cantrall within Sangamon County

On record in Cantrall

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 1 record

Power Farmsteadlisted 1989

Population over time

2 figures

Cantrall grew from 139 to 144 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	139
2020	144	+5 (+4%)

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.

1907 USGS Springfield quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
1930 USGS Springfield quadrangle1:62500, 3 printings
1940 USGS Springfield quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
1958 USGS Decatur quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
1961 USGS Decatur quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
1966 USGS Athens quadrangle1:24000, 3 printings
1985 USGS Springfield quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings

In the county-history sources

3,434 words on this township

History of Sangamon County, Illinois; Together with Sketches of Its Cities, Villages and Townships ... Portraits of Prominent Persons, and Biographies of Representative Citizens. History of Illinois, published 1881 names this settlement in its chapter on Fancy Creek Township. These are the passages that mention it, exactly as the scans read.

The date of the first settlement in what is now Fancy Creek township, was 1819. Among the earliest settlers were Stephen England and his son David, William Higgins, John Cline, Robert McClelland, Levi, Wyatt and William G. Cantrall, Thomas Constant, John Strode, George Power, EliphaletHawley, John Bracson, Aquilla Davis, Thomas Hargis, Thomas Strawbridge, Garrett Elkin, William F. Elkin, Thomas Brown and Andrew Clamo.

Passage source: History of Sangamon County, Illinois; Together with Sketches of Its Cities, Villages and Townships ... Portraits of Prominent Persons, and Biographies of Representative Citizens. History of Illinois, published 1881.

Stephen England was born June 12, IV^S, in Virginia. His pai'ents removed to Bath county, Kentucky. Stephen was there married about 1Y91, to Anna Harper. In 1813, the family moved to Ohio, and in the fall of 1818, to Madison county, Illinois. The following winter Stephen England, with two of his sons-in-laAv, came up to the San-ga-ma country to explore it. The nearest habitation to where Springfield now stands, was on the south bank of the Sangamon river, near Avheie the Chicago and Alton railroad crosses. They found a man named William Higgins living in a cabin there, which he had built in January, 1819. They remained over night with Mr. Higgins, and crossed to the north side of the river, each selecting a spot on which to make a home. In order to prevent others who might come after from choosing the same ground, they cut a few logs, laid them across each other in three piles, and each man cut his initials on a tree near by, as evidence thai the land was claimed. That was near what was soon called Higgins' creek, but is now called Cantrall's creek. They returned to their families, and early in March, 1819, Stephen England, his son David, his sons-in-law, Andrew Cline and Wyatt Cantrall, returned to their claims for the purpose of commencing improvements. The night after their arrival snow, fell about one foot deep, and the weather was colder than it had been at any time during the winter. They commenced work, and Mr. England and his son soon had their house up, roofed, and the door and chimney place cut out. The other two men had their materials on the ground. By that time the melting snow warned them that they must cross the river at once, or they might be delayed several weeks. They returned to their families, and attempted to move them, but the ground was so soft from melting snow that their teams were unequal to the task of drawing the wagons with their heavy loads, and they again left their families. The same men returned, accompanied by two of the daughters of Mr. England. They then completed their houses, cleared land, planted their crops, and returned to Madison county for their families, bringing them to their new homes about the first of June, 1819.

William Higgins was born in Barren county, Kentucky, in 1774, and in 1817, moved with his family to St. Clair county, Illinois. He started with his lamily, in the fall of 1818, to the Sanga-ma country. They stopped on Sugar creek, with the Drennans, until January or February, 1819, when they moved about fifteen miles north, and built a cabin on the south side of the Sangamon river, above where the Chicago & Alton railroad now crosses. While he was living in camp, before his cabin was completed, himself and wife crossed to the north side of the river on horseback. They were belated, and spent one night in the river bottom, near the mouth of Fancy creek. A few days later, Mr. Higgins went to the north side alone, found five bee trees, and killed a panther which measured nine feet from tip to tip. He went over soon after, accompanied by his wife and two daughters, one of whom is now (1876) the wife of David England. These three are believed to have been the first white women who ever crossed to the north of the river, in what is now Sangamon county. Stephen England and his two sons-inlaw came on their exploring expedition, and stopped with Mr. Higgins, who accompanied them to the north side, and led the way to the vicinity of where Cantrall now stands, and all four selected sites for improvement.

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 Fancy Creek Township - it names this place 7 more 7 times.

Fires near this place

18 since 2005

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 18 fires within 5 miles of Cantrall between 2005 and 2014, burning about 118 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 burning	12
Missing data/not specified/undetermined	6

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

Date	Cause	Size	Reported by	Name on the report
26 September 2013	Debris and open burning	2.0 acres	Illinois Division of Forestry Resources	13-0000327
11 September 2013	Debris and open burning	under an acre	Illinois Division of Forestry Resources	13-0000307
8 July 2010	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	1.0 acres	Illinois Division of Forestry Resources	10209
19 July 2010	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	under an acre	Illinois Division of Forestry Resources	10228
29 May 2013	Debris and open burning	under an acre	Illinois Division of Forestry Resources	13-0000179
6 April 2013	Debris and open burning	3.0 acres	Illinois Division of Forestry Resources	13-0000108
19 April 2014	Debris and open burning	under an acre	Illinois Division of Forestry Resources	14-0000129
17 April 2014	Debris and open burning	2.0 acres	Illinois Division of Forestry Resources	14-0000125

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Sangamon County

Mines and quarries near this place

3 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 3 workings within 5 miles of Cantrall: 3 past producers. 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.

Site	Commodity	Status
Athens Quarry	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Past Producer
Unnamed Limestone Quarry	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Past Producer
Unnamed Limestone Quarry	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Past Producer

Every working recorded in Sangamon County

Storms near this place

13 since 1994

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Cantrall in 13 storm reports between 1994 and 2025: 6 hail, 3 thunderstorm wind, 2 flash flood, 1 flood. The reports record 1 injury. 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
July 2006	Thunderstorm Wind	Cantrall	1 hurt	Numerous trees and power lines were blown down across Cantrall, Williamsville, Sherman, Buffalo and Springfield. One person was injured in Springfield when a tree fell on their car.
August 2016	Flash Flood	Cantrall	$2,200,000	Persistent thunderstorms produced heavy rainfall during the early evening in Sangamon County and the western half of Springfield with 2.50 to 6.00 inches in less than three hours. Some locations reported more than 3.00 inches of rain between 1700 and 1800 CST. Numerous city streets in Springfield were closed due to the flooding, including all of the roads in the vicinity of the Illinois State Fairgrounds where the annual State Fair was starting. A total of 58 camper trailers and 25 vehicles were damaged on the State Fairgrounds, where nearly 50 people were rescued in the camping area. No injuries were reported. Many livestock buildings were flooded, the Grandstand concert was cancelled, and fair officials closed the entrance/exit gates to keep people from leaving due to the extensive street flooding. In other areas of Springfield, 48 water rescues were made on city streets and viaducts by first responders, with no injuries reported. In other parts of the county, rural roads north of Springfield toward Cantrall, and west of Springfield toward New Berlin were impassable. State Highways 4, 29, 97 and 125 were also closed in spots due to flowing water and flooding.
July 1994	Thunderstorm Wind	Cantrall	$50,000	Thunderstorm winds blew off part of a roof on a double wide mobile home and broke several windows in the grade school in Cantrall. Also, numerous trees were blown down in Cantrall.
May 2025	Flash Flood	Cantrall	-	Water was flowing across Illinois 29 at Gabbert Road south of Cantrall.
May 2019	Tornado (EF1)	Cantrall	-	A tornado touched down 1.6 miles southwest of Cantrall at 12:15 AM CDT on May 23rd. The tornado tracked northeastward, damaging a farm and destroying an outbuilding and several trees before crossing into far southeastern Menard County at 12:20 AM CDT.
August 2016	Flood	Cantrall	-	Persistent thunderstorms produced heavy rainfall during the early evening in Sangamon County and the western half of Springfield with 2.50 to 6.00 inches in less than three hours. Some locations reported more than 3.00 inches of rain between 1700 and 1800 CST. Numerous city streets in Springfield were closed due to the flooding, including all of the roads in the vicinity of the Illinois State Fairgrounds where the annual State Fair was starting. A total of 58 camper trailers and 25 vehicles were damaged on the State Fairgrounds, where nearly 50 people were rescued in the camping area. No injuries were reported. Many livestock buildings were flooded, the Grandstand concert was cancelled, and fair officials closed the entrance/exit gates to keep people from leaving due to the extensive street flooding. In other areas of Springfield, 48 water rescues were made on city streets and viaducts by first responders, with no injuries reported. In other parts of the county, rural roads north of Springfield toward Cantrall, and west of Springfield toward New Berlin were impassable. State Highways 4, 29, 97 and 125 were also closed in spots due to flowing water and flooding. Due to the extent of the flooding and additional rainfall up to 1.00 inch in some locations, many roads remained flooded into the early morning hours of August 13th.
April 2020	Hail	Cantrall	-	no account filed
January 2018	Hail	Cantrall	-	no account filed
May 2016	Hail	Cantrall	-	no account filed
March 2012	Hail	Cantrall	-	no account filed
May 2009	Hail	Cantrall	-	no account filed
May 2008	Thunderstorm Wind	Cantrall	-	no account filed
April 1998	Hail	Cantrall	-	no account filed

Every storm recorded in Sangamon 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
North Wind	0.8 miles	17
Barr	2.0 miles	17
Green Acres	3.1 miles	17
Andrew	3.5 miles	17
Ellis	4.1 miles	17
Van Wood	4.4 miles	17
Sherman	4.8 miles	17
Knollwood	5.1 miles	17

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 Cantrall	An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q1967538	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 405565. 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.