Carbondale, Illinois

22 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1922 and the latest in 1996. It stands in Carbondale Township. It lies in ZIP code area 62901. The Survey maps it on the Carbondale quadrangle. 21,857 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 4,150 feet above sea level.

Research this city

Carbondale within Jackson County

On record in Carbondale

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 5 records

Fuller, R. Buckminster, and Anne Hewlett Dome Homelisted 2006
Illinois Central Railroad Passenger Depotlisted 2002
Reef Houselisted 1985
West Walnut Street Historic Districtlisted 1975
Woodlawn Cemeterylisted 1985

Population over time

2 figures

Carbondale fell from 25,902 to 21,857 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	25,902
2020	21,857	-4,045 (-16%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

12 surveys from 22 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.

1922 USGS Carbondale quadrangle1:62500, 3 printings
1941 USGS Carbondale quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
1949 USGS Paducah quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
1950 USGS Paducah quadrangle1:250000
1954 USGS Paducah quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
1961 USGS Paducah quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
1964 USGS Paducah quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
1966 USGS Carbondale quadrangle1:24000, 4 printings
1984 USGS Carbondale quadrangle1:100000
1986 USGS Carbondale quadrangle1:100000
1987 USGS Paducah quadrangle1:250000
1996 USGS Carbondale quadrangle1:24000

Fires near this place

15 since 1995

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 15 fires within 5 miles of Carbondale between 1995 and 2016, burning about 20 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/undetermined	8
Debris and open burning	5
Recreation and ceremony	1
Smoking	1

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
8 August 1997	Smoking	under an acre	Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge	COSPILLWAY
12 July 2012	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	under an acre	Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge	SPILLWAY
24 June 2012	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	under an acre	Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge	13
15 June 2012	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	under an acre	Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge	MARINA
2 April 2011	Debris and open burning	under an acre	Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge	DREW
8 March 2009	Recreation and ceremony	3.0 acres	Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge	FALCON
4 March 1999	Debris and open burning	under an acre	Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge	PBU#98-02W
13 March 1995	Debris and open burning	8.8 acres	Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge	PBU#95-17W

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Jackson 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 Carbondale: 1 past producer. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Stone. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where	Site	Commodity	Status	Recorded
	Carbondale City Pit	Stone	Past Producer

Every working recorded in Jackson County

Storms near this place

60 of 89 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Carbondale in 89 storm reports between 1994 and 2024: 33 hail, 29 thunderstorm wind, 15 flash flood, 6 heavy rain. The reports record 1 death and 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
March 2007	Lightning	Carbondale	1 killed	An 18-year-old high school student was struck and killed by lightning at a track meet. The lightning strike occurred on the school's campus just before the start of the track meet. Witnesses stated there was little rain, thunder, or lightning prior to the fatal strike. The student was declared dead on arrival at the hospital.
June 2010	Lightning	Carbondale	1 hurt	A 32-year-old woman was struck by lightning in the parking lot of a Wal-Mart store. The main injury was to her leg, which may have sustained muscle damage. She was knocked to the ground when lightning struck the shopping cart she was holding. She lost some hair.
April 2011	Thunderstorm Wind	Carbondale	$1,200,000	About one-third of the roof was blown off a brand new police station, landing on three nearby homes. The police station suffered water damage, and the nearby homes were heavily damaged. There were numerous trees and power lines blown down in the city. On the Southern Illinois University campus, windows were broken at an academic building, and a tree landed on a residence hall. Carbondale city schools were closed the following day since thousands of utility customers remained without power.
January 2000	Thunderstorm Wind	Carbondale	$150,000	Thunderstorm winds estimated over 100 MPH destroyed a brick home and numerous outbuildings. Several homes were partially damaged from fallen trees. The path of this thunderstorm downburst extended into nearby northwest Williamson County near Cambria.
April 2017	Flash Flood	Carbondale	$100,000	More than 150 students on the campus of Southern Illinois University were evacuated to other buildings after a dormitory was flooded. Another campus building sustained minor basement flooding. Widespread street flooding occurred, especially in the more densely populated sections of Carbondale. The eastbound lanes of Route 13 were closed in Carbondale due to high water. Nearly every road in one large neighborhood was impassable. Much of the community of Makanda was flooded, where a newly constructed bridge in the middle of town was completely underwater.
June 1998	Flash Flood	Carbondale	$100,000	no account filed
September 2012	Flash Flood	Carbondale	$30,000	Flash flooding occurred throughout much of the city. Street flooding was reported throughout downtown Carbondale. Highway 13 was closed through the middle of the city due to stranded vehicles in the road. Flash flooding occurred in front of the train station on U.S. Highway 51, where two cars were stalled out. A nearby theater was damaged by floodwater. The automated observing system at the Carbondale airport measured 4.72 inches of rain from the remnants of Hurricane Isaac. Of that amount, 2.38 inches fell in a two-hour period.
June 2008	Thunderstorm Wind	Carbondale	$30,000	Trees were blown down, mostly south of downtown Carbondale. Several small trees were down on the Southern Illinois University campus. A couple of roads were blocked two to four miles south of Carbondale, including Old U.S. 51. Elsewhere in the area, a roof was damaged, a tree was down, and canoes were thrown 100 feet.
July 2015	Thunderstorm Wind	Carbondale	$20,000	A large tree fell through a house. The house was uninhabitable due to major structural damage.
May 2011	Thunderstorm Wind	Carbondale	$20,000	Numerous large tree limbs were blown down onto streets and power lines.
June 2000	Flash Flood	Carbondale	$20,000	no account filed
June 2015	Flash Flood	Carbondale	$10,000	Widespread street flooding was reported in the cities of Carbondale and Murphysboro. The daily rainfall total at the Carbondale airport was 3.17 inches.
September 2006	Hail	Carbondale	$10,000	Nickel to quarter-size hail occurred in a swath mainly to the south and east of Carbondale. Vehicles were damaged.
February 2023	Thunderstorm Wind	Carbondale	$8,000	Tree damage was reported in the Carbondale area due to strong winds with a passing line of showers. A wind gust to 62 mph was measured at the Carbondale airport by the automated weather observation system.
February 2023	Thunderstorm Wind	Carbondale	$8,000	The automated weather observation system at the Carbondale airport measured a wind gust to 61 mph. A power pole was leaning on Old Highway 13 a few miles west of Carbondale.
July 2016	Thunderstorm Wind	Carbondale	$8,000	Three miles northwest of Carbondale, a large tree and some tree limbs were blown down along Highway 13. In Carbondale, a tree was blown onto a house. Several large tree limbs and a few small trees were down in Carbondale. At least one street was partially blocked.
July 2008	Thunderstorm Wind	Carbondale	$8,000	Several trees and power lines were down around Carbondale, especially on the north side.
July 2021	Thunderstorm Wind	Carbondale	$7,000	A downburst with estimated peak winds of 75 mph struck the east side of downtown Carbondale. The damage fanned out from the beginning point to a max width of about 3/4 mile. The damage was almost entirely limited to tree damage, including a few whole trees down.
June 2018	Thunderstorm Wind	Carbondale	$7,000	A tree blocked old U.S. Highway 51 south near Makanda. A few miles south of Carbondale, a chimney of a house was damaged. Large tree limbs were blown down throughout the area.
February 2014	Thunderstorm Wind	Carbondale	$7,000	In Carbondale, a trained spotter measured a wind gust to 60 mph. Two six-foot sections of a fence were blown down. The awning on a second home detached from the building. Near the Carbondale Reservoir, tree limbs were blown down at scattered locations.
July 2010	Thunderstorm Wind	Carbondale	$7,000	Trees up to eight inches in diameter were blown down. Power lines were down.
May 2016	Thunderstorm Wind	Carbondale	$5,000	Several large tree limbs were blown down in the southwest part of the city.
December 1998	Thunderstorm Wind	Carbondale	$5,000	Five to eight trees were down along Country Club Road.
May 1995	Thunderstorm Wind	Carbondale	$5,000	no account filed
April 1999	Flash Flood	Carbondale	$4,000	Thunderstorms with prolonged periods of heavy rain forced a creek out of its banks in Carbondale. North Oakland Street was closed due to high water.
November 2017	Thunderstorm Wind	Carbondale	$3,000	An old metal storage shed was destroyed. Some of the wooden posts in the frame of the shed were partially rotted. Scattered tree damage was reported in the vicinity of the destroyed shed. A few of the trees landed on fence lines. The damage occurred on a farm operated by Southern Illinois University.
October 2004	Flash Flood	Carbondale	$3,000	Major street flooding occurred in downtown Carbondale. The most serious flooding was on the Southern Illinois University campus, where a car was submerged in floodwaters.
May 1999	Thunderstorm Wind	Carbondale	$3,000	Wind gusts estimated near 60 MPH downed tree limbs.
July 2016	Flash Flood	Carbondale	$2,000	On the east side of Carbondale, Route 13 eastbound was covered by several inches of water. Two cars were stranded. Manhole covers were blown off by gushing water. A few miles north of Murphysboro, there was flash flooding of roads and yards. The driveway of a home was completely flooded, and ditches were overflowing into the street. The daily rainfall total for the 6th was 4.26 inches at the Carbondale airport.
September 2006	Thunderstorm Wind	Carbondale	$2,000	A tent was blown down at a car dealership. Power lines were blown down.
May 2024	Flash Flood	Carbondale	-	A report was submitted via mPING of flooding in Carbondale. Hourly rainfall rates peaked at a radar estimated 1 to 1.75 inches within an hour in the Carbondale area between 1340-1440CST with MRMS unit flow values peaking around 1430CST.
July 2024	Flood	Carbondale	-	An mPING report was submitted for minor street flooding in Carbondale. Rainfall rates were estimated at half to three quarters of an inch in an hour.
January 2023	Flood	Carbondale	-	Minor street and yard flooding occurred.
May 2023	Hail	Carbondale	-	Quarter-size hail occurred in the Carbondale-Murphysboro area.
May 2022	Thunderstorm Wind	Carbondale	-	Pea-size hail was also observed by the trained spotter.
May 2022	Hail	Carbondale	-	A trained spotter reported one-inch hail over downtown Carbondale. There was a public report of half-dollar size hail in the city. The total length of the hailstorm was two minutes.
February 2019	Flood	Carbondale	-	Water was over a few roads on the southwest side of Carbondale. The daily rainfall at the Carbondale airport was 3.29 inches.
February 2018	Flash Flood	Carbondale	-	Several streets were flooded in the city of Carbondale. A couple of them were barricaded. Close to an inch of rain fell in an hour during a thunderstorm. This rain occurred on ground that was saturated by nearly 5 inches of rain in the previous four days.
April 2017	Hail	Carbondale	-	Penny-size hail was reported along Highway 13.
September 2017	Hail	Carbondale	-	A report of golf ball size hail in west Carbondale was relayed by a local television station.
April 2015	Flash Flood	Carbondale	-	Eastbound Route 13 was closed due to flooding. Another intersection along Route 13 was under water. Storm total rainfall of 2.15 inches was reported.
September 2015	Heavy Rain	Carbondale	-	A broadcast media station reported 3.35 inches of rainfall from thunderstorms during the night.
March 2012	Hail	Carbondale	-	Dime size hail was reported at the Southern Illinois University Airport.
June 2011	Heavy Rain	Carbondale	-	Emergency management personnel reported 3.19 inches fell within 90 minutes. There was standing water along some roadways. Many creeks and streams were at bankful or overflowing.
May 2011	Thunderstorm Wind	Carbondale	-	An amateur radio operator estimated winds gusted up to 60 mph.
April 2011	Flash Flood	Carbondale	-	One and one-half feet of water was over a city street a block east of U.S. Highway 51. The street was closed to all traffic. The flash flooding was caused by a slow-moving line of storms with torrential rainfall rates of two to three inches per hour.
May 2010	Heavy Rain	Carbondale	-	A CoCoRahs observer measured 1.8 inches of rainfall within one hour.
July 2009	Flash Flood	Carbondale	-	Route 13, the main east to west thoroughfare through Carbondale, was under several feet of water at a downtown intersection. A co-operative observer reported 4.5 inches of rain over a three-hour period. Ditches were overflowing between 2.5 and 3 feet deep onto sidewalks. In DeSoto, a spotter measured 3.95 inches of rain during the morning.
April 2007	Heavy Rain	Carbondale	-	Rainfall of 1.68 inches occurred within one hour at the Carbondale airport. Street flooding was common in Carbondale and Murphysboro.
June 2007	Heavy Rain	Carbondale	-	Street flooding occurred due to heavy thunderstorm rains. Along one section of Illinois Route 13, water was up to the bumpers of cars. More than three-quarters of an inch of rain fell within an hour.
April 2006	Hail	Carbondale	-	Nickel to quarter size hail occurred in Carbondale. Dime size hail occurred 6 miles south of the city.
July 2006	Heavy Rain	Carbondale	-	Standing water was found in many places as a result of thunderstorm downpours. Many intersections and parking lots were flooded. The water level was generally lower than the bottoms of automobiles. Rainfall in Carbondale was measured at 3.17 inches.
October 2004	Thunderstorm Wind	Carbondale	-	Numerous trees were blown down.
April 2002	Thunderstorm Wind	Carbondale	-	Trees were blown down on Willow, North McKinley, and West Sycamore Streets.
June 2001	Thunderstorm Wind	Carbondale	-	Numerous large tree limbs, along with a few whole trees, were blown down.
July 2001	Thunderstorm Wind	Carbondale	-	Two trees and one power line were down.
July 2001	Thunderstorm Wind	Carbondale	-	Five trees were down on Old Route 13.
April 1994	Thunderstorm Wind	Carbondale	-	Several trees were blown down on Route 13 east of Carbondale.
April 2023	Hail	Carbondale	-	no account filed
May 2023	Hail	Carbondale	-	no account filed

Every storm recorded in Jackson 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
Southern Hills	1.6 miles	22
Evergreen Terrace	2.2 miles	22
Boskydell	3.9 miles	22
Reeds Station	4.6 miles	18
Mount Carbon	5.8 miles	18
Texas Junction	6.1 miles	18
Etherton	6.2 miles	23
De Soto	6.3 miles	18

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 Carbondale	An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q577511	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 405578. 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.