Cary, Illinois

19 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1923 and the latest in 1993. It stands in Algonquin Township. It lies in ZIP code area 60013. It stands on Cary Creek. The Survey maps it on the Barrington quadrangle.

Cary within McHenry County

Topographic sheets covering this place

10 surveys from 19 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.

1923 USGS Barrington quadrangle1:62500, 4 printings
1935 USGS Barrington quadrangle1:62500
1954 USGS Rockford quadrangle1:250000
1955 USGS Rockford quadrangle1:250000
1958 USGS Rockford quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
1960 USGS Barrington quadrangle1:24000, 4 printings
1961 USGS Barrington quadrangle1:62500
1963 USGS Rockford quadrangle1:250000
1981 USGS Elgin quadrangle1:100000
1993 USGS Barrington quadrangle1:24000

In the county-history sources

16,941 words on this township

History of McHenry County, Illinois : Together with Sketches of Its Cities, Villages and Towns : Educational, Religious, Civil, Military, and Political History : Portraits of Prominent Persons, and Biographies of Representative Citizens, Also a Condensed History of Illinois .., published 1885 names this settlement in its chapter on Algonquin Township. These are the passages that mention it, exactly as the scans read.

In 1837 Levi Seebert came also from Virginia and located in this township. He married a daughter of Samuel Gillilan's and resides at Cary Station. Hosea Thropp came from Chautauqua, N. Y, in 1839 and now resides at Ridgefield, this county. Newman Crabtree and brother came from New York in 1836. Newman died in 1842, and his brother a few years afterward. Simon Chandler came from New York in 1836, and still resides across the river east of Algonquin Village. Thomas Chunn, of Virginia, came in 1836, and died in 1843. Isaac Denny, of Virginia, came in 1836, and died in 1848. Edwin Powell came from New York in 1837, and died in 1853. Major Beardsley came from New York in 1836, and died in 1842. John Kern came from New York in 1836, and died in 1847, while on his way to California. Among the early settlers of this township are found the names of Beman

Passage source: History of McHenry County, Illinois : Together with Sketches of Its Cities, Villages and Towns : Educational, Religious, Civil, Military, and Political History : Portraits of Prominent Persons, and Biographies of Representative Citizens, Also a Condensed History of Illinois .., published 1885.

The first public burying grounds were laid out at Crystal Lake in 1840. It contains two and a half acres and is kept in a splendid condition. The first person buried here was Ella King, daughter of Isaac King, it was at the instance of her death that the ground was set apart as a place of burial. In 1853 the Cemetery of Algonquin Village was laid out. It is situated north of the village and contains two acres, and is kept in moderately good condition. The land was donated by Samuel Edwards, whose wife died in 1853, and was the first person buried here. The third burying ground established in the township was at Cary Station, in the year 1862. It contains about one acre of ground, and is kept in good condition.

Thepostoffice was established at Algonquin in 1836 it being the first in the township. Dr. Cornish was-the first Postmaster appointed. He was succeeded by Isaac Denney, whose place was taken by John Peters, and he in turn was succeeded by John Sears. The present Postmaster is Charles Chunn. The following named persons are said to have at different times held the postoffice but the dates indicating their term of office or time of holding it we are unable to give: Eli Henderson, Peter Potter, Samuel Finch and Colonel Wm. Henry.

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 Algonquin Township - it names this place 3 more 3 times.

Fires near this place

1 since 2009

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 1 fire within 5 miles of Cary in 2009, burning about 3 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	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
17 February 2009	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	3.0 acres	Illinois Division of Forestry Resources	D

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in McHenry County

Mines and quarries near this place

9 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 9 workings within 5 miles of Cary: 6 producers, 3 past producers. 6 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.

Site	Commodity	Status
Algonquin Pit #5	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Producer
Algonquin Plant	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer
Algonquin Sand & Gravel	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Producer
Carpentersville Pit #25	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Producer
Cary Plant & Portable Mill	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer
Crystal Lake Sand & Gravel Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Producer
Dundee Pit Meyer Material	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Producer
Island Lake Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Producer
Unnamed Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer

Every working recorded in McHenry County

Storms near this place

17 since 2000

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Cary in 17 storm reports between 2000 and 2025: 9 thunderstorm wind, 6 hail, 2 heavy rain. 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.

When	Event	Place named	Harm	What the report says
July 2008	Thunderstorm Wind	Cary	$3,000	A light pole was blown down in a parking lot along Northwest Highway. The light pole struck four parked cars.
August 2018	Thunderstorm Wind	Cary	$1,000	Tree limbs and power lines were blown down. Some limbs were partially blocking roads. One tree limb was tangled in power lines.
June 2008	Thunderstorm Wind	Cary	$1,000	Numerous tree limbs were blown down and a utility pole was snapped in half.
March 2025	Thunderstorm Wind	Cary	-	A report was received of downed power lines spawning a fire near Cary.
August 2025	Thunderstorm Wind	Cary	-	Numerous photos were shared of large branches and at least one uprooted tree in and around Cary.
June 2024	Heavy Rain	Cary	-	Mesonet station FW3908 recorded 4.37 of rain.
June 2024	Heavy Rain	Cary	-	Storm total rainfall of 5.99 was recorded in Cary.
August 2021	Thunderstorm Wind	Cary	-	Numerous trees and power lines were blown down.
June 2019	Thunderstorm Wind	Cary	-	A large tree was blown down onto power lines.
June 2008	Hail	Cary	-	Penny to nickel size hail lasting 10 minutes was reported in Cary.
May 2005	Hail	Cary	-	Half dollar size hail was reported covering the ground.
July 2005	Thunderstorm Wind	Cary	-	A large tree was uprooted and fell onto a house causing minor damage to the roof. Tree limbs were also blown down across some areas.
May 2004	Thunderstorm Wind	Cary	-	Large tree limbs were blown down.
July 2017	Hail	Cary	-	no account filed
April 2014	Hail	Cary	-	no account filed
May 2012	Hail	Cary	-	no account filed
May 2000	Hail	Cary	-	no account filed

Every storm recorded in McHenry 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
Trout Valley	1.3 miles	19
Fox River Grove	1.5 miles	19
Silver Lake	1.6 miles	19
Turner Camp	1.7 miles	19
Ski Hill	1.8 miles	19
Haegers Bend	2.0 miles	19
Oakwood Hills	2.4 miles	19
Rawson Bridge	2.4 miles	19

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 405667. 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.