Chester, Illinois

23 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1915 and the latest in 1987. It stands in Chester precinct. It lies in ZIP code area 62233. It stands on Old River. The Survey maps it on the Chester quadrangle. 6,814 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 676 feet above sea level.

Research this city

Chester within Randolph County

On record in Chester

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 4 records

Population over time

2 figures

Chester fell from 8,586 to 6,814 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	8,586
2020	6,814	-1,772 (-21%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

12 surveys from 23 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.

1915 USGS Chester quadrangle1:62500, 5 printings
1947 USGS Chester quadrangle1:62500, 3 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
1968 USGS Chester quadrangle1:24000
1970 USGS Chester quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
1984 USGS Carbondale quadrangle1:100000
1986 USGS Carbondale quadrangle1:100000
1987 USGS Paducah quadrangle1:250000

Fires near this place

18 since 2013

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 18 fires within 5 miles of Chester between 2013 and 2017, burning about 28 acres in total. None started naturally. 1 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	14
Equipment and vehicle use	2
Missing data/not specified/undetermined	1
Arson/incendiarism	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
28 September 2013	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	under an acre	Illinois Division of Forestry Resources	70-2013
28 September 2013	Debris and open burning	5.0 acres	Illinois Division of Forestry Resources	71-2013
1 September 2017	Debris and open burning	under an acre	Illinois Division of Forestry Resources	840917
8 June 2014	Debris and open burning	1.0 acres	Illinois Division of Forestry Resources	51-0614
25 May 2014	Debris and open burning	1.0 acres	Illinois Division of Forestry Resources	46-0514
16 May 2014	Debris and open burning	1.0 acres	Illinois Division of Forestry Resources	42-0514
6 April 2014	Debris and open burning	1.0 acres	Illinois Division of Forestry Resources	33-0414
22 April 2014	Debris and open burning	2.0 acres	Illinois Division of Forestry Resources	37-0414

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Randolph County

Mines and quarries near this place

6 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 6 workings within 5 miles of Chester: 2 occurrences, 2 past producers, 1 producer, 1 prospect. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Stone, Crushed/Broken, Sand and Gravel, Construction, Clay. 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
Southern Illinois Sand Dredge	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Producer
Wlatersburg Shale Exposure	Clay	Prospect
Chester Quarry	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Past Producer
Limestone Prospect	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Occurrence
Limestone Prospect	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Occurrence
Menard State Penitentiary Quarry	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Past Producer

Every working recorded in Randolph County

Storms near this place

36 since 1995

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Chester in 36 storm reports between 1995 and 2024: 18 thunderstorm wind, 14 hail, 3 tornado, 1 flash 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.

When	Event	Place named	Harm	What the report says
August 2001	Thunderstorm Wind	Chester	$20,000	Trees were downed on the north side of Chester. A truck was extensively damage by a downed tree.
June 1995	Thunderstorm Wind	Chester	$5,400	Golf ball-size hail was reported in Walsh with numerous trees and power lines down between Chester and Steeleville. The roof of a drug store in Chester was partially ripped away. About 1,900 households were also without power in Prairie Du Rocher, Ruma, and Red Bud.
April 1996	Tornado (F0)	Chester	$500	no account filed
February 2024	Hail	Chester	-	A Facebook user posted a photo of a hail stone laying next to a ruler. The stone's long edge measured 1 inch.
July 2020	Thunderstorm Wind	Chester	-	Thunderstorm wind blew down several trees in town.
September 2012	Thunderstorm Wind	Chester	-	A large tree was blown over onto Illinois Route 3 just south of Chester.
May 2011	Thunderstorm Wind	Chester	-	Thunderstorm winds blew down several power poles on the east side of Chester. Also, several trees were blown down along Illinois Route 3 between Chester and Rockwood.
March 2008	Flash Flood	Chester	-	Up to 6 inches of rain fell on already saturated soils in Randolph county from the late evening hours of March 17th through March 18th. Numerous secondary roads were flooded throughout the county.
March 2006	Tornado (F2)	Chester	-	The fourth tornado from the Southeast Missouri supercell crossed into Randolph County Illinois about 9:47 pm CST moving across the southern portion of Kaskaskia Island. Debris originating from near St. Marys, Missouri was found in some fields on the island. Numerous snapped or uprooted trees were found on the island. The tornado crossed the Mississippi River on the north side of Chester with a damage path about 300 yards wide. F2 level damage was found just north of the Chester Correctional Center where a number of trees were leveled or snapped off. The tornado produced F1 damage at the Gorden Bud Cohen Recreational Complex where three wooden light posts were snapped off near the base, and several ball fields backstops and fences were blown over. Just to the east, three large pole barns and several outbuildings were destroyed, and a house had roof and exterior damage. The damage at this point was 300 yards wide and rated F2. The tornado continued to produced F1 to F2 damage along the remainder of its path through Randolph County with a nearly continuous 300 yard width. A Notable area of F2 damage were found just north and northeast of Bremen along Highway 150. This damage consisted of metal high power electric towers blown down, a destroyed mobile home, a number of destroyed barns and metal outbuildings, roof and exterior damage to several homes, and numerous trees uprooted. F2 damage was also found near Highway 150 about 1.5 miles west of Steeleville. The rear portion of a house had considerable roof and structural damage, several detached garages were destroyed, at least 5 metal outbuildings were destroyed, several barns destroyed, signs broken, and trees and power poles snapped. The tornado finally exited Randolph County about 1.5 miles south of Highway 154 on County Line Road about 10:15 pm CST.
May 2004	Thunderstorm Wind	Chester	-	The County Sheriff reported trees down along Route 3. A tree on Chestnut Street fell directly onto the roof of a house causing significant roof damage.
May 2003	Hail	Chester	-	Storm spotters reported 3/4 inch hail.
May 2002	Tornado (F0)	Chester	-	A brief tornado hit a neighborhood on the south side of Chester. One home suffered roof damage while another had some siding stripped off. Several large pine trees were snapped at the base and a large oak tree was broken 15 feet from the base.
August 2001	Thunderstorm Wind	Chester	-	Emergency management officials reported trees and a few power lines down in Chester.
November 1997	Hail	Chester	-	County Sheriff reported 3/4 inch hail.
April 2022	Hail	Chester	-	no account filed
May 2014	Hail	Chester	-	no account filed
May 2013	Hail	Chester	-	no account filed
January 2008	Thunderstorm Wind	Chester	-	no account filed
January 2008	Hail	Chester	-	no account filed
April 2007	Hail	Chester	-	no account filed
March 2006	Hail	Chester	-	no account filed
April 2006	Hail	Chester	-	no account filed
May 2006	Hail	Chester	-	no account filed
May 2006	Hail	Chester	-	no account filed
May 2006	Hail	Chester	-	no account filed
September 2005	Thunderstorm Wind	Chester	-	no account filed
September 2005	Thunderstorm Wind	Chester	-	no account filed
August 2005	Thunderstorm Wind	Chester	-	no account filed
July 2003	Thunderstorm Wind	Chester	-	no account filed
May 2002	Thunderstorm Wind	Chester	-	no account filed
April 2002	Thunderstorm Wind	Chester	-	no account filed
October 2001	Thunderstorm Wind	Chester	-	no account filed
October 2001	Thunderstorm Wind	Chester	-	no account filed
October 2001	Hail	Chester	-	no account filed
April 1999	Thunderstorm Wind	Chester	-	no account filed
June 1998	Thunderstorm Wind	Chester	-	no account filed

Every storm recorded in Randolph 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
Menard	1.0 miles	23
Campton	1.5 miles	23
Kaskaskia	4.9 miles	24
Diamond Cross	5.0 miles	23
Randolph	5.3 miles	19
Fort Gage	5.4 miles	24
Bremen	5.6 miles	19
New Palestine	5.7 miles	23

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 Chester	An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q575518	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 406027. 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.