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Christopher, Illinois

18 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1910 and the latest in 1987. It stands in Tyrone Township. It lies in ZIP code area 62822. The Survey maps it on the Christopher quadrangle. 2,697 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 436 feet above sea level.

Christopher within Franklin County

Population over time

2 figures

Christopher grew from 2,382 to 2,697 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
20102,382
20202,697+315 (+13%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

11 surveys from 18 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.

Fires near this place

9 since 2001

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 9 fires within 5 miles of Christopher between 2001 and 2011, burning about 17 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/undetermined7
Debris and open burning2

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
25 April 2009Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreIllinois Division of Forestry ResourcesMARHET
19 April 2001Debris and open burningunder an acreIllinois State Fire Marshal's Officenot named
3 March 2011Debris and open burning12 acresIllinois Division of Forestry ResourcesMILLS
18 March 2009Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreIllinois Division of Forestry ResourcesSTEFFINS
16 March 2009Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreIllinois Division of Forestry ResourcesSOHM
9 February 2007Missing data/not specified/undetermined2.0 acresIllinois Division of Forestry Resourcesnot named
30 December 2008Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreIllinois Division of Forestry ResourcesHOOPER
13 November 2009Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreIllinois Division of Forestry ResourcesSUGIN

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Franklin 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 Christopher: 1 past producer. None of them still produces. 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.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Buchner Sand PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer

Every working recorded in Franklin County

Storms near this place

31 since 1998

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Christopher in 31 storm reports between 1998 and 2025: 12 thunderstorm wind, 11 hail, 3 heavy rain, 2 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
July 2012Thunderstorm WindChristopher$200,000In Christopher, a large portion of the roof was torn off an elementary school. About 2200 square feet was lifted off. Ten classrooms were flooded by rainwater. The water brought down ceiling tiles in four classrooms. There were about 16 inches of water in some parts of the school. In Benton, wind took down three sections of vinyl fencing. It also tore the facing off the front of a house.
August 2020Thunderstorm WindChristopher$60,000From Zeigler to Christopher, a trained spotter reported lots of trees were down, and power was out.
January 2013Thunderstorm WindChristopher$50,000A pole barn was heavily damaged at the intersection of Route 14 and Old Route 14. A day care center lost part of a wall. A few outbuildings were damaged.
May 2016HailChristopher$40,000These ping-pong ball size hailstones were photographed.
October 2025Thunderstorm WindChristopher$35,000A large tree limb was snapped and fell onto the roof of a house in Christopher.
March 2019Thunderstorm WindChristopher$25,000Portions of a pole barn were blown over 100 yards northeast from the original location.
August 2010Thunderstorm WindChristopher$25,000Large trees were blown down. Some tree limbs landed on power lines and roads. A portion of a fence was blown out.
July 2023Thunderstorm WindChristopher$20,000Trees were down countywide, primarily in central and northwest areas of the county.
June 2013Thunderstorm WindChristopher$15,000Several large tree limbs were blown down, and one tree was uprooted along Highway 148 through town. A few shingles were blown off houses.
July 2024Thunderstorm WindChristopher$10,000Trees were blown down in Christopher and Zeigler as thunderstorms moved southeastward through Franklin County.
October 2010LightningChristopher$10,000A house was struck by lightning.
July 2023Thunderstorm WindChristopher$7,000A large tree limb was down on a home in Christopher. Large tree limbs were down near Zeigler.
July 2013Heavy RainChristopher$5,000Two feet of water was over Illinois Route 14 on the east side of Christopher. Several vehicles stalled out. In the city of Christopher, 6 to 12 inches of water covered many roads. West of Christopher, several inches of water was flowing across Illinois Route 14.
February 2024HailChristopher-Emergency management reported pea to quarter size hail covering the ground in Christopher. Media reported similar hail sizes in Buckner as well from the same storm.
July 2024Thunderstorm WindChristopher-A corn field on the west side of Christopher was blown down by microburst winds.
August 2022Flash FloodChristopher-Significant flash flooding was reported across the western side of Franklin County. Water was over Route 14 in multiple locations west of Christopher. Water was over Route 184 in multiple locations north and south of Mulkeytown. Many rural roads were completely impassable. A Cocorahs observer at Christopher measured 5.11 inches of rain over 48 hours.
August 2020Flash FloodChristopher-Multiple roadways were flooded and impassable, including Route 148 in Christopher. Water was over Route 14 in Christopher. Water was encroaching on several residences.
October 2013Heavy RainChristopher-A trained spotter measured 2.50 inches of rain in four hours.
March 2012HailChristopher-Quarter size hail was reported in Christopher.
September 2009HailChristopher-Quarter-size hail was reported just north of Christopher.
April 2008FloodChristopher-Localized flooding was reported along Highway 14.
July 2006Heavy RainChristopher-One to two feet of water was over portions of Highway 148.
June 2005Thunderstorm WindChristopher-Three trees about 35 feet tall were blown over, snapped at the base.
April 2021HailChristopher-no account filed
May 2016HailChristopher-no account filed
November 2013Funnel CloudChristopher-no account filed
July 2012HailChristopher-no account filed
July 2012HailChristopher-no account filed
May 2007HailChristopher-no account filed
April 2007HailChristopher-no account filed
April 1998HailChristopher-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Franklin 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
Urbain0.7 miles18
Coello1.7 miles18
Buckner2.1 miles18
Cleburne2.5 miles18
Valier3.0 miles11
Mulkeytown3.1 miles18
Hickory Corners3.1 miles18
Mitchell3.7 miles18

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 ChristopherAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q578542The 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 406104. 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.