Coal City, Illinois
20 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1892 and the latest in 1993. It stands in Felix Township. It lies in ZIP code area 60416. The Survey maps it on the Coal City quadrangle. 5,705 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 568 feet above sea level.
Population over time
2 figuresCoal City grew from 5,587 to 5,705 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 | 5,587 | |
| 2020 | 5,705 | +118 (+2%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
9 surveys from 20 printed sheetsMatched 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.
- 1892 USGS Morris quadrangle1:62500, 3 printings
- 1918 USGS Morris quadrangle1:62500, 3 printings
- 1953 USGS Coal City quadrangle1:24000, 5 printings
- 1954 USGS Morris quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1958 USGS Aurora quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1961 USGS Aurora quadrangle1:250000
- 1985 USGS Ottawa quadrangle1:100000
- 1991 USGS Ottawa quadrangle1:100000
- 1993 USGS Coal City quadrangle1:24000
In the county-history sources
1,323 words on this townshipHistory of Grundy County, Illinois : Containing a History from the Earliest Settlement to the Present Time ... , Biographical Sketches, Portraits of Some of the Early Settlers, Prominent Men, Etc, published 1882 names this settlement in its chapter on Felix Township. These are the passages that mention it, exactly as the scans read.
June, 1841. They have a family of four sons and two daughters - David Mackie, born in Scotland June 20, 1862 ; Thomas Mackie, born in Scotland November 9, 1869 ; Janet Mackie, born in Scotland September 6, 1865 ; George B. Mackie, born in Scotland December 3, 1868 ; Jane P. Mackie, born in Felix Township, Grundy County, July 25, 1872 ; John W. Mackie, born in Grundy Count}- December 9, 1877. Mr. Mackie is superintending a force of about 400 men, the monthly pay-roll amounting to $17,931 for the month ending October 31, 1882. Their average capacity is about 500 tons per day. The company own a tract of 1,040 acres of coal land in Felix and Braceville Townships.
Passage source: History of Grundy County, Illinois : Containing a History from the Earliest Settlement to the Present Time ... , Biographical Sketches, Portraits of Some of the Early Settlers, Prominent Men, Etc, published 1882.
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 Felix Township - it names this place 1 more 1 time.
Fires near this place
15 since 2003Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 15 fires within 5 miles of Coal City between 2003 and 2018, burning about 884 acres in total. 1 started naturally. 2 were 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 | 11 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 2 |
| Debris and open burning | 1 |
| Natural | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 31 August 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Illinois Division of Forestry Resources | BRACE13 |
| 13 August 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Illinois Division of Forestry Resources | BRACE12 |
| 5 May 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Illinois Division of Forestry Resources | BRACE10 |
| 5 May 2009 | Arson/incendiarism | 5.0 acres | Illinois Division of Forestry Resources | BRACE9 |
| 29 May 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Illinois Division of Forestry Resources | BRACE11 |
| 29 April 2003 | Natural | 600 acres | Illinois Division of Forestry Resources | GOOSE LAKE |
| 26 April 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Illinois Division of Forestry Resources | BRAACE8 |
| 11 April 2018 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Illinois Division of Forestry Resources | 18-000183 |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
2 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 2 workings within 5 miles of Coal City: 2 producers. All of them 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.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bohac Sand Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Fatlan Sand Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer |
Storms near this place
36 since 1993Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Coal City in 36 storm reports between 1993 and 2025: 20 thunderstorm wind, 11 hail, 5 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 | Coal City | $50,000 | Large tree limbs and power lines were blown down. Some structural damage was reported from debris. Crop damage was also reported. |
| August 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Coal City | $10,000 | Winds measured to 64 mph caused a tree to fall onto a house, and another to fall onto the roadway, blocking portions of Kankakee Street. A transformer was also blown down. A large tree limb fell on Division Street and just missed hitting a vehicle. |
| May 2013 | Thunderstorm Wind | Coal City | $2,000 | Several trees and power lines were blown down, including some fairly large trees. |
| July 2025 | Heavy Rain | Coal City | - | Storm total rainfall of 3.35 inches was measured by a private weather station with most of the rain falling in 45 minutes. |
| July 2025 | Heavy Rain | Coal City | - | Storm total rainfall of 3.57 inches was measured by a private weather station. |
| July 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | Coal City | - | Several trees and tree limbs were blown down in Coal City. |
| May 2013 | Thunderstorm Wind | Coal City | - | Large trees were uprooted south of the Route 113 and Gorman Road intersection. |
| August 2009 | Heavy Rain | Coal City | - | Rainfall of 2.16 inches was reported in the past 24 hours. |
| June 2007 | Heavy Rain | Coal City | - | An NWS employee measured 2.12 inches of rain in just 30 minutes. |
| May 2007 | Hail | Coal City | - | Penny to nickel size hail reported. Hail covered the ground and stripped leaves off trees near Garfield and Route 113. |
| August 2007 | Heavy Rain | Coal City | - | Measured 24 hour rainfall was 5.01 inches. |
| March 2006 | Hail | Coal City | - | Quarter size hail was reported near Route 113 and Gorman Roads. |
| August 2006 | Thunderstorm Wind | Coal City | - | A 14 inch diameter tree was blown down near Mcardle and Higgins, partially blocking Higgins Road. |
| July 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Coal City | - | A gust to 69 mph was measured four miles northwest of Coal City. |
| July 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Coal City | - | Six inch diameter tree limbs were blown down near Coal City. A roof was blown off a barn and trees were blown over near Gardner. |
| May 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | Coal City | - | Tree limbs and power lines were down. |
| May 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | Coal City | - | Trees were blown down. |
| June 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | Coal City | - | Large tree limbs broken off by strong winds. |
| March 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Coal City | - | no account filed |
| April 2015 | Thunderstorm Wind | Coal City | - | no account filed |
| July 2012 | Hail | Coal City | - | no account filed |
| July 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | Coal City | - | no account filed |
| June 2009 | Thunderstorm Wind | Coal City | - | no account filed |
| June 2008 | Hail | Coal City | - | no account filed |
| May 2008 | Hail | Coal City | - | no account filed |
| October 2007 | Hail | Coal City | - | no account filed |
| March 2005 | Hail | Coal City | - | no account filed |
| May 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | Coal City | - | no account filed |
| September 2003 | Hail | Coal City | - | no account filed |
| May 2003 | Thunderstorm Wind | Coal City | - | no account filed |
| July 2001 | Thunderstorm Wind | Coal City | - | no account filed |
| August 2001 | Thunderstorm Wind | Coal City | - | no account filed |
| June 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Coal City | - | no account filed |
| May 1997 | Hail | Coal City | - | no account filed |
| April 1996 | Hail | Coal City | - | no account filed |
| August 1993 | Hail | Coal City | - | no account filed |
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 | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eileen | 0.9 miles | 20 | |
| Carbon Hill | 1.0 miles | 20 | |
| Harrisonville | 1.0 miles | 20 | |
| Diamond | 1.8 miles | 20 | |
| Centerville (historical) | 2.2 miles | 20 | |
| Central City | 3.5 miles | 10 | |
| Gorman | 3.5 miles | 20 | |
| Braceville | 4.3 miles | 10 |
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 Coal City | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q2442973 | 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 406280. 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.








