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Colchester, Illinois

14 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1913 and the latest in 1990. It stands in Colchester Township. It lies in ZIP code area 62326. It lies near Argyle Hollow (historical). The Survey maps it on the Colchester quadrangle. 1,108 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 689 feet above sea level.

Colchester within McDonough County

On record in Colchester

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 2 records

Population over time

2 figures

Colchester fell from 1,401 to 1,108 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
20101,401
20201,108-293 (-21%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

8 surveys from 14 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

2 since 2008

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 2 fires within 5 miles of Colchester in 2008, burning about 25 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
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
5 April 2008Debris and open burning25 acresIllinois Division of Forestry ResourcesSILBERER
15 February 2008Debris and open burningunder an acreIllinois Division of Forestry ResourcesKIRBY

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in McDonough County

Mines and quarries near this place

5 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 5 workings within 5 miles of Colchester: 3 producers, 2 past producers. 3 still produce. What was taken out: Clay, Stone, Crushed/Broken. 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
Colchester Plant No. 1 & MineStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
Mc Clure QuarriesStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
Colchester Brick & Tile Co.Clay PitClayPast Producer
Colchester PitClayPast Producer
Valentine Welch & Booz PitClayProducer

Every working recorded in McDonough County

Storms near this place

33 since 1993

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Colchester in 33 storm reports between 1993 and 2025: 15 hail, 14 thunderstorm wind, 3 flash flood, 1 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
July 2003Thunderstorm WindColchester$40,000Trees down
June 2010Thunderstorm WindColchester$25,000Wind gusts estimated to be 70 mph blew a large tree down onto a house in Colchester, IL around 705 pm June 21.
June 2003Thunderstorm WindColchester$20,000Power lines down
August 1993Thunderstorm WindColchester$500Several 8-inch diameter trees were blown down 2 miles south of Colchester. A large tree was blown down at Industry.
July 2000Thunderstorm WindColchester$250Law enforcement reported a large tree limb down on Route 136.
July 2025Flash FloodColchester-Broadcast Media 3-4 inches of standing water in yards and side streets. Ditches have begun overflowing onto side streets.
June 2021Thunderstorm WindColchester-A tree was also reported down.
June 2019Thunderstorm WindColchester-A trained spotter reported that Colchester Illinois was without power. There was also pea sized hail. The time of the event was estimated using radar.
May 2015HailColchester-Mostly dime sized hail fell with a few quarter sized hail stones. Time is estimated from radar.
June 2014Thunderstorm WindColchester-A trained spotter reported small tree limbs down.
June 2014Thunderstorm WindColchester-A trained spotter estimated 58 mph winds.
June 2014Thunderstorm WindColchester-A trained spotter reported 1 to 3 inch diameter tree limbs down. A nearby home weather station reported a peak wind gust of 56 mph.
June 2011Thunderstorm WindColchester-Wind gusts estimated to be 70 mph uprooted a 20 inch diameter, 18 foot tall tree in Colchester, IL around 215 am CDT June 27.
June 2011Thunderstorm WindColchester-Wind gusts estimated to be 70 mph snapped an 18 inch diameter tree off at the base in Colchester, IL around 220 am CDT June 27. Some power lines were also downed resulting in a power outage in Colchester.
July 2010Flash FloodColchester-Heavy rains of 1.50 inches in under an hour resulted in flash flooding of some streets in Colchester, IL during the late morning of July 19.
June 2007Flash FloodColchester-Many county roads in northern McDonough County were covered by 4-6 inches of water.
March 2006HailColchester-Dime to nickel sized hail
May 2006Heavy RainColchester-1.05 inches of rain in 45 minutes
June 2006HailColchester-dime size hail
March 1998Thunderstorm WindColchester-Winds were measured 6 miles north of Argyle Lake State Park.
April 1998HailColchester-Heavy rain and hail from 3/4 to 1 inch in diameter fell over open farm land. No damage was reported.
April 1995HailColchester-Thunderstorms produced large amounts of hail, and large sized hail during this event. Hail ranged in size from dime to golf ball. A combination of ice, wind, rain, and hail wreaked havoc across parts of northwest Illinois. Hardest hit from the storms appeared to be northeast Carroll County where winds nearing 50 mph combined with ice to cause a domino effect as six power poles toppled on Illinois 73 between Payne and Spring Valley roads.
April 1995HailColchester-Thunderstorms produced large amounts of hail, and large sized hail during this event. Hail ranged in size from dime to golf ball. A combination of ice, wind, rain, and hail wreaked havoc across parts of northwest Illinois. Hardest hit from the storms appeared to be northeast Carroll County where winds nearing 50 mph combined with ice to cause a domino effect as six power poles toppled on Illinois 73 between Payne and Spring Valley roads.
March 2024HailColchester-no account filed
August 2022HailColchester-no account filed
April 2020HailColchester-no account filed
May 2015HailColchester-no account filed
April 2013HailColchester-no account filed
April 2013HailColchester-no account filed
May 1998Thunderstorm WindColchester-no account filed
May 1998HailColchester-no account filed
May 1998HailColchester-no account filed
April 1996HailColchester-no account filed

Every storm recorded in McDonough 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
Ragtown (historical)1.8 miles14
Tennessee2.7 miles14
Fandon4.3 miles14
Georgetown4.6 miles20
Hills Grove (historical)4.9 miles14
Little Ireland (historical)5.9 miles20
Lamone Village6.4 miles20
East Village6.5 miles20

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 ColchesterAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q575411The 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 406339. 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.