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Colona, Illinois

12 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1937 and the latest in 1992. It stands in Colona Township. It lies in ZIP code area 61241. It stands on Turner Creek. The Survey maps it on the Green Rock quadrangle. 5,045 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 679 feet above sea level.

Colona within Henry County

Population over time

2 figures

Colona fell from 5,099 to 5,045 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
20105,099
20205,045-54 (-1%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

8 surveys from 12 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.

In the county-history sources

4,324 words on this township

History of Henry County, Illinois : It's Taxpayers and Voters; Containing Also, a Biographical Directory, a Condensed History of the State; Map of the County; a Business Directory...etc, published 1877 names this settlement in its chapter on Colona Township. These are the passages that mention it, exactly as the scans read.

BRANDENBURGH GEO. Retired Farmer, Sec. I, P.O. Green River; born in Frederick Co. Md. July 28, 1799: came to Henry Co. in 1835; Dem; Univ; owns 30 acres, val. $2,000; was Judge of Elections twenty years, School Director eight years; married Elizabeth Thompson, of Ohio, in 1815, for first wife; two children; married Mrs. Phebe Wells, of Cleveland, 111. in 1843 for second wife.

Passage source: History of Henry County, Illinois : It's Taxpayers and Voters; Containing Also, a Biographical Directory, a Condensed History of the State; Map of the County; a Business Directory...etc, published 1877.

CHAMBERS LAFAYETTE, Carpenter, Sec. n; P.O. Colons; born in Madison Co.. Ohio, in 1835; came 10 Henry Co. in 1869; Rep; U. Pres; owns house and two lots; was private in Co. A, 4th Iowa Cavalry three years; honorably discharged; married Miss Sarah C. Hearn, of Warren Co., Ohio, in 1866; two children, Evalina May, and Lawrence Sylvester.

Passage source: History of Henry County, Illinois : It's Taxpayers and Voters; Containing Also, a Biographical Directory, a Condensed History of the State; Map of the County; a Business Directory...etc, published 1877.

COLVIN LUTHER K. Farmer, Sec. 28; 'P.O. Briar Bluff; born in Kentucky in 1821; came to Henry Co. in 1856; Rep; owns 80 acres land, value $3,200; was Justice of the Peace eight years, Assessor three years, Highway Commissioner twelve years; married Miss Amanda J. Sharp, of Adams Co., 111., in 1849; five children, three boys and two girls.

Passage source: History of Henry County, Illinois : It's Taxpayers and Voters; Containing Also, a Biographical Directory, a Condensed History of the State; Map of the County; a Business Directory...etc, published 1877.

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 Colona Township - it names this place 54 more 54 times.

Fires near this place

1 since 2018

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 1 fire within 5 miles of Colona in 2018, burning about 1 acre 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/undetermined1

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
24 July 2018Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreIllinois Division of Forestry Resources18-108 MM 1 I-88

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Henry County

Mines and quarries near this place

3 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 3 workings within 5 miles of Colona: 2 producers, 1 past producer. 2 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, 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
Cleveland Quarry Plant #31Stone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
Mc Dowell Sand & ExcavatingSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Oberlander PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer

Every working recorded in Henry County

Storms near this place

25 since 1996

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Colona in 25 storm reports between 1996 and 2025: 12 thunderstorm wind, 8 hail, 2 heavy rain, 1 tornado. 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 WindColona$50,000Trees down in town & on BNSF tracks
March 2006Thunderstorm WindColona$5,000Numerous trees down at the confluence of the Green and Rock Rivers near the Hennepin Canal. Some of the trees were observed to be unhealthy. Time estimated based on radar.
May 2006Thunderstorm WindColona$2,000From the junction of U.S. 6 & I-80 to the junction of U.S. 6 & 720E, several 3-4 inch diameter limbs and one 5-6 inch diameter tree were down.
June 2025Thunderstorm WindColona-Large tree branch was blown down.
February 2024HailColona-Photo received through social media.
July 2023Thunderstorm WindColona-Trained spotter estimated a 60 mph wind gust from the thunderstorm.
November 2022Thunderstorm WindColona-Law Enforcement reported power lines down in Colona. The time of the event was estimated using radar.
July 2016Thunderstorm WindColona-A trained spotter reported a couple of tree branches down that were 3 to 4 inches in diameter.
July 2016Thunderstorm WindColona-A trained spotter reported numerous tree branches were blown down around town.
May 2014HailColona-Quarter sized hail fell 1 mile south of Colona, IL at 445 pm CDT May 11.
June 2014Flash FloodColona-Law enforcement reported intersections flooded.
April 2011HailColona-Quarter sized hail fell in Colona, IL at 905 pm CDT April 3.
April 2011Thunderstorm WindColona-Wind gusts estimated to be 60 mph were observed in Colona, IL at 905 pm CDT April 3.
July 2010Thunderstorm WindColona-Wind gusts estimated to be 65 mph were observed in Colona, IL at 416 pm CDT July 23.
March 2006Heavy RainColona-1 to 2 feet of standing water in a mobile home park. According to the spotter, this area is well known for having poor drainage during heavy rainfall. Time estimated based on radar.
April 2006Heavy RainColona-Ditches starting to fill up from the heavy rain.
May 2006Thunderstorm WindColona-Jct U.S. 6 & IL 84; also nickel sized hail.
May 2006HailColona-Jct U.S. 6 & IL 84; also strong winds estimated at 60 mph.
June 1998Thunderstorm WindColona-A squall line roared across the community producing substantial wind damage from strong straight line winds 70 to 90 mph. The damage path width was about 3/4 mile wide, however, no injuries were reported.
February 2024HailColona-no account filed
April 2008FloodColona-no account filed
June 1998HailColona-no account filed
May 1997HailColona-no account filed
August 1996Tornado (F0)Colona-no account filed
February 1996HailColona-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Henry 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
Green Rock0.8 miles12
Dayton1.7 miles12
Briar Bluff1.8 miles12
Green River1.9 miles12
Level Acres1.9 miles12
Cleveland2.5 miles23
Timber Ridge4.5 miles14
Warner5.2 miles14

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 ColonaAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q575427The 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 406393. 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.