Damascus, Illinois

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.

• 1939 USGS Freeport quadrangle1:62500
• 1939 USGS Freeport quadrangle1:48000
• 1944 USGS Freeport quadrangle1:62500
• 1954 USGS Rockford quadrangle1:250000
• 1955 USGS Rockford quadrangle1:250000
• 1958 USGS Rockford quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
• 1963 USGS Rockford quadrangle1:250000
• 1971 USGS Freeport West quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
• 1981 USGS Rockford quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
• 1998 USGS Freeport West quadrangle1:24000

The History of Stephenson County, Illinois : Containing ... Biographical Sketches ... War Record ... Statistics ... Portraits of Early Settlers ... History of the Northwest, History of Illinois, &c. .., published 1880 names this settlement in its chapter on Harlem Township. These are the passages that mention it, exactly as the scans read.

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 9 fires within 5 miles of Damascus between 2004 and 2017, burning about 22 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.

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

• Scioto Mills
• Eleroy
• Red Oak
• Salem
• Cedarville
• Freeport

Every fire recorded in Stephenson County

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 24 workings within 5 miles of Damascus: 18 past producers, 3 producers, 2 occurrences, 1 prospect. 3 still produce. What was taken out: Stone, Crushed/Broken, Copper. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Every working recorded in Stephenson County

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Damascus in 5 storm reports between 2008 and 2026: 2 hail, 2 thunderstorm wind, 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.

Every storm recorded in Stephenson County

The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.

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.

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 422602. 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.