BlockDe Witt, Illinois
13 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1957 and the latest in 1999. It stands in De Witt Township. It lies in ZIP code area 61735. The Survey maps it on the De Witt quadrangle. 160 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 733 feet above sea level.
Population over time
3 figuresDe Witt fell from 188 to 160 between 2000 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 188 | |
| 2010 | 184 | -4 (-2%) |
| 2020 | 160 | -24 (-13%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
8 surveys from 13 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.
- 1957 USGS Maroa quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1958 USGS Peoria quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1961 USGS Peoria quadrangle1:250000
- 1963 USGS Peoria quadrangle1:250000
- 1979 USGS De Witt quadrangle1:24000
- 1985 USGS Champaign quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
- 1990 USGS Peoria quadrangle1:250000
- 1999 USGS De Witt quadrangle1:24000
In the county-history sources
2,376 words on this township... History of De Witt County, Illinois. With Illustrations Descriptive of the Scenery, and Biographical Sketches of Some of the Prominent Men and Pioneers, published 1882 names this settlement in its chapter on De Witt Township. These are the passages that mention it, exactly as the scans read.
The village of De Witt as now situated is long and straggling, extending from the original town of Marion north to the railroad, a distance of about three-fourths of a mile. The addition was made by A. C. Jones, August 2.3d, 1871, and described as follows : Commencing at the N. E. corner of the E. i of the S. E. part of section IS, town 20 N. R. 4 E., south on section line 2,646 feet to section corner; westerly on section line 1,240 feet; north 2,646 feet, easterly 1,240 feet except right of way of the G. C. & S. Railroad, now Springfield Division of the Illinois Central.
Passage source: ... History of De Witt County, Illinois. With Illustrations Descriptive of the Scenery, and Biographical Sketches of Some of the Prominent Men and Pioneers, published 1882.
Incorporation. - The village of De Witt was incorporated iu the fall of 1879, and the first meeting of the board was held November 1st, of the same year. The following are the names of the first board : A. jMcConkey, President ; Charles Richter, Henry Myers, J. H. Tyler, H. Le Feber and H. S. Chapin. The second board, or for the year 18S0, were, Charles Richter, President ; H. Le Feber, H. Myers, Johu McDonald, H. Baker, and W. A. Finley. The board for 1881 - Charles Richter, President ; H. Le Feber, John McDonald, H. Myers, Frank Fisher, and Samuel Darby. J. R. Basserman, Clerk. Prior to 1881, the clerk was not an elective officer. W. A. Myers has officiated as village Treasurer since its organization.
Passage source: ... History of De Witt County, Illinois. With Illustrations Descriptive of the Scenery, and Biographical Sketches of Some of the Prominent Men and Pioneers, published 1882.
Anion Lodge, 'So. 251, A. F. and A. M. was chartered October 6, 1881, with the following Charter officers: John H. Tyler, W. M.; John i^Iarsh, S. W.; Benjamin S. Lewis, J. W. Stilmou, A. Chaj in, Treas.; Joseph J. Kelly, Secretary ; Joseph Marsh, S. C: James McCord, T. The number of Charter members were 11: The present officers are: James Marsh, W. M.; Isaac C. Lafl'erty, S. W.; John Furgeson, J. W.; G. B. Leasure, Treas.; S. A. Chapin, Sec; H. Le Feber, S. D.; Asa Wilson, J. D.; A. King, T. The present membership is 59. The Lodge meets in Masonic Hall, Tuesday evenings, on or before the full moon in each month. This is one of the oldest Lodges in De Witt county. It is in excellent condition financially, owning the entire building in which their Lodge meets.
Passage source: ... History of De Witt County, Illinois. With Illustrations Descriptive of the Scenery, and Biographical Sketches of Some of the Prominent Men and Pioneers, 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 De Witt Township - it names this place 6 more 6 times.
Fires near this place
1 since 2015Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 1 fire within 5 miles of De Witt in 2015, burning about 5 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 burning | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21 March 2015 | Debris and open burning | 5.0 acres | Illinois Division of Forestry Resources | 2015037 |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
3 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 3 workings within 5 miles of De Witt: 3 past producers. 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 | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baldwin Associates | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Bell Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Foster Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
7 since 1996Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names De Witt in 7 storm reports between 1996 and 2025: 4 thunderstorm wind, 2 tornado, 1 hail. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 2015 | Thunderstorm Wind | De Witt | $20,000 | A grain bin was thrown into a field. |
| May 2018 | Thunderstorm Wind | De Witt | - | A tree limb was blown onto Route 54 east of the Power Plant. |
| August 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | De Witt | - | A tree was blown down across Illinois Highway 54 about 2 miles west of DeWitt. |
| April 2003 | Tornado (F0) | De Witt | - | A tornado touched down on a farm. It destroyed a barn, a windmill, a pontoon boat and numerous trees. Three horses sustained minor injuries from the tornado. No people sustained injuries. |
| August 2001 | Tornado (F0) | De Witt | - | A tornado formed along the leading edge of downburst winds just northwest of Dewitt. It moved southeast into town before lifting. It blew a chimney off of a church as well as some of its windows. Also, two homes sustained roof damage and a garage was blown down. Numerous large trees were ripped up and blown over. No injuries were reported. |
| April 2025 | Hail | De Witt | - | no account filed |
| July 1996 | Thunderstorm Wind | De Witt | - | 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.
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 De Witt | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q594394 | 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 407024. 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.