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Douglas Park, Illinois

12 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1930 and the latest in 1985. It stands in Sterling Township. It lies in ZIP code area 61081. The Survey maps it on the Sterling quadrangle.

Douglas Park within Whiteside County

Topographic sheets covering this place

7 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.

What happened here

An account from the chapter on Sterling township. The inset identifies its exact source book and publication year.

From History of Whiteside County, Illinois from Its Earliest Settlement to 1908 : Illustrated, with Biographical Sketches of Some Prominent Citizens of the County, published 1908 - Sterling Township

From The Firing Line

Few of our veterans passed through such a continued and exhausting siege of suffering as Isaac Bressler, who enlisted in the 88th Illinois at Chicago, Col. Sherman, 1862, fought at Murfreesboro and Chickamauga, where he was captured with 3,000 men, and taken to Richmond. This was the beginning of a series of imprisonments and rebel torture.

Read the rest of this passage

In the county-history sources

70,698 words on this township

History of Whiteside County, Illinois, from Its First Settlement to the Present Time;, published 1877; Portrait and Biographical Album of Whiteside County, Illinois : Containing Full-page Portraits and Biographies of All the Governors of Illinois, and of the Presidents of the United States, published 1885; History of Whiteside County, Illinois from Its Earliest Settlement to 1908 : Illustrated, with Biographical Sketches of Some Prominent Citizens of the County, published 1908 has no passage naming this settlement, which was common for smaller places. Its township is covered in full.

The chapter on Sterling Township covers the township.

Read the chapter on Sterling Township - 70,698 words.

Fires near this place

4 since 2018

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 4 fires within 5 miles of Douglas Park between 2018 and 2019, burning about 3 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
Missing data/not specified/undetermined3
Debris and open burning1

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
2 May 2018Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreIllinois Division of Forestry Resources18-369
18 May 2018Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreIllinois Division of Forestry Resources18-414
9 April 2019Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreIllinois Division of Forestry Resources19-322
23 March 2019Debris and open burning1.0 acresIllinois Division of Forestry Resources19-274

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Whiteside County

Mines and quarries near this place

9 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 9 workings within 5 miles of Douglas Park: 6 past producers, 2 plants, 1 producer. 3 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
Emerson Quarry & MillStone, Crushed/BrokenPlant
L. Deets QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
Como PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Mccue PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Nelson Sand & Gravel Pit #2 &Sand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Propheter PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Propheter Pit & MillSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Rock Falls Pit and MillSand and Gravel, ConstructionPlant
Whiteside Blacktop Company PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer

Every working recorded in Whiteside County

Storms near this place

1 since 2026

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Douglas Park in 1 storm report in 2026: 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
April 2026Tornado (EF1)Douglas Park-A tornado passed through northern portions of Sterling, with estimated maximum wind speeds around 90 mph. Along the path, damage was done to trees (including snapped) and two garages in the path saw complete loss of their roofs. Minor damage was noted to two church roofs. There was also a 3000 lb rooftop HVAC unit rolled over, consistent with maximum winds of at least 90 mph.

Every storm recorded in Whiteside 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
Grimes Addition0.8 miles12
Galt1.5 miles11
Emerson1.8 miles11
Sterling2.1 miles12
Como2.6 miles11
Rock Falls2.6 miles12
Agnew3.5 miles11
Woodland Hills4.6 miles12

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 1718939. 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.