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.
Topographic sheets covering this place
7 surveys from 12 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.
- 1930 USGS Woodsung quadrangle1:48000
- 1946 USGS Sterling quadrangle1:62500
- 1948 USGS Sterling quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1958 USGS Aurora quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1961 USGS Aurora quadrangle1:250000
- 1983 USGS Sterling quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1985 USGS Dixon quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
What happened here
An account from the chapter on Sterling township. The inset identifies its exact source book and publication year.
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.
In the county-history sources
70,698 words on this townshipHistory 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 2018Regional 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/undetermined | 3 |
| 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 May 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Illinois Division of Forestry Resources | 18-369 |
| 18 May 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Illinois Division of Forestry Resources | 18-414 |
| 9 April 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Illinois Division of Forestry Resources | 19-322 |
| 23 March 2019 | Debris and open burning | 1.0 acres | Illinois Division of Forestry Resources | 19-274 |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
9 within 5 milesRegional 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 | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Emerson Quarry & Mill | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Plant | ||
| L. Deets Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Como Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Mccue Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Nelson Sand & Gravel Pit #2 & | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Propheter Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Propheter Pit & Mill | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Rock Falls Pit and Mill | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Plant | ||
| Whiteside Blacktop Company Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
1 since 2026Regional 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 2026 | Tornado (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. |
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 | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grimes Addition | 0.8 miles | 12 | |
| Galt | 1.5 miles | 11 | |
| Emerson | 1.8 miles | 11 | |
| Sterling | 2.1 miles | 12 | |
| Como | 2.6 miles | 11 | |
| Rock Falls | 2.6 miles | 12 | |
| Agnew | 3.5 miles | 11 | |
| Woodland Hills | 4.6 miles | 12 |
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.






