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Elwood, Illinois

22 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1892 and the latest in 1999. It stands in Jackson Township. It lies in ZIP code area 60421. The Survey maps it on the Elwood quadrangle. 2,229 people lived here at the 2020 count.

Elwood within Will County

On record in Elwood

Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.

On the National Register within a mile 1 record

The National Register names another town for these. They stand within one mile of this settlement's coordinate.

Population over time

2 figures

Elwood fell from 2,279 to 2,229 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
20102,279
20202,229-50 (-2%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

10 surveys from 22 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.

Fires near this place

21 since 2002

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 21 fires within 5 miles of Elwood between 2002 and 2020, burning about 365 acres in total. 1 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.

Reported cause Fires
Equipment and vehicle use9
Smoking3
Debris and open burning2
Railroad operations and maintenance2
Power generation/transmission/distribution2
Missing data/not specified/undetermined1
Natural1
Arson/incendiarism1

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
26 September 2006Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreMidewin National Tall Grass PrairieROUTE 53 FIRE
15 August 2008Debris and open burning6.5 acresMidewin National Tall Grass PrairieMILLSDALE FIRE
9 July 2005Equipment and vehicle use1.5 acresMidewin National Tall Grass PrairieWELDER FIRE
28 July 2008Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreMidewin National Tall Grass PrairieIRON BRIDGE TRAILHEA
8 May 2007Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreMidewin National Tall Grass PrairieIRON BRIDGE FIRE
6 April 2005Smokingunder an acreMidewin National Tall Grass PrairieSOUTH ARSENAL FIRE
25 April 2018Railroad operations and maintenance9.2 acresMidewin National Tall Grass PrairieCENTER POINT
20 April 2008Smokingunder an acreMidewin National Tall Grass PrairieIRON BRIDGE

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Will County

Mines and quarries near this place

6 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 6 workings within 5 miles of Elwood: 3 occurrences, 2 past producers, 1 producer. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Stone, Crushed/Broken, 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
Vicks QuarrySand and Gravel, Construction, Stone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
Jackson Township Hwy. Dept.Stone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
Jackson Township QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
Limestone ProspectStone, Crushed/BrokenOccurrence
Limestone ProspectStone, Crushed/BrokenOccurrence
Limestone ProspectStone, Crushed/BrokenOccurrence

Every working recorded in Will County

Storms near this place

8 since 2004

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Elwood in 8 storm reports between 2004 and 2025: 6 thunderstorm wind, 1 lightning, 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
July 2007Thunderstorm WindElwood$50,000One wall of a house was blown in by strong winds. Several trees and tree limbs were blown down.
July 2008Thunderstorm WindElwood$25,000A crane was damaged when high winds pushed part of a cement wall onto the crane. The cement wall was part of a building under construction.
September 2025Thunderstorm WindElwood-Two trees were blown down near the Hoff Road entrance to the Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie. A nearby personal weather station measured a wind gust to 50 mph at 8 feet above ground.
September 2021Thunderstorm WindElwood-Wind gusts were estimated between 50 and 60 mph. Tree limbs 2 inches in diameter were blown down.
September 2021Thunderstorm WindElwood-Damage was reported to buildings at a farm on the corner of Hoff and Rowell Roads. Some trees were uprooted and corn was flattened.
June 2016Thunderstorm WindElwood-Tree limbs of varying sizes and power lines down.
June 2004LightningElwood-House struck by lightning on Redwood Rd.
September 2011HailElwood-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Will 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
Drummond3.4 miles23
Millsdale3.5 miles23
Blodgett4.5 miles23
Symerton6.1 miles21
Preston Heights6.3 miles22
Rock Run Park6.4 miles23
Channahon6.4 miles23
Birds6.7 miles23

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 ElwoodAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q1334394The 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 407976. 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.