Franklin Grove, Illinois
12 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1918 and the latest in 1985. It stands in Franklin Grove Township. It lies in ZIP code area 61031. The Survey maps it on the Franklin Grove quadrangle. 896 people lived here at the 2020 count.
On record in Franklin Grove
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 1 record
Col. Nathan Whitney Houselisted 1990
Population over time
2 figuresFranklin Grove fell from 1,021 to 896 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.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 1,021 | |
| 2020 | 896 | -125 (-12%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
6 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.
- 1918 USGS Dixon quadrangle1:62500, 3 printings
- 1950 USGS Dixon quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1958 USGS Aurora quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1961 USGS Aurora quadrangle1:250000
- 1983 USGS Franklin Grove quadrangle1:24000
- 1985 USGS Dixon quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
1 since 2013Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 1 fire within 5 miles of Franklin Grove in 2013, burning about 10 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 |
|---|---|
| Other causes | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25 October 2013 | Other causes | 10 acres | Illinois Division of Forestry Resources | 13-0000221 |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
6 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 6 workings within 5 miles of Franklin Grove: 5 past producers, 1 producer. 1 still produces. What was taken out: 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ashton Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Producer | ||
| Unnamed Limestone Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Unnamed Limestone Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Unnamed Limestone Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Unnamed Limestone Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Unnamed Limestone Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
17 since 2001Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Franklin Grove in 17 storm reports between 2001 and 2025: 8 hail, 7 thunderstorm wind, 2 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 2015 | Tornado (EF1) | Franklin Grove | $1,000,000 | This is the beginning of the Rochelle-Fairdale EF-4 tornado. At its strongest, peak winds were estimated to be 200 mph. The tornado touched down just northeast of Franklin Grove. A large sheet metal building on IL-38 collapsed with failure of column anchorage. Several smaller sheet metal buildings were destroyed along E Gurler Road. Peak winds in Lee County were estimated to 110 mph. The tornado continued into Ogle County. (Tornado 2a of 7). |
| August 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Franklin Grove | $5,000 | Utility poles blown down. |
| April 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | Franklin Grove | $3,000 | Two utility poles and a power line were blown down near Daysville and Nalor Roads. |
| July 2025 | Hail | Franklin Grove | - | A Cocorahs obsever in Amboy reported totally destroyed soybean and corn crops six miles north of his location, which would be just south of Interstate 88. |
| May 2013 | Thunderstorm Wind | Franklin Grove | - | Wind gusts were estimated to 60 mph in Franklin Grove. A severe dust storm with near zero visibility was reported with these strong winds. |
| July 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Franklin Grove | - | Winds estimated to 70 mph blew down 12-inch diameter trees, including one that fell onto the roadway blocking Spring Street. |
| June 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | Franklin Grove | - | A one foot diameter tree was snapped. |
| April 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | Franklin Grove | - | A wind gust to 60 mph was measured in Franklin Grove. |
| June 2009 | Thunderstorm Wind | Franklin Grove | - | Wind gusts were estimated to 70 mph. |
| May 2003 | Tornado (F0) | Franklin Grove | - | A tornado touched down 2 miles southeast of Franklin Grove near County Road 1700 North and Pine Hill Road. It continued east southeast for about 4 miles to near Middlebury Road, south of 1700 North. Tree damage was reported at a couple farms. |
| May 2019 | Hail | Franklin Grove | - | no account filed |
| April 2015 | Hail | Franklin Grove | - | no account filed |
| May 2014 | Hail | Franklin Grove | - | no account filed |
| May 2010 | Hail | Franklin Grove | - | no account filed |
| June 2007 | Hail | Franklin Grove | - | no account filed |
| September 2006 | Hail | Franklin Grove | - | no account filed |
| June 2001 | Hail | Franklin Grove | - | 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.
| Map | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ashton | 4.5 miles | 10 | |
| Nachusa | 4.8 miles | 12 | |
| Kingdom | 6.1 miles | 12 | |
| Lee Center | 6.6 miles | 10 | |
| Eldena | 7.6 miles | 12 | |
| Inlet | 8.0 miles | 10 | |
| Binghampton | 8.6 miles | 10 | |
| Amboy | 8.9 miles | 10 |
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 Franklin Grove | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q2181228 | 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 408665. 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.





