Fulton, Illinois

19 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1891 and the latest in 1991. It stands in Fulton Township. It lies in ZIP code area 61252. It stands on Cattail Slough. The Survey maps it on the Clinton quadrangle. 3,647 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 594 feet above sea level.

Research this city

Fulton within Whiteside County

On record in Fulton

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 3 records

Fulton Commercial Historic Districtlisted 2012
Lock and Dam No. 13 Historic Districtlisted 2004
Martin Houselisted 2014

Population over time

2 figures

Fulton grew from 3,481 to 3,647 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	3,481
2020	3,647	+166 (+5%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

11 surveys from 19 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.

1891 USGS Clinton quadrangle1:62500
1894 USGS Clinton quadrangle1:62500, 3 printings
1899 USGS Clinton quadrangle1:125000
1899 USGS Cordova quadrangle1:125000, 4 printings
1952 USGS Clinton quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
1953 USGS Clinton quadrangle1:24000
1958 USGS Davenport quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
1961 USGS Davenport quadrangle1:250000
1962 USGS Davenport quadrangle1:250000
1984 USGS Davenport quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
1991 USGS Clinton quadrangle1:24000

In the county-history sources

31,426 words on this township

History of Whiteside County, Illinois, from Its First Settlement to the Present Time;, published 1877 names this settlement in its chapter on Fulton Township. These are the passages that mention it, exactly as the scans read.

The original owners of the real estate upon which the city now stands were John Baker, Henry C. Fellows, James McCoy, Alvin Humphreys, George W. Kellogg, John B. Jenkins, Daniel Reed, R. J. Jenks, Jeremiah Humphreys, Lyman Blake, John W. Baker, Ed. Rolph and some others. The land was purchased of the Government in 1840. Fulton was organized as a village in 1855 and the first trustees were Henry C. Fellows, Dr. W. C. Snyder, Dr. A. W. Benton, but we have been unable to get at any records showing the balance of officers under that organization, or other facts as to its municipal history. In 1859 it became a city under a special charter granted that year by the General Assembly. The book of records, together with all documents, ordinances, etc., belonging to the city were destroyed by fire on the 26th of March, 1875, so that but very few facts in relation to that part of the history of Fulton can be obtained. Through the kindness of Mr. John Phelps, however, we have been enabled to obtain the names of the different Mayors, Aldermen and City Clerks. They are as follows :

Passage source: History of Whiteside County, Illinois, from Its First Settlement to the Present Time;, published 1877.

The first building put up within the limits of the present city of Fulton was a small one of hewn logs, on the bank of the river a little north of where Bachelder's pottery now stands. It was built in 1837, the work being done by the men then in the settlement, although the ownership was claimed by John Baker. It was erected originally for a store, but during the first summer was used by James McCoy, Henry C. Fellows, George Kellogg, John B. Jenkins and R. J. Jenks as a bachelor's hall. These bachelor halls were necessary institutions throughout the West at that period. Large numbers of those who sought the then comparatively unknown wilds and prairies of the Upper Mississippi Valley, were young men without families, and very many of them with limited means, if any at all, and for the sake of economy, and in many instances of necessity, banded together and occupied dwellings which could be the most easily and cheaply obtained. In these they resided until by their labor and industry, homes of their own could be procured. Many of them can now look back to these old bachelor halls with feelings of the keenest pleasure. They were young, hardy, and enthusiastic, and the difficulties and inconveniences of pioneer life only added zest to the situation.

Passage source: History of Whiteside County, Illinois, from Its First Settlement to the Present Time;, published 1877.

The first store in the place was opened in the building above referred to, in the fall of 1837, by John W. Baker and Moses Barlow. It was a general country store, and was kept by them until the next spring, when they sold to a firm by the name of Church & Wing, who continued the business about a year. Isaac Wicksom also put up a building, and opened a grocery store that year. It was a frame building, and stood about four rods north of Mr. W. P. Hall's present residence. He kept the store about two years.

Passage source: History of Whiteside County, Illinois, from Its First Settlement to the Present Time;, published 1877.

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 Fulton Township - it names this place 70 more 70 times.

Fires near this place

4 since 2005

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 4 fires within 5 miles of Fulton between 2005 and 2015, burning about 8 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
8 August 2005	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	under an acre	Iowa State Fire Marshal's Office	not named
17 May 2006	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	under an acre	Iowa Department of Natural Resources	not named
17 April 2015	Debris and open burning	6.0 acres	Iowa Department of Natural Resources	not named
27 January 2006	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	1.0 acres	Iowa Department of Natural Resources	not named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Whiteside County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 16 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 16 workings within 5 miles of Fulton: 9 past producers, 4 producers, 3 occurrences. 4 still produce. What was taken out: Stone, Crushed/Broken, Sand and Gravel, Construction, Lead, Limestone, Dimension, 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.

Site	Commodity	Status	Recorded
Clinton Diggings	Lead	Occurrence	Galena
Clinton Quarries	Limestone, Dimension, Stone, Crushed/Broken	Past Producer
J. Dykstra Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer
Unknown	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer
Acker-Fulton Quarry	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Producer
Huizenga Quarry	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Producer
Limestone Prospect	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Occurrence
Limestone Prospect	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Occurrence
Lyons Quarry	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Producer
S Aker Quarry	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Producer

Every working recorded in Whiteside County

Storms near this place

55 since 1994

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Fulton in 55 storm reports between 1994 and 2026: 29 thunderstorm wind, 10 hail, 9 flood, 4 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
May 1996	Tornado (F1)	Fulton	$500,000	no account filed
July 2017	Tornado (EF1)	Fulton	$40,000	Tornado was rated an EF-1 which touched down on the eastern shore of the Mississippi River and hit the city of Fulton Illinois. The tornado tracked east northeast and caused damage to mainly trees and a cemetery along its 3.7 mile path and max width of 150 yards. Two garages and one farm outbuilding, and some corn were also damaged.
June 2005	Thunderstorm Wind	Fulton	$20,000	Three large trees down with numerous power lines down that caused damage to cars and houses. A few shingles were pulled off 2 houses.
July 2017	Thunderstorm Wind	Fulton	$15,000	Local law enforcement reported a barn was blown down.
June 2008	Thunderstorm Wind	Fulton	$10,000	Wind gusts estimated to be 60 mph blew down some tree branches throughout the town of Fulton, IL around 4:30 am June 6. The branches fell onto some power lines breaking them causing a power outage.
July 2006	Thunderstorm Wind	Fulton	$10,000	Trees down with the facade to several buildings damaged. Time is estimated based on radar.
May 2001	Thunderstorm Wind	Fulton	$10,000	Strong winds downed 3 large trees and blew over a small greenhouse. Numerous tree limbs and power lines were also downed. Reported by law enforcement and emergency management. Initial reports by law enforcement and the public indicated a tornado, but a post storm survey conducted by emergency managementindicated the damage was due to strong straight line winds.
September 2003	Tornado (F0)	Fulton	$5,000	Rated high end F0
August 2003	Thunderstorm Wind	Fulton	$5,000	Event occurred with the gust front. 6 inch diameter limbs down with gravel blown off the road.
August 2003	Thunderstorm Wind	Fulton	$5,000	Tree limbs down on power lines.
March 2005	Thunderstorm Wind	Fulton	$1,000	no account filed
May 1999	Thunderstorm Wind	Fulton	$500	Trees were downed by severe thunderstorm winds.
May 1999	Thunderstorm Wind	Fulton	$500	Severe winds downed trees.
May 2001	Thunderstorm Wind	Fulton	$200	Large tree blown down on Chase Road reported by law enforcement.
May 1999	Thunderstorm Wind	Fulton	$100	Severe thunderstorm winds downed large tree limbs.
June 2025	Thunderstorm Wind	Fulton	-	Tree branches and small trees blown down in town.
June 2025	Thunderstorm Wind	Fulton	-	Wind gust of 60 mph recorded on home weather station.
July 2024	Flood	Fulton	-	The Mississippi River Lock and Dam 13 at Fulton rose above its major flood stage of 20 feet around 6 AM CST on July 7 and crested at 20.06 feet on July 8th. The River fell back below major flood stage around 1 AM on July 10.
April 2023	Flood	Fulton	-	The Mississippi River at Fulton Lock and Dam 13 rose above its major flood stage of 20.0 feet during late night hours of April 25th and continued to rise to its crest of 22.06 on the evening of April 30th.
July 2023	Thunderstorm Wind	Fulton	-	Scattered trees blown down by thunderstorm winds.
May 2019	Flood	Fulton	-	The Mississippi River at Fulton Lock and Dam 13 began the month above its major flood stage of 20 feet. The river stage at the beginning of the month was 21.81 feet. The river fell below major flood stage around 6 AM on May 6th.
April 2019	Flood	Fulton	-	River levels continued to run high during the month of April. Heavy rain across the area caused the Mississippi River a Fulton Lock and Dam 13 to rise above its major flood stage of 20.5 feet early in the morning on the 25th, and it remained above its major flood stage of 20 feet into the month of May. During this second crest, the river crested at 21.77 feet. on April 30th. Preliminarily, this is the 4th highest crest on record at Fulton Lock and Dam 13.
April 2019	Flood	Fulton	-	The Mississippi River at Fulton rose above its major flood stage of 20.0 feet at Fulton Lock and Dam 13 on April 4th and fell back below the flood stage midday on April 11th. There is a preliminary crest of 20.91 feet the evening of 7th through midday on the 9th. This is preliminarily the 3rd highest crest at that location.
June 2018	Thunderstorm Wind	Fulton	-	Power lines were blown down.
July 2017	Thunderstorm Wind	Fulton	-	Local law enforcement reported trees down across the town of Fulton.
April 2015	Tornado (EF1)	Fulton	-	A NWS Storm Survey found that a tornado touched downed 1 mile southeast of the Clinton County Airport, tracked through the north side of Clinton, IA moved into Whiteside County. It was on the ground for 3.91 miles in Whiteside County before it lifted about 5 miles northeast of Fulton. The primary damage was to farm outbuildings, a storage shed and damage to trees.
August 2014	Thunderstorm Wind	Fulton	-	Wind gusts estimated to be 60 mph were observed in Fulton, IL at 201 pm CDT August 25.
July 2014	Flood	Fulton	-	Heavy rains that fell across the Upper Midwest during the last two weeks of June brought the Mississippi River at Camanche above its major flood stage of 20.5 at approximately 825 PM and fell below 20.5 feet around 1225 PM on July 5. the river crested at 20.9 feet around noon on July 3 to 100 AM on July 4.
June 2014	Thunderstorm Wind	Fulton	-	Wind measurement taken using a Davis weather equipment that was mounted on a ham radio tower at 40 feet above the ground.
June 2014	Thunderstorm Wind	Fulton	-	Trees were blown down throughout town and minor structural damage occurred to several buildings. Also, a dumpster was blown away.
October 2010	Flood	Fulton	-	The river rose above flood stage at Fulton LD13 on October 2 at 120 pm cst and fell below flood stage on October 10 at 900 pm cst. Minor flooding occurred with the crest reaching 17.66 feet on October 5 at 300 pm cst. Flood stage is 16 feet.
June 2010	Thunderstorm Wind	Fulton	-	Wind gusts estimated to be 65 mph blew down some large tree limbs about 4 miles east northeast of Clinton, IA in Whiteside County Illinois around 730 pm June 18.
June 2009	Thunderstorm Wind	Fulton	-	Wind gusts estimated to be 60 mph blew down some tree limbs 6 to 7 inches in diameter about 2 miles northeast of Fulton, IL around 535 pm June 27.
July 2009	Flash Flood	Fulton	-	Heavy rains resulted in flash flooding in Fulton, IL during the evening hours of July 27 and the early morning hours of July 28. Some intersections in town were flooded around 1124 pm.
August 2007	Thunderstorm Wind	Fulton	-	Winds estimated to be 65 mph blew down a tree in Fulton, IL.
June 2002	Flash Flood	Fulton	-	Six houses affected by flood waters due to breaks in a levee on Otter Creek.
August 2002	Thunderstorm Wind	Fulton	-	Trees blown down near Penrose and Union Grove Road.
September 2000	Thunderstorm Wind	Fulton	-	Numerous trees and limbs down.
September 2000	Thunderstorm Wind	Fulton	-	Large tree down.
March 1998	Thunderstorm Wind	Fulton	-	Downed trees and power lines caused numerous power outages across the city.
July 1994	Thunderstorm Wind	Fulton	-	Dime-size hail and 50 to 60 mph winds were reported in Fulton. Nickel-size hail was reported on Route 78 in northern Whiteside County. Some street flooding was reported in Morrison after a reported 1.7 inches of rain fell in about one hours time.
March 2026	Hail	Fulton	-	no account filed
November 2022	Hail	Fulton	-	no account filed
August 2014	Hail	Fulton	-	no account filed
April 2013	Hail	Fulton	-	no account filed
June 2012	Hail	Fulton	-	no account filed
June 2012	Hail	Fulton	-	no account filed
April 2008	Flood	Fulton	-	no account filed
June 2008	Flood	Fulton	-	no account filed
May 1999	Hail	Fulton	-	no account filed
May 1999	Funnel Cloud	Fulton	-	no account filed
June 1999	Hail	Fulton	-	no account filed
April 1995	Hail	Fulton	-	no account filed
May 1995	Hail	Fulton	-	no account filed
May 1995	Thunderstorm Wind	Fulton	-	no account filed

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.

Place	Distance	Sheets
Little Oklahoma	0.8 miles	19
East Clinton	2.1 miles	19
Garden Plain	4.8 miles	19
Albany	6.2 miles	19
Oliver	6.7 miles	18
Spring Valley	7.0 miles	18
Union Grove	7.4 miles	18
Ustick	9.0 miles	11

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 Fulton	An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q136201	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 408806. 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.