BlockBefore

Gurnee, Illinois

19 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1906 and the latest in 1998. It stands in Warren Township. It lies in ZIP code area 60031. The Survey maps it on the Libertyville quadrangle. 30,706 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 679 feet above sea level.

Gurnee within Lake County

Population over time

2 figures

Gurnee fell from 31,295 to 30,706 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
201031,295
202030,706-589 (-2%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

9 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.

In the county-history sources

838 words on this township

The Past and Present of Lake County, Illinois, published 1877 has no passage naming this settlement, which was common for smaller places. Its township is covered in full.

The chapter on Warren Township covers the township.

Read the chapter on Warren Township - 838 words.

Fires near this place

4 since 2003

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 4 fires within 5 miles of Gurnee between 2003 and 2018, burning about 451 acres in total. None 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
Debris and open burning2
Arson/incendiarism1
Missing data/not specified/undetermined1

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
10 July 2012Arson/incendiarismunder an acreIllinois Division of Forestry Resources12_2571
1 June 2018Debris and open burningunder an acreIllinois Division of Forestry Resources60118
8 May 2018Debris and open burningunder an acreIllinois Division of Forestry Resources18-1522
28 April 2003Missing data/not specified/undetermined450 acresIllinois Division of Forestry ResourcesZION

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Lake County

Mines and quarries near this place

8 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 8 workings within 5 miles of Gurnee: 5 past producers, 2 producers, 1 plant. 3 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Tantalum, Niobium (Columbium), Tungsten, Iodine. 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
Abbotts North Chicago Iodine PlantIodinePlant
Fansteel #1 Tantalum PlantTantalum, Niobium (Columbium), TungstenProducer
Economy PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Gurnee PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Gurnee PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Lake County Pit No. 1Sand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Lake County Pit No. 2Sand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Wadsworth PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer

Every working recorded in Lake County

Storms near this place

21 since 2004

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Gurnee in 21 storm reports between 2004 and 2026: 6 hail, 5 flash flood, 5 thunderstorm wind, 3 heavy rain. 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
June 2007Thunderstorm WindGurnee$5,000Tree limbs were blown onto a car on Grand Avenue.
April 2026FloodGurnee-A few inches of standing water on the road were reported north of Gurnee and west of Zion.
June 2025Heavy RainGurnee-A report of 1.09 of rain in 30 minutes came out of Gurnee.
July 2024Thunderstorm WindGurnee-Power lines were blown down at Washington Street and Six Flags Drive.
May 2020Flash FloodGurnee-Route 41 near Route 132 was closed due to flooding.
September 2019Flash FloodGurnee-The intersection of Sunset Avenue and Delaney Road was flooded, impassable and closed.
September 2018Thunderstorm WindGurnee-Power line damage was reported in Gurnee.
May 2018FloodGurnee-Route 132 was closed due to flooding between O'Plaine Road and 1st Street. Rainfall of 1.79 inches was reported in Gurnee and 2.13 inches was reported two miles west of Gurnee.
June 2018Heavy RainGurnee-Rainfall of 1.93 inches was reported in one hour.
June 2017Heavy RainGurnee-Heavy rainfall of 1.94 inches was reported in 1 hour and 45 minutes.
May 2014Flash FloodGurnee-Grand Avenue was closed at 1st Street. High water was reported under a railroad overpass just west of 1st Street.
July 2011Thunderstorm WindGurnee-A 15-inch diameter tree was uprooted by winds estimated to 70 mph.
July 2011Thunderstorm WindGurnee-Large branches were blown off trees. Winds were estimated to 60 mph.
June 2009Flash FloodGurnee-Grand Avenue at Skokie Highway was closed due to flooding. One mile west of Gurnee, 2.01 inches of rain was reported, along with some street flooding.
September 2005HailGurnee-Quarter size hail was reported at Almond and Dada.
May 2004Flash FloodGurnee-Street flooding occurred.
May 2025HailGurnee-no account filed
May 2025HailGurnee-no account filed
April 2016HailGurnee-no account filed
June 2011HailGurnee-no account filed
June 2011HailGurnee-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Lake 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
Chittenden0.6 miles17
Spaulding Corners1.1 miles19
Park City1.8 miles19
Dillys Corners2.0 miles17
Sherman Corners2.9 miles19
Waukegan3.1 miles18
Grange Hall3.3 miles19
Lambs Corners3.4 miles17

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 GurneeAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q277066The 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 409577. 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.