Iola, Illinois
9 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1956 and the latest in 1986. It stands in Larkinsburg Township. It lies in ZIP code area 62838. The Survey maps it on the Oskaloosa quadrangle. 98 people lived here at the 2020 count.
Population over time
2 figuresIola fell from 141 to 98 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 | 141 | |
| 2020 | 98 | -43 (-30%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
5 surveys from 9 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.
- 1956 USGS Edgewood quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1958 USGS Belleville quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1962 USGS Belleville quadrangle1:250000
- 1985 USGS Oskaloosa quadrangle1:24000
- 1986 USGS Olney quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
3 since 2010Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 3 fires within 5 miles of Iola in 2010, burning about 5 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 |
|---|---|
| Arson/incendiarism | 1 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1 |
| 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 December 2010 | Debris and open burning | 4.0 acres | Illinois Division of Forestry Resources | PIERSON |
| 4 November 2010 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | Illinois Division of Forestry Resources | DENNIS |
| 20 November 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Illinois Division of Forestry Resources | BAILEY |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
3 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 3 workings within 5 miles of Iola: 2 occurrences, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Iola Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Producer | ||
| Limestone Prospect | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Occurrence | ||
| Limestone Prospect | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Occurrence |
Storms near this place
12 since 1999Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Iola in 12 storm reports between 1999 and 2026: 8 thunderstorm wind, 3 hail, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Iola | $70,000 | Numerous trees, tree branches, and power lines were blown down in Iola and Xenia. |
| February 2026 | Tornado (EF0) | Iola | $5,000 | A tornado developed near Scooter Drive in Clay County. It tracked northeast, moving into Effingham County and tracking east of Edgewood. The maximum intensity of this tornado was EF-0, with damage limited to tree branches. The total duration of this tornado was four minutes, one minute in Clay County and three minutes in Effingham County. |
| June 2009 | Thunderstorm Wind | Iola | $3,000 | A large tree was blown down. |
| January 2013 | Thunderstorm Wind | Iola | $1,500 | Three power poles were blown down northeast of Iola. |
| April 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Iola | - | A carport was damaged and a few tree limbs were blown down. |
| March 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Iola | - | Few trees down. |
| August 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Iola | - | A 2 foot diameter tree was blown down. |
| May 2003 | Thunderstorm Wind | Iola | - | Thunderstorm winds blew down several trees, power poles and power lines. Also, a garage door, carport and dog pen were damaged. |
| June 1999 | Thunderstorm Wind | Iola | - | Several trees were blown down in the Iola area. |
| April 2012 | Hail | Iola | - | no account filed |
| April 2012 | Hail | Iola | - | no account filed |
| April 2007 | Hail | Iola | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cruse | 2.8 miles | 9 | |
| Riffle | 3.9 miles | 9 | |
| Oskaloosa | 5.3 miles | 9 | |
| Hord | 6.6 miles | 9 | |
| Louisville | 7.9 miles | 9 | |
| Hoosier | 9.4 miles | 9 | |
| Bethel (historical) | 9.5 miles | 10 | |
| Bible Grove | 10.0 miles | 9 |
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 Iola | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q2136095 | 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 410909. 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.




