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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.

Iola within Clay County

Population over time

2 figures

Iola 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.

YearPeople Change
2010141
202098-43 (-30%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

5 surveys from 9 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

3 since 2010

Regional 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/incendiarism1
Missing data/not specified/undetermined1
Debris and open burning1

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 December 2010Debris and open burning4.0 acresIllinois Division of Forestry ResourcesPIERSON
4 November 2010Arson/incendiarismunder an acreIllinois Division of Forestry ResourcesDENNIS
20 November 2010Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreIllinois Division of Forestry ResourcesBAILEY

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Clay County

Mines and quarries near this place

3 within 5 miles

Regional 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 SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Iola QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
Limestone ProspectStone, Crushed/BrokenOccurrence
Limestone ProspectStone, Crushed/BrokenOccurrence

Every working recorded in Clay County

Storms near this place

12 since 1999

Regional 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
July 2016Thunderstorm WindIola$70,000Numerous trees, tree branches, and power lines were blown down in Iola and Xenia.
February 2026Tornado (EF0)Iola$5,000A 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 2009Thunderstorm WindIola$3,000A large tree was blown down.
January 2013Thunderstorm WindIola$1,500Three power poles were blown down northeast of Iola.
April 2025Thunderstorm WindIola-A carport was damaged and a few tree limbs were blown down.
March 2005Thunderstorm WindIola-Few trees down.
August 2005Thunderstorm WindIola-A 2 foot diameter tree was blown down.
May 2003Thunderstorm WindIola-Thunderstorm winds blew down several trees, power poles and power lines. Also, a garage door, carport and dog pen were damaged.
June 1999Thunderstorm WindIola-Several trees were blown down in the Iola area.
April 2012HailIola-no account filed
April 2012HailIola-no account filed
April 2007HailIola-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Clay 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
Cruse2.8 miles9
Riffle3.9 miles9
Oskaloosa5.3 miles9
Hord6.6 miles9
Louisville7.9 miles9
Hoosier9.4 miles9
Bethel (historical)9.5 miles10
Bible Grove10.0 miles9

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 IolaAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2136095The 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.