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Johnston City, Illinois

18 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1909 and the latest in 1987. It stands in Lake Creek precinct. It lies in ZIP code area 62951. The Survey maps it on the Johnston City quadrangle. 3,384 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 440 feet above sea level.

Johnston City within Williamson County

Population over time

2 figures

Johnston City fell from 3,543 to 3,384 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
20103,543
20203,384-159 (-4%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

12 surveys from 18 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

26 since 2010

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 26 fires within 5 miles of Johnston City between 2010 and 2019, burning about 235 acres in total. 1 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/undetermined22
Debris and open burning3
Natural1

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
30 September 2019Debris and open burning97 acresCrab Orchard National Wildlife RefugeMONROE
21 September 2010Missing data/not specified/undetermined60 acresIllinois Division of Forestry Resources10206
11 August 2010Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreIllinois Division of Forestry Resources10171
8 June 2013Natural1.0 acresIllinois Division of Forestry Resources13111
14 June 2013Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresIllinois Division of Forestry Resources13107
22 April 2010Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresIllinois Division of Forestry Resources10096
12 April 2010Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreIllinois Division of Forestry Resources10088
10 April 2010Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreIllinois Division of Forestry Resources10084

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Williamson County

Storms near this place

26 since 1996

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Johnston City in 26 storm reports between 1996 and 2025: 10 thunderstorm wind, 8 hail, 3 flash flood, 2 funnel cloud. 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 2019Thunderstorm WindJohnston City$75,000Widespread damaging winds continued moving eastward across central and eastern Williamson County, including the city of Marion. Wind gusts were estimated from 60 to 75 mph. Numerous trees and tree limbs were blown down, causing power outages. In Johnston City, trees were down on a few vehicles and one home. The home did not sustain any structural damage, but gutters were damaged. At least 5,000 utility customers were without power.
April 2017Flash FloodJohnston City$50,000Numerous roads on the northwest side of Herrin were completely flooded and impassable. Water rescues were executed in town. In Marion, numerous roads and at least a few buildings were flooded. In Crainville, a large sinkhole opened up, forcing the evacuation of two homes. The road to the spillway at Devils Kitchen Lake was closed.
April 2017FloodJohnston City$40,000Flooding continued from the torrential rains that occurred during the overnight and early morning hours. In Johnston City, four feet of water covered an intersection, and water rescues were taking place in the area. Some residents of Johnston City were forced to evacuate their homes and relocate to a Red Cross shelter in Marion. A television station at Carterville measured 7.34 inches in the previous 24 hours, and 5.82 inches during the morning hours.
June 2018Tornado (EF0)Johnston City$35,000A brief weak tornado occurred, with peak winds estimated near 85 mph. Two garage buildings were blown off their foundations. Numerous trees were uprooted or snapped. Several shingles were blown off a roof. An eyewitness reported watching the tornado destroy the garage buildings and then continue on the ground a few hundred yards.
April 2017Flash FloodJohnston City$30,000Numerous roads were closed, including Highway 37 south of Johnston City. Some homes in Marion were flooded. The American Red Cross opened a shelter in Marion, where 22 evacuees spent the night.
April 2015Thunderstorm WindJohnston City$20,000A metal roof was blown off a building. A wind gust to 60 mph was measured nearby.
April 2005Thunderstorm WindJohnston City$15,000Trees landed on two houses, including one in Marion and one in Johnston City. About eight trees were down across the county.
December 2008Thunderstorm WindJohnston City$10,000Numerous trees and power lines were blown down. About 1,500 customers lost power.
June 2021Thunderstorm WindJohnston City$5,000Multiple Bradford pear trees were blown down.
May 2019Thunderstorm WindJohnston City$5,000Tree limbs and power lines were blown down, causing power outages.
July 2016Thunderstorm WindJohnston City$3,000Large tree limbs were down, and the top of a tree was broken off.
May 2025HailJohnston City-Two reports of nickel sized hail were made in Johnston City.
May 2024FloodJohnston City-Minor street flooding occurred in Johnston City.
June 2023HailJohnston City-There were two reports of hail from quarter size to nearly the size of half dollars.
June 2023HailJohnston City-The severe thunderstorm that produced a destructive swath of golf ball to baseball size hail in Marion continued northeast across northern Williamson County. Baseball size hail accompanied the storm as it tracked east-northeast across north central and northeast parts of the county. Vehicles were dented and windshields were cracked.
March 2020HailJohnston City-Traffic was stopped on Interstate 57 outside Johnston City due to wind-driven large hail up to two inches in diameter. The hail was reported to be golf ball size in Johnston City.
February 2017Funnel CloudJohnston City-The funnel cloud was observed by a trained spotter.
February 2017HailJohnston City-Hail slightly larger than baseballs was associated with the supercell that spawned the EF-1 tornado further south in Williamson County.
February 2014Funnel CloudJohnston City-A trained spotter reported a funnel cloud just northeast of town.
March 2008Flash FloodJohnston City-Six to eight inches of water was over a road in Johnston City.
July 2001Thunderstorm WindJohnston City-Numerous trees were blown down, some of which were up to 2 feet in diameter. Winds were estimated up to 65 MPH. The worst damage occurred east of Interstate 57. In Marion, police reported trees down in several locations. Several trees and power lines were blown down in Herrin.
October 2001Thunderstorm WindJohnston City-Several trees were blown down.
July 2010HailJohnston City-no account filed
July 2001HailJohnston City-no account filed
January 1999HailJohnston City-no account filed
April 1996Thunderstorm WindJohnston City-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Williamson 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
Shakerag1.0 miles18
Stiritz1.5 miles18
White Ash2.2 miles18
Jenkins2.3 miles18
Fergestown2.8 miles18
Spillertown3.8 miles18
Paineville4.0 miles18
Crenshaw Crossing4.2 miles18

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 Johnston CityAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q579680The 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 411188. 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.

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.