BlockKnoxville, Illinois
17 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1925 and the latest in 1990. It stands in Knox Township. It lies in ZIP code area 61448. The Survey maps it on the Galesburg East quadrangle. 2,901 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 764 feet above sea level.
On record in Knoxville
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
Knox County Courthouse and Hall of Recordslisted 1992
Knox County Jaillisted 1992
Walnut Grove Farmlisted 1989
Population over time
2 figuresKnoxville fell from 2,911 to 2,901 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 | 2,911 | |
| 2020 | 2,901 | -10 (-0%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
9 surveys from 17 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.
- 1925 USGS Galesburg quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1927 USGS Galesburg quadrangle1:62500, 3 printings
- 1958 USGS Burlington quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1961 USGS Burlington quadrangle1:250000
- 1963 USGS Burlington quadrangle1:250000
- 1982 USGS Galesburg East quadrangle1:24000
- 1985 USGS Galesburg quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
- 1989 USGS Galesburg quadrangle1:100000
- 1990 USGS Burlington quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
In the county-history sources
5,083 words on this townshipHistory of Knox County, Illinois, published 1878 names this settlement in its chapter on Knox Township. These are the passages that mention it, exactly as the scans read.
The township has timber land distributed very freely over it. Here some of the earliest settlers of the county located, the present site of Knoxville being first settled by Parry Morris. John Montgomery, who settled on section 30, was among the first settlers. He has gone from this place to Rushville, Schuyler county, to have his milling done. The first sermon preached in the township was by Elder Jacob Gum, the first preacher in Knox county. The first death occurring was that of a child of a Mr. Taber. David Huggins of this township made the first cheese that was ever manufactured in the county. This he carried to Galena, and sold for 7J cents a pound. The first church organized in the township was in 1835, and by the following six persons from three different denominations, but seemingly inclining to the Presbyterian faith, as they called their church the " Old School Presbyterian:" David Huggins and wife, Mrs. Jackson and daughter, M. Owen and Mrs. J. G. Sanburn.
Passage source: History of Knox County, Illinois, published 1878.
Hezekiah Burford settled on section 23 in 1834. He is now in Monmouth, Oregon. Cyrus Bobbins, from New York, settled on section 5 in 1836. His two brothers Levy and Reuben settled on section 5 the same year. These brothers planted out a nursery, from
Passage source: History of Knox County, Illinois, published 1878.
Mr. Phelps was born in Westfield, Mass., September 9, 1819. He came, with his mother and his two sisters, to Galesburg in 1836. The amount of his worldly possessions at that time was enough to buy a box stove and a cow, valued at $30. The eldest daughter became Mrs. G. Avery, of Galesburg, and the youngest the wife of B. Kilbourn, of Wisconsin. The mother died at Galesburg, November 23, 1855. The father, Aaron Noble Phelps. had died previous to the family's moving west, at Westfield, Mass., in March, 1830. He and his wife (Miss Clarissa Root) were married in 1814. Their only son, A. N. Phelps, and Miss Sarah J. Adams were married March 29, 1847, and moved to their present home in 1856, which has since taken the premiums already mentioned.
Passage source: History of Knox County, Illinois, published 1878.
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 Knox Township - it names this place 7 more 7 times.
Mines and quarries near this place
2 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 2 workings within 5 miles of Knoxville: 2 past producers. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Clay, Sand and Gravel, Construction. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Knox County Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Purington Brick Co.Clay Shale Pit | Clay | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
12 since 1996Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Knoxville in 12 storm reports between 1996 and 2024: 6 hail, 5 thunderstorm wind, 1 flash flood. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Knoxville | $100,000 | As a severe thunderstorm moved northeast across Knox County, thunderstorm winds blew over a semi on I-74 one mile northeast of Knoxville. The driver was not injured. The winds also blew over several trees and caused minor damage to 5 homes in the area. Also, a part of the roof of a machine shed was peeled off and a garage was destroyed. Damage is estimated around $100,000. |
| July 2015 | Thunderstorm Wind | Knoxville | $20,000 | Numerous power lines were blown down in Knoxville. |
| December 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | Knoxville | $20,000 | A semi was blown over and a roof was ripped off a lumber yard near I-74. |
| July 2022 | Flash Flood | Knoxville | - | Street flooding. |
| April 2014 | Hail | Knoxville | - | Nickel to quarter-sized hail covered the ground. |
| May 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Knoxville | - | A tree was blown down along US 150. |
| July 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | Knoxville | - | A large tree was blown down. |
| August 2024 | Hail | Knoxville | - | no account filed |
| May 2018 | Hail | Knoxville | - | no account filed |
| June 2015 | Hail | Knoxville | - | no account filed |
| June 2012 | Hail | Knoxville | - | no account filed |
| May 1996 | Hail | Knoxville | - | 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.
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 Knoxville | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q575283 | 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 411592. 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.
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.