Lacon, Illinois
17 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1893 and the latest in 1985. It stands in Lacon Township. It lies in ZIP code area 61540. It stands on Gimlet Creek. The Survey maps it on the Lacon quadrangle. 1,878 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 486 feet above sea level.
Population over time
2 figuresLacon fell from 1,937 to 1,878 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 | 1,937 | |
| 2020 | 1,878 | -59 (-3%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
7 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.
- 1893 USGS Lacon quadrangle1:62500, 4 printings
- 1933 USGS Lacon quadrangle1:62500, 3 printings
- 1937 USGS Lacon quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1958 USGS Aurora quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1961 USGS Aurora quadrangle1:250000
- 1972 USGS Lacon quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1985 USGS Kewanee quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Mines and quarries near this place
5 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 5 workings within 5 miles of Lacon: 2 past producers, 1 prospect, 1 occurrence, 1 plant. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Clay, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Farmington Shale Exposure | Clay | Prospect | ||
| Limestone Prospect | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Occurrence | ||
| Lacon Plant & Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Plant | ||
| M. Wilson Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Weirs Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
39 since 1996Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Lacon in 39 storm reports between 1996 and 2024: 25 thunderstorm wind, 12 hail, 1 flash flood, 1 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Lacon | $45,000 | A 3-foot diameter tree was blown down in Lacon, causing a power outage to approximately 1000 customers. |
| June 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Lacon | $40,000 | Several trees and tree limbs were blown down on the south side of Lacon. |
| August 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | Lacon | $30,000 | Trees and power lines were blown down on 2nd Street. |
| June 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | Lacon | $26,000 | Several trees and power lines were blown down. The chimney was blown off the County Sheriff's Office building in Lacon. |
| June 2015 | Thunderstorm Wind | Lacon | $18,000 | Two trees and numerous tree branches were blown down in Lacon. |
| July 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | Lacon | $15,000 | Numerous power lines were blown down. |
| June 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | Lacon | $12,000 | Numerous tree limbs were blown down. |
| June 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Lacon | $8,000 | Several trees were blown down across Illinois Route 26, about three miles southwest of Lacon. |
| July 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | Lacon | $2,000 | A large tree was blown down onto IL Route 26. |
| July 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | Lacon | $2,000 | A large tree was blown down that blocked IL Route 17. |
| July 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Lacon | - | Numerous large tree branches were blown down. |
| July 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Lacon | - | A large tree was blown down onto a house. |
| July 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Lacon | - | An NWS storm survey determined that the damage in Lacon was caused by straight-line wind gusts of 75 to 85 mph. |
| August 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Lacon | - | Tree blown down on Hickory Grove Road. |
| August 2022 | Hail | Lacon | - | Size estimated from picture. |
| May 2009 | Flood | Lacon | - | Six to eight inches of water was flowing across Rt 17 west of Lacon near Gimlet Creek. |
| March 2006 | Hail | Lacon | - | Hail covered the ground. |
| May 2006 | Thunderstorm Wind | Lacon | - | Several power lines were blown down. |
| June 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Lacon | - | Reported by pilots on ground at airport. |
| May 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | Lacon | - | A line of severe thunderstorms moved across Marshall County. Numerous trees were blown down in the Lacon and La Rose areas. Also, several power lines were blown down. No injuries were reported. |
| May 2004 | Flash Flood | Lacon | - | Very heavy rains caused several roads in the Lacon area to become flooded. One trailer court was isolated due to high water. |
| October 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | Lacon | - | Numerous trees were blown down. One tree fell onto an unoccupied car. Also, in Henry a power pole was snapped off. |
| July 2003 | Thunderstorm Wind | Lacon | - | Several trees and tree limbs were blown down. |
| July 2003 | Thunderstorm Wind | Lacon | - | Several trees were blown down as well as several power lines. |
| June 2002 | Thunderstorm Wind | Lacon | - | A roof of a building sustained minor damage and several trees were blown down. |
| June 2000 | Thunderstorm Wind | Lacon | - | Large tree blown down. |
| February 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Lacon | - | no account filed |
| August 2022 | Hail | Lacon | - | no account filed |
| June 2015 | Hail | Lacon | - | no account filed |
| May 2012 | Hail | Lacon | - | no account filed |
| June 2009 | Hail | Lacon | - | no account filed |
| June 2009 | Hail | Lacon | - | no account filed |
| March 2006 | Hail | Lacon | - | no account filed |
| March 2006 | Hail | Lacon | - | no account filed |
| April 2005 | Hail | Lacon | - | no account filed |
| May 2003 | Hail | Lacon | - | no account filed |
| June 2002 | Hail | Lacon | - | no account filed |
| May 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Lacon | - | no account filed |
| July 1996 | Thunderstorm Wind | Lacon | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sparland | 1.5 miles | 17 | |
| Hopewell | 3.7 miles | 19 | |
| Henry | 6.6 miles | 17 | |
| Wilbern | 7.1 miles | 18 | |
| La Rose | 9.8 miles | 11 | |
| Varna | 9.8 miles | 11 | |
| Saratoga Center | 11.3 miles | 11 | |
| Lawn Ridge | 12.1 miles | 21 |
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 Lacon | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q575524 | 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 411676. 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.






