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Loves Park, Illinois

20 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1918 and the latest in 1993. It stands in Rockford Township. It lies in ZIP code area 61111. The Survey maps it on the Rockford North quadrangle. 23,397 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 728 feet above sea level.

Loves Park within Winnebago County

Population over time

2 figures

Loves Park fell from 23,996 to 23,397 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
201023,996
202023,397-599 (-2%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

10 surveys from 20 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.

What happened here

An account from the chapter on Rockford township. The inset identifies its exact source book and publication year.

From The History of Winnebago County, Illinois : Its Past and Present, Containing ... a Biographical Directory of Its Citizens, War Record of Its Volunteers in the Late Rebellion, General and Local Statistics ... History of the Northwest, History of Illinois ... Etc, published 1877 - Rockford Township

Winnebago Counit Dieectort

ill Putney, Vt., in 1800 ; he emigrated to Chicago in 1832, where he practiced his profession until 1838, when lie came to Rocliford to I'eside; he married Catherine Dunn, in St. Thomas, Canada, in 1822; she died in 1874; Dr. Goodhue was killed from falling into a well, while attending one of his patients, in 1847.

Read the rest of this passage

In the county-history sources

166,475 words on this township

The History of Winnebago County, Illinois : Its Past and Present, Containing ... a Biographical Directory of Its Citizens, War Record of Its Volunteers in the Late Rebellion, General and Local Statistics ... History of the Northwest, History of Illinois ... Etc, published 1877; History of Rockford and Winnebago County, Llinois, from the First Settlement in 1834 to the Civil War, published 1900 has no passage naming this settlement, which was common for smaller places. Its township is covered in full.

The chapter on Rockford Township covers the township.

Read the chapter on Rockford Township - 166,475 words.

Fires near this place

4 since 2003

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 4 fires within 5 miles of Loves Park between 2003 and 2004, burning about 4 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
Missing data/not specified/undetermined3
Arson/incendiarism1

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
26 September 2004Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreIllinois State Fire Marshal's Officenot named
18 September 2004Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreIllinois State Fire Marshal's Officenot named
16 February 2003Arson/incendiarism2.0 acresIllinois State Fire Marshal's Officenot named
16 February 2003Missing data/not specified/undetermined2.0 acresIllinois State Fire Marshal's Officenot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Winnebago County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 18 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 18 workings within 5 miles of Loves Park: 15 past producers, 2 producers, 1 plant. 3 still produce. What was taken out: Stone, Crushed/Broken, 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 SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Anderson PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Racetrack PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Brudi PitStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
Carrico QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
Johns QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
Loves Park City Eng.Stone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
Marks PitStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
Nelson QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
Nimtz Quarry & Mill Portable #2Stone, Crushed/BrokenPlant
Northern Illinois Supply Co QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer

Every working recorded in Winnebago County

Storms near this place

33 since 1998

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Loves Park in 33 storm reports between 1998 and 2025: 18 hail, 12 thunderstorm wind, 1 lightning, 1 flood. The reports record 1 injury. 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
September 2010Thunderstorm WindLoves Park1 hurtA man was struck and injured by a falling tree while exercising in his back yard.
November 2010LightningLoves Park$20,000An unoccupied restaurant was struck by lightning near North Second Street and Wood Avenue.
July 2025HailLoves Park-Hail lasted for 10 minutes with the largest hail 1.5 inches in diameter.
June 2023HailLoves Park-Photos showed hail at least 2 inches in diameter.
March 2023Tornado (EF1)Loves Park-This tornado began southwest of the intersection of Elmwood Rd and Rockton Ave on the north side of Rockford and tracked northeastward for almost 9 miles, straddling the Rock River as it tracked through the west side of Machesney Park before weakening and lifting over Roscoe. This tornado caused damage to several trees and outbuildings, as well as multiple homes, which primarily suffered roof damage. A couple of homes had entire portions of their roofs removed where the tornado was at its peak intensity and featured 90-100 mph winds.
July 2023Thunderstorm WindLoves Park-Several trees and tree limbs as large as 5 to 8 inches in diameter, as well as a number of utility poles, were downed on the north side of Rockford and into Loves Park. One home was severely damaged when a large tree limb fell onto the property.
November 2022Thunderstorm WindLoves Park-Power lines were blown down on Grand Boulevard.
March 2020FloodLoves Park-Street flooding was reported near Forest Hills Road and Riverside Blvd.
July 2019Thunderstorm WindLoves Park-Multiple tree limbs, some large, were blown down.
July 2019Thunderstorm WindLoves Park-Small tree limbs, with a few larger limbs, were blown down.
May 2017HailLoves Park-There were multiple reports of quarter to golf ball size hail in Loves Park. Damage to cars was reported.
May 2013Thunderstorm WindLoves Park-Trees were blown down.
July 2012Thunderstorm WindLoves Park-A ten inch diameter tree limb was blown down on the 700 block of Loves Park Drive and an eight inch diameter tree limb was blown down on the 7800 block of Forest Hills Road.
May 2011HailLoves Park-Quarter size hail was reported at the intersection of Route 251 and Loves Park Drive.
March 2010HailLoves Park-Penny size hail lasting for 4 minutes and covering the ground was reported near Loves Park Drive and North Second Street.
July 2008Thunderstorm WindLoves Park-A large tree was blown down.
July 2008Thunderstorm WindLoves Park-A large tree was blown down.
July 2006Thunderstorm WindLoves Park-Two trees were blown down near Windsor Road and 173.
June 2005HailLoves Park-Nickel to quarter size hail fell in Machesney Park.
May 2004Thunderstorm WindLoves Park-7 inch diameter tree limbs were blown down between Harlem and Windsor Roads.
July 2025HailLoves Park-no account filed
April 2023HailLoves Park-no account filed
June 2023HailLoves Park-no account filed
April 2020HailLoves Park-no account filed
May 2014HailLoves Park-no account filed
April 2014HailLoves Park-no account filed
March 2012HailLoves Park-no account filed
March 2012HailLoves Park-no account filed
January 2008HailLoves Park-no account filed
April 2006HailLoves Park-no account filed
June 2006HailLoves Park-no account filed
May 2005HailLoves Park-no account filed
June 1998Thunderstorm WindLoves Park-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Winnebago 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
Ruby0.7 miles20
Jonesville1.1 miles20
North Park1.6 miles20
Colonial Gardens1.7 miles20
Genet1.8 miles20
Machesney Park2.1 miles20
Samuelson Corners2.3 miles20
Sturbridge Village2.4 miles20

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 Loves ParkAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q578137The 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 412695. 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.