Magnolia, Illinois
11 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1934 and the latest in 1985. It stands in Magnolia Township. It lies in ZIP code area 61336. The Survey maps it on the Varna quadrangle. 256 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 661 feet above sea level.
Population over time
3 figuresMagnolia fell from 279 to 256 between 2000 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 279 | |
| 2010 | 260 | -19 (-7%) |
| 2020 | 256 | -4 (-2%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
7 surveys from 11 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.
- 1934 USGS Wenona quadrangle1:48000
- 1934 USGS Wenona quadrangle1:62500
- 1939 USGS Wenona quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1958 USGS Aurora quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1961 USGS Aurora quadrangle1:250000
- 1983 USGS Varna quadrangle1:24000
- 1985 USGS Kewanee quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
In the county-history sources
203 words on this townshipHistory of Putnam County from Its Earliest Settlement to the Year 1876, published 1877 names this settlement in its chapter on Magnolia Township. These are the passages that mention it, exactly as the scans read.
Magnolia, called after the well known tree of that name, was explored as early as 1826, bv William Haws, James W. Willis and Stephen D. Willis, who made claims in that locality. It was at the house of Mr. Haws that the Commissioners met to locate the county seat of Putnam county. John Knox and Aaron Payne were the earliest settlers, the former locating at Magnolia in 1827, making that place tiie' first settled in the present Putnam county. The rich rolling fa^rming lands were soon taken apt and the population of village and country around rapidly increased. Schools and Churclies were founded. In 1859 the village was incorporated. Population in 1875, 1607.
Passage source: History of Putnam County from Its Earliest Settlement to the Year 1876, published 1877.
Machine-read from a century-old scan, so expect the errors a machine makes: misspelled names, dropped words, stray characters.
Fires near this place
3 since 2008Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 3 fires within 5 miles of Magnolia in 2008, burning under an acre 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/undetermined | 2 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 1 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 April 2008 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | Illinois Division of Forestry Resources | GRIFFITH |
| 2 November 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Illinois Division of Forestry Resources | MERIDAN |
| 29 October 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Illinois Division of Forestry Resources | NORTH |
Mines and quarries near this place
6 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 6 workings within 5 miles of Magnolia: 4 past producers, 2 producers. 2 still produce. What was taken out: 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gruderjan Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Hope Township Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Jones Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Magnolia Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Magnolia Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Steffens Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
17 since 1996Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Magnolia in 17 storm reports between 1996 and 2024: 8 hail, 7 thunderstorm wind, 1 flash flood, 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 2006 | Hail | Magnolia | $10,000 | no account filed |
| August 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Magnolia | $5,000 | Winds estimated to be 70 mph blew down some power lines near Magnolia, IL. |
| March 2006 | Hail | Magnolia | $5,000 | multiple reports |
| May 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Magnolia | $20 | Strong thunderstorm winds downed trees and power lines. |
| February 2024 | Tornado (EF1) | Magnolia | - | A tornado touched down just east of Hwy 26 south of Henry, in northern Marshall County, at 440 pm CST. It crossed into Putnam county about 300 yards southeast of IL Highway 18, around 4:44 pm CST, and later overturned a semi on Hwy 18. Several large trees were uprooted or snapped along the path. In addition, some damage to a few outbuildings was observed. The tornado then dissipated in an open field that was seen by a chaser. Estimated peak winds reached 110 mph. |
| July 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Magnolia | - | A trained spotter reported several small branches were down of roughly 3 inches in diameter. |
| July 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Magnolia | - | The emergency manager reported trees and power poles were down near town. The time was estimated by radar. |
| June 2014 | Flash Flood | Magnolia | - | A trained spotter reported 4 to 6 inches of water over Route 18. |
| May 2012 | Thunderstorm Wind | Magnolia | - | A trained spotter reported an estimated wind gust of 70 knots. |
| May 2011 | Hail | Magnolia | - | Quarter sized hail fell about 4 miles south of McNabb, IL at 612 pm CDT May 25. |
| July 2008 | Hail | Magnolia | - | Nickel-sized hail fell 5 miles southwest of Mc Nabb, IL at 710 pm July 10. |
| August 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Magnolia | - | Winds estimated to be 70 mph blew down several trees across Route 18 near Magnolia, IL. |
| August 2007 | Hail | Magnolia | - | Hail the size of a nickel fell about 4 miles southwest of McNabb, IL. |
| April 2015 | Hail | Magnolia | - | no account filed |
| May 2012 | Hail | Magnolia | - | no account filed |
| May 2012 | Hail | Magnolia | - | no account filed |
| October 1996 | Thunderstorm Wind | Magnolia | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Caledonia (historical) | 3.0 miles | 17 | |
| McNabb | 4.4 miles | 11 | |
| Florid | 9.2 miles | 17 | |
| Walnut Grove | 9.8 miles | 17 | |
| Standard | 9.9 miles | 19 | |
| Indian Spring | 9.9 miles | 17 | |
| Granville | 10.3 miles | 19 | |
| Undercliff | 10.4 miles | 17 |
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 Magnolia | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q2668480 | 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 412847. 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.






