Menard, Illinois
23 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1915 and the latest in 1987. It stands in Chester precinct. It lies in ZIP code area 62233. It stands on Old River. The Survey maps it on the Chester quadrangle. It stands 495 feet above sea level.
On record in Menard
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 within a mile 2 records
The National Register names another town for these. They stand within one mile of this settlement's coordinate.
Frederick Weister Houselisted 2018 · 0.7 miles away
Old Fire Stationlisted 2018 · 0.8 miles away
Topographic sheets covering this place
12 surveys from 23 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.
- 1915 USGS Chester quadrangle1:62500, 5 printings
- 1947 USGS Chester quadrangle1:62500, 3 printings
- 1949 USGS Paducah quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1950 USGS Paducah quadrangle1:250000
- 1954 USGS Paducah quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1961 USGS Paducah quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1964 USGS Paducah quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1968 USGS Chester quadrangle1:24000
- 1970 USGS Chester quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1984 USGS Carbondale quadrangle1:100000
- 1986 USGS Carbondale quadrangle1:100000
- 1987 USGS Paducah quadrangle1:250000
Fires near this place
16 since 2013Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 16 fires within 5 miles of Menard between 2013 and 2017, burning about 24 acres in total. None 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 |
|---|---|
| Debris and open burning | 13 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 2 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 28 September 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Illinois Division of Forestry Resources | 70-2013 |
| 28 September 2013 | Debris and open burning | 5.0 acres | Illinois Division of Forestry Resources | 71-2013 |
| 1 September 2017 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Illinois Division of Forestry Resources | 840917 |
| 8 June 2014 | Debris and open burning | 1.0 acres | Illinois Division of Forestry Resources | 51-0614 |
| 25 May 2014 | Debris and open burning | 1.0 acres | Illinois Division of Forestry Resources | 46-0514 |
| 16 May 2014 | Debris and open burning | 1.0 acres | Illinois Division of Forestry Resources | 42-0514 |
| 6 April 2014 | Debris and open burning | 1.0 acres | Illinois Division of Forestry Resources | 33-0414 |
| 22 April 2014 | Debris and open burning | 2.0 acres | Illinois Division of Forestry Resources | 37-0414 |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
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 Menard: 2 occurrences, 2 past producers, 1 producer, 1 prospect. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Stone, Crushed/Broken, Sand and Gravel, Construction, Clay. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southern Illinois Sand Dredge | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Wlatersburg Shale Exposure | Clay | Prospect | ||
| Chester Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Limestone Prospect | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Occurrence | ||
| Limestone Prospect | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Occurrence | ||
| Menard State Penitentiary Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
15 since 2010Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Menard in 15 storm reports between 2010 and 2024: 12 thunderstorm wind, 2 hail, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Menard | $200,000 | Widespread wind damage across Chester. Numerous trees, tree limbs, power poles and power lines were blown down around town. Also, a couple of houses sustained damage from fallen trees. Several businesses were damaged as well. |
| April 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Menard | $25,000 | The Randolph County emergency manager reported snapped power poles and downed power lines east of Chester. |
| August 2024 | Tornado (EF0) | Menard | $2,000 | A brief landspout tornado developed along the outflow boundary of a cluster of thunderstorms just north of Chester, IL. The landspout formed just east of Bodes Ln and tracked eastward, impacting several trees and two outbuildings before dissipating in an adjacent field. |
| May 2021 | Thunderstorm Wind | Menard | - | Thunderstorm winds blew down several large tree limbs around town. |
| August 2019 | Thunderstorm Wind | Menard | - | Thunderstorm winds blew down several medium sized trees on the north side of town. |
| April 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Menard | - | Thunderstorm winds blew down numerous large tree limbs around town. |
| May 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Menard | - | Thunderstorm winds blew down several large trees and power lines around town. |
| September 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Menard | - | Thunderstorm winds blew down numerous large tree limbs around town. |
| July 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Menard | - | Thunderstorm winds blew down several trees, numerous tree limbs and power lines from Chester to Steeleville. |
| August 2015 | Thunderstorm Wind | Menard | - | Thunderstorm winds blew down several large trees onto Illinois Route 3 north of Chester. |
| May 2013 | Thunderstorm Wind | Menard | - | Thunderstorm winds blew down several large tree limbs on the north side of Chester. |
| June 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Menard | - | Thunderstorm winds blew down several trees blocking a rural road just east of town. |
| March 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Menard | - | no account filed |
| July 2012 | Hail | Menard | - | no account filed |
| April 2010 | Hail | Menard | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chester | 1.0 miles | 23 | |
| Campton | 2.4 miles | 23 | |
| Kaskaskia | 4.0 miles | 24 | |
| Fort Gage | 4.9 miles | 24 | |
| Old Kaskaskia | 5.1 miles | 24 | |
| Diamond Cross | 5.1 miles | 23 | |
| New Palestine | 6.0 miles | 23 | |
| Randolph | 6.2 miles | 19 |
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 Menard | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q6816467 | 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 422972. 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.











