BlockMetcalf, Illinois
14 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1953 and the latest in 1998. It stands in Young America Township. It lies in ZIP code area 61940. The Survey maps it on the Hume quadrangle. 139 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 689 feet above sea level.
Population over time
2 figuresMetcalf fell from 189 to 139 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 | 189 | |
| 2020 | 139 | -50 (-26%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
8 surveys from 14 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.
- 1953 USGS Indianapolis quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1956 USGS Indianapolis quadrangle1:250000
- 1956 USGS Newman quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1957 USGS Indianapolis quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1962 USGS Indianapolis quadrangle1:250000
- 1982 USGS Hume quadrangle1:24000
- 1986 USGS Paris quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
- 1998 USGS Hume quadrangle1:24000
What happened here
An account from the chapter on Young America township. The inset identifies its exact source book and publication year.
Past And Present
As has been incidentally mentioned, the first settler in this part of the county located at Hickory Grove. In the year 1820, a man named Helvene Stine came to this grove, began cutting trees, principally for coons or for honey. A\ bile engaged in this sport, he got after a good-sized coon, and in cutting down the tree, by some means, he was killed by its falling.
In the county-history sources
11,897 words on this townshipThe History of Edgar County, Illinois, Containing a History of the County--its Cities, Towns, &c. : Directory of Its Tax-payers; War Records of Its Volunteers in the Late Rebellion Portraits of Early Settlers and Prominent Men; General and Local Statistics; Map of Edgar County; History of Illinois, Illustrated; History of the Northwest, Illustrated; Constitution of the United States, Miscellaneous Matters, &c., &c. Illustrated, published 1879 names this settlement in its chapter on Young America Township. These are the passages that mention it, exactly as the scans read.
This village, like Hume, owes its existence to the railroad. It was surveyed by Mr. C. E. Carpenter, early in November, 1874, for Mr. John A. Metcalf, from whom it received its name, and wTho owned the land on which it is situated. He is an energetic man, one of the early residents here, and, seeing the pros¬ pect for a town, immediately acted on his resolution to establish one. Mr. Asaph Rogers opened the first store, which is now kept by Henry Ross. There is but the one in the place Another was opened, but the trade did not has since been added an elevator, both of which are now under the control of the Ketchum Brothers. They are doing a good business, as much grain is brought here, especially corn.
When the survey for the railroad was made, in 1850, a station, to be named New Harmony, was designated, in the southwest part of the township. The road not being built, no town was platted. When the railroad was completed, in 1872, the growth of Hume and Metcalf put an end to any prospects for a village at New Harmony, and the project was abandoned. However, a stop¬ ping-place was made a little west of the old site, and, in honor of one of the principal residents near it, was named McGowan. There is nothing here but a platform.
FRANCIS G. GREEN, farmer and stock-raiser, Sec. 6 ; P. O. Palermo ; owns 770 acres; born in Butler Co., Ohio, Dec. 18, 1816 ; resided with his parents until 22 years of age ; then went to Tippecanoe Co., Ind.; bought a saw-mill and run it four years. Married Elizabeth Ross Nov. 24, 1842 ; she was born in Clinton Co.,
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 Young America Township - it names this place 27 more 27 times.
Mines and quarries near this place
1 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 1 working within 5 miles of Metcalf: 1 past producer. None of them still produces. What was taken out: 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unnamed Limestone Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
5 since 2008Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Metcalf in 5 storm reports between 2008 and 2023: 2 thunderstorm wind, 1 hail, 1 tornado, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 2008 | Tornado (EF1) | Metcalf | $85,000 | An EF1 tornado touched down 7.2 miles WSW of Chrisman then travelled east-southeast for 2 miles across rural Edgar County. The tornado damaged two homes and several outbuildings and destroyed an old barn. |
| August 2012 | Thunderstorm Wind | Metcalf | $3,000 | Three large trees were blown down. |
| March 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Metcalf | - | Several trees were snapped at the base and a couple buildings suffered roof damage along County Road 2300 North near the intersection with 900 East. |
| August 2022 | Flash Flood | Metcalf | - | Several streets were flooded in Metcalf. |
| June 2008 | Hail | Metcalf | - | 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 Metcalf | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q2626653 | 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 413454. 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.