Niantic, Illinois

11 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1954 and the latest in 1985. It stands in Niantic Township. It lies in ZIP code area 62551. It stands on Willow Branch. The Survey maps it on the Niantic quadrangle. 612 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 601 feet above sea level.

Niantic within Macon County

Population over time

2 figures

Niantic fell from 707 to 612 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	707
2020	612	-95 (-13%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

5 surveys from 11 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.

1954 USGS Niantic quadrangle1:62500, 3 printings
1958 USGS Decatur quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
1961 USGS Decatur quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
1982 USGS Niantic quadrangle1:24000
1985 USGS Springfield quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings

In the county-history sources

2,673 words on this township

History of Macon County, Illinois : with Illustrations Descriptive of Its Scenery, and Biographical Sketches of Some of Its Prominent Men and Pioneers, published 1880 names this settlement in its chapter on Niantic Township. These are the passages that mention it, exactly as the scans read.

When laid out, in the year 1852, just after the completion of the railroad by Calvin Lockhart and Thomas Lewis, tin; post-office was called Lockhart. The town was for many years called Long Point, so named from the Long Point slough, which lies south of the town. It was afterward known as Prairie City, and finally the present name Niantic was adopted. Jesse Lockhart erected the first house, in what is now the northern part of the town. Mr. Gansen, opened the first store of general merchandize soon after the town was laid out. In 1855, Calvin Lockhart was appointed the first post-master of Lockhart, which position he continued to hold for a number of years. Dr. E. S. Faris, an old and highly respected citizen still engaged in the practice of medicine in the town of Niantic, kept the first hotel opened in the town. Miss Ryan taught school in the year 1855, in a building situated on the south side of the railroad, and originally used as a warehouse by the company.

Passage source: History of Macon County, Illinois : with Illustrations Descriptive of Its Scenery, and Biographical Sketches of Some of Its Prominent Men and Pioneers, published 1880.

In the fall of 1858, a very destructive storm swept over the western part of the county, and Niantic was immediately in its path. The storm was seen coming from the south-west ; and knowing the unsafe nature of the warehouse, then being used for school purposes, some of the citizens hastened to the building and warned the teacher and scholars of the approaching danger and assisted them out of the building. No sooner had this been done than the storm struck the house and completely demolished it.

Passage source: History of Macon County, Illinois : with Illustrations Descriptive of Its Scenery, and Biographical Sketches of Some of Its Prominent Men and Pioneers, published 1880.

Some of the earliest preachers, were the Reverends John Wilson, J. H. Hughes and J. W. Tyler, who preached in the warehouse, above-mentioned, soon after the laying out of the town. Rev. Benjamin Radford was the first local preacher. The Christian church erected by that denomination in 1867, was the first house of worship built in Niantic.

Passage source: History of Macon County, Illinois : with Illustrations Descriptive of Its Scenery, and Biographical Sketches of Some of Its Prominent Men and Pioneers, published 1880.

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 Niantic Township - it names this place 11 more 11 times.

Mines and quarries near this place

1 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 1 working within 5 miles of Niantic: 1 producer. All of them 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
	Macon Co. Materials Dredge	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Producer

Every working recorded in Macon County

Storms near this place

32 since 1994

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Niantic in 32 storm reports between 1994 and 2025: 12 thunderstorm wind, 9 hail, 6 flash flood, 5 tornado. The reports record 29 injuries. 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 1996	Tornado (F3)	Niantic	29 hurt, $9,000,000	no account filed
June 2011	Thunderstorm Wind	Niantic	$95,000	A large tree was blown onto a trailer, causing significant damage to the trailer. Two small outbuildings were also destroyed.
May 2013	Thunderstorm Wind	Niantic	$90,000	Numerous power poles and power lines were blown down. The roof of a machine shed was torn off.
July 2010	Flash Flood	Niantic	$75,000	A thunderstorm produced a heavy downpour with more than 1.50 of rain in 30 minutes across central Macon County, including the city of Decatur. Numerous streets were flooded and the roof of a food pantry collapsed, which damaged the contents of the building.
June 2010	Thunderstorm Wind	Niantic	$55,000	A camper and barn were damaged due to strong winds. A few trees were blown down as well.
April 2008	Thunderstorm Wind	Niantic	$25,000	Numerous trees and power lines were blown down. One home received minor roof damage near Niantic. Three outbuildings received moderate damage around Harristown.
March 2025	Thunderstorm Wind	Niantic	-	A school bus barn roof was peeled off.
May 2025	Thunderstorm Wind	Niantic	-	A tree was blown over.
April 2024	Thunderstorm Wind	Niantic	-	A large tree branch was downed.
May 2017	Flash Flood	Niantic	-	Heavy rain of 3.00 to 5.50 inches from the late evening of May 18th through the early morning of May 19th produced flash flooding in central and southern Macon County. Streets were flooded in Decatur and numerous rural roads were flooded from Decatur to Oakley and east toward the Piatt County line. The flooding subsided in most areas before 9:00 am.
June 2013	Flash Flood	Niantic	-	Slow moving thunderstorms, which produced 1.50 to 2.50 inches of rain on already saturated ground in a two hour period during the late evening of May 31st across northwest and northern Macon County, resulted in flash flooding which persisted into the morning of June 1st. The flash flooding made many rural roads impassable. State Route 121 from Warrensburg to the Logan County line was closed much of the night and early morning due to the flooding.
May 2013	Flash Flood	Niantic	-	Slow moving thunderstorms produced 1.50 to 2.50 inches of rain on already saturated ground in a two hour period during the late evening across northwest and northern Macon County. This rapidly produced flash flooding which made many rural roads impassable. State Route 121 from Warrensburg to the Logan County line was closed much of the night due to the flooding. The flash flooding continued through the night, and into June 1st.
June 2010	Flash Flood	Niantic	-	More than 1.50 of rain was observed in one hour in and around Decatur. This resulted in rapid flooding of numerous streets in the city of Decatur, and in the rural roads north and west of the city. Several cars were stranded in the floodwaters near the intersection of Illinois Route 121 and Interstate 72.
May 2009	Flash Flood	Niantic	-	Heavy rain of 2.50 to 4.00 inches within two to three hours produced significant flash flooding of most roads in Macon County, including extensive street flooding in the city of Decatur.
April 2006	Tornado (F0)	Niantic	-	The tornado briefly touched down in a field. No damage was reported.
June 2005	Thunderstorm Wind	Niantic	-	Numerous trees and power lines were blown down. In addition, a roof was blown off a business in Decatur.
June 2003	Tornado (F0)	Niantic	-	A tornado briefly touched down in a field. No damage or injuries were reported.
July 2001	Thunderstorm Wind	Niantic	-	Several trees and large tree limbs were blown down in Niantic, Warrensburg and Harristown.
July 2001	Thunderstorm Wind	Niantic	-	Thunderstorm winds blew down numerous tree limbs, power lines and a large tree. The tree knocked down additional power lines.
May 2000	Tornado (F0)	Niantic	-	A tornado made a series of touch downs in open fields over a 7 mile long path, but no damage was reported.
June 2000	Thunderstorm Wind	Niantic	-	Several trees were blown down as well as numerous tree limbs.
May 1995	Tornado (F0)	Niantic	-	A tornado briefly touched down in a field. No damage was reported.
April 2020	Hail	Niantic	-	no account filed
December 2018	Hail	Niantic	-	no account filed
June 2008	Hail	Niantic	-	no account filed
June 2006	Hail	Niantic	-	no account filed
April 2005	Hail	Niantic	-	no account filed
May 2003	Hail	Niantic	-	no account filed
June 1996	Thunderstorm Wind	Niantic	-	no account filed
April 1996	Hail	Niantic	-	no account filed
April 1996	Hail	Niantic	-	no account filed
April 1994	Hail	Niantic	-	no account filed

Every storm recorded in Macon 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.

Place	Distance	Sheets
Harristown	4.4 miles	11
Heman	7.2 miles	11
Blackland	7.2 miles	11
Wyckles	7.3 miles	11
Wyckles Corners	7.3 miles	11
Warrensburg	7.8 miles	11
Boody	8.7 miles	11
Bearsdale	8.7 miles	11

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 Niantic	An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2168572	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 414505. 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.