BlockOreana, Illinois
14 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1929 and the latest in 1998. It stands in Whitmore Township. It lies in ZIP code area 62554. The Survey maps it on the Argenta quadrangle. 891 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 687 feet above sea level.
On record in Oreana
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 1 record
Union Churchlisted 1999
Population over time
2 figuresOreana grew from 875 to 891 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 | 875 | |
| 2020 | 891 | +16 (+2%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
7 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.
- 1929 USGS Decatur quadrangle1:62500
- 1933 USGS Decatur quadrangle1:62500, 3 printings
- 1958 USGS Decatur quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1961 USGS Decatur quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1967 USGS Argenta quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1985 USGS Decatur quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
- 1998 USGS Argenta quadrangle1:24000
In the county-history sources
1,784 words on this townshipHistory 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 Whitmore Township. These are the passages that mention it, exactly as the scans read.
Mr. Henry Rhodes, a very pleasant and intelligent old gentleman, who is still living a short distance west of Oreana, has the honor of being the first justice of the peace. The first blacksmith shop was opened and occupied by George Eicholtz, who was ably qualified to attend to the wants of the settlers in that line of business. We also find S. T. Miller on section 21, Town 17, Range 3 East, with a blacksmith shop able to do all kinds of work in that line.
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.
Oreana is a village located on section 9, Tp. 17, R. 3 East. It is situated on the beautiful prairie, and is the only village or town in this township. It lies on each side of the Champaign, Havana and Western Railroad, which traverses this township. The first house erected in Oreana was a dwelling, built by Henry Morrisson, in the year 18 - . In the same year S. G. Coale opened the first store of general merchandize, which business he followed for a number of years. Another important event in the history of Oreana was the establishment of a post-office, with S. G. Crocker as post-master. In 1874 the Baptist Congregation had so increased in numbers as to be able to build a church, thereby being entitled to the honor of erecting the first church edifice in the village. The Rev. Mr. Ingmeyer was the first minister to locate in Oreana. Dr. Cheneworth was the first physician to practice medicine in this village. Oreana is a live business point, and commands the trade of quite a large territory. It is about seven miles north-east from Decatur. The following is a list of the present business houses in this place: General Stores - Frank M. Pratt; Ruddock & Kirby. Grain
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.
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 Oreana: 1 past producer. None of them still produces. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Argenta Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
15 since 1997Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Oreana in 15 storm reports between 1997 and 2024: 7 thunderstorm wind, 5 hail, 3 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 2015 | Thunderstorm Wind | Oreana | $1,000 | A tree was blown down in Oreana. |
| June 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Oreana | - | Several large tree branches were blown down along Christmas Tree Road. |
| August 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Oreana | - | A large tree was broken on East Mound Road near Highway 48. |
| August 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Oreana | - | Several large tree branches and power lines were blown down. |
| May 2019 | Thunderstorm Wind | Oreana | - | A vehicle was hit by a falling tree on Kirby Road. No injuries were reported. |
| May 2019 | Thunderstorm Wind | Oreana | - | A 30 by 50-foot Quonest hut was destroyed. |
| May 2019 | Thunderstorm Wind | Oreana | - | A large 16-inch diameter tree was split in half on Rayjon Dr. Power poles and numerous tree limbs were blown down across town. |
| July 2006 | Tornado (F0) | Oreana | - | A tornado briefly touched down in a field causing crop damage. |
| April 2000 | Tornado (F1) | Oreana | - | The tornado touched down 1.8 miles northeast of Oreana, just east of Route 48. It moved to the northeast along Route 48, entering Argenta. The most severe damage was in two areas. The first was about 2 miles northeast of Oreana where the roof of a two story house was lifted off. The second was on the southwest side of Argenta, where part of the roof of a two story brick building was lifted off and placed on top of a lower building roof. Also, numerous trees, power poles, and power lines were blown down. A garage was destroyed in Argenta. No injuries were reported. |
| April 1997 | Tornado (F0) | Oreana | - | A tornado briefly touched down in Oreana, destroying a mobile home and a barn. No injuries were reported and no damage estimate was available. |
| March 2024 | Hail | Oreana | - | no account filed |
| April 2006 | Hail | Oreana | - | no account filed |
| May 2004 | Hail | Oreana | - | no account filed |
| May 2003 | Hail | Oreana | - | no account filed |
| May 1998 | Hail | Oreana | - | 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 Oreana | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q1971347 | 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 415164. 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.