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Orion, Illinois

12 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1937 and the latest in 1991. It stands in Western Township. It lies in ZIP code area 61273. The Survey maps it on the Orion quadrangle. 1,754 people lived here at the 2020 count.

Orion within Henry County

On record in Orion

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 2 records

Population over time

2 figures

Orion fell from 1,861 to 1,754 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.

YearPeople Change
20101,861
20201,754-107 (-6%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

8 surveys from 12 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.

In the county-history sources

9,011 words on this township

History of Henry County, Illinois : It's Taxpayers and Voters; Containing Also, a Biographical Directory, a Condensed History of the State; Map of the County; a Business Directory...etc, published 1877 names this settlement in its chapter on Western Township. These are the passages that mention it, exactly as the scans read.

HUSTOX THOS. W. Farmer. Sec. 17; P.O. Orion; born in Dearborn Co. Ind. April 17, 1823; came to this county in 1852; Rep; Universalist; owns 130 acres of land. val. $7,500, also 120 acres in Mo.; son of Joseph Huston, who emigrated from N. H. to Ohio in 1811, and enlisted in the war of 1812, as drummer-boy, under Capt. Gest; name of wife was Mary A. Horham, of Dearborn Co. Ind., born March 20, 1826; married Sept. 14 1843, whose father was also in the war of 1812, and was taken prisoner, but escaped, and then emigrated in 1815 to Ind. from Vt.; Mr. Huston has six children: Polly E., born July I, 1844; Indiana, born Jan. 28, 1848; Dearborn, born Nov. 28, 1849; Olive, born May 18, 1851; Mary A., born June 24, 1855; and Delila A. born Dec. 19, 1866. V

Passage source: History of Henry County, Illinois : It's Taxpayers and Voters; Containing Also, a Biographical Directory, a Condensed History of the State; Map of the County; a Business Directory...etc, published 1877.

SNIDER DAVID T. Farmer, Sec. 31; P.O. Orion; born in Virginia, Dec. 25, 1835; came to 111. in 1866; Rep; Meth; owns 242 aares, value $16,000; son of James C. whose grandfather was captured by the Indians, when a small boy, and held by them about four years, and when regained by his parents could only remember the name of a mountain near by his father's house, and his book with the letter O in it; name of wife was Hannah Ramsey, daughter of Ira Ramsey, of Monongalia County, W. Virginia, born Nov. 25, 1841, married March 4, 1860; three children, James Ira, born Jan. 31, 1861; Emery, born Nov. 25, 1864, and Luther, born July 25, 1867.

Passage source: History of Henry County, Illinois : It's Taxpayers and Voters; Containing Also, a Biographical Directory, a Condensed History of the State; Map of the County; a Business Directory...etc, published 1877.

THOMAS GEORGE W. Nurseryman, Sec. 20; P.O. Orion; born in Litchfield County, Conn. Jan. 24, 1843; came to this co nty in 1857; Rep; Bapt; son of William R. now of Conn.; Vol. Co. C, H2th 111. I. under Col. Henderson; was engaged in the siege of Knoxville; was on the right in the charge at Atlanta, Aug. 6, 1864, also at the battle at Nashville, and remained under the Col. now a Genl. till the close of the war; name of wife was Emma A. Farrand Allegan County, Mich, born June 5, 1858; married at Pierson, Montcalm Co. Mich. Aug. 18, 1872; two children, Minnie May, born July 10, 1873; Mabel E. A. born Jan. 16, 1877.

Passage source: History of Henry County, Illinois : It's Taxpayers and Voters; Containing Also, a Biographical Directory, a Condensed History of the State; Map of the County; a Business Directory...etc, published 1877.

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 Western Township - it names this place 62 more 62 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 Orion: 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 SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Orlo Woodcock PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer

Every working recorded in Henry County

Storms near this place

25 since 1996

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Orion in 25 storm reports between 1996 and 2024: 13 thunderstorm wind, 9 hail, 2 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
October 2000Thunderstorm WindOrion$50,000Strong winds downed numerous trees, several grain bins and a corn crib along a path from Orion to Atkinson.
May 2004Flash FloodOrion$5,000Camp creek flooded out the bridge on County Line Road with 2 feet of water
July 2010Thunderstorm WindOrion$1,000Wind gusts estimated to be 60 mph ripped some shingles off of a residence about 2 miles southwest of Orion, IL around 405 pm CDT July 23.
October 2024HailOrion-A trained spotter reported lots of dime size hail along with a couple of stones that were the size of quarters.
May 2024Thunderstorm WindOrion-A 3 inch maple branch and 4 inch cherry branch was blown off healthy trees. The time is based on radar data.
June 2024Thunderstorm WindOrion-Several large tree branches downed throughout town by the thunderstorm winds.
June 2024Thunderstorm WindOrion-Several reports of large tree branches downed by thunderstorm winds.
June 2024Thunderstorm WindOrion-Large tree and powerlines downed by winds.
April 2024HailOrion-A trained spotter reported nickel to quarter size hail.
April 2023HailOrion-A public photo of golf ball sized hail. The report was relayed via broadcast media.
April 2023HailOrion-A trained spotter reported mostly quarter size hail but a few stones were up to 3.0 inches in diameter. The time of the event was estimated using radar.
June 2018Thunderstorm WindOrion-Numerous trees were blown down at a residence, blocking the driveway. The cement anchored flag pole was bent over by the wind.
July 2016Thunderstorm WindOrion-The local law enforcement reported trees down.
July 2015Flash FloodOrion-The Route 150 road was closed about 1.5 miles south of Orion Illinois due to flash flooding.
April 2014HailOrion-A trained spotter reported dime to quarter sized hail. Time of the event was estimated using radar.
June 2014Thunderstorm WindOrion-A trained spotter reported tree limbs of 6 to 8 inches in diameter blown down.
March 2006Thunderstorm WindOrion-Estimated 70 mph
May 2003HailOrion-Location 3.0 E of Coal Valley
April 1999Thunderstorm WindOrion-Thunderstorm winds blew down a metal pole building, several power poles and a dozen hog houses.
May 1998Thunderstorm WindOrion-Thunderstorm winds knocked down tree limbs and power lines across Western Henry county,
June 1997Thunderstorm WindOrion-Power lines downed.
April 2024HailOrion-no account filed
April 2024HailOrion-no account filed
May 2000Tornado (F0)Orion-no account filed
February 1996HailOrion-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Henry 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.

Map PlaceDistance Sheets
Sunny Hill3.6 miles14
Sunny Hill Estates3.8 miles14
Warner3.8 miles14
Lynn Center4.3 miles11
Brook Lawn4.7 miles14
Morristown5.2 miles12
Osco5.4 miles11
Andover6.3 miles11

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 OrionAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2671903The 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 415174. 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.