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Ridge Farm, Illinois

15 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1947 and the latest in 1986. It stands in Elwood Township. It lies in ZIP code area 61870. The Survey maps it on the Georgetown quadrangle. 787 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 702 feet above sea level.

Ridge Farm within Vermilion County

Population over time

3 figures

Ridge Farm fell from 912 to 787 between 2000 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
2000912
2010882-30 (-3%)
2020787-95 (-11%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

7 surveys from 15 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

27,085 words on this township

History of Vermilion County, Together with Historic Notes on the Northwest, Gleaned from Early Authors, Old Maps and Manuscripts, Private and Official Correspondence, and Other Authentic, Though, for the Most Part, Out-of-the-way Sources, published 1879 names this settlement in its chapter on Elwood Township. These are the passages that mention it, exactly as the scans read.

Barrett Dillon was one of the first to settle in Pilot Grove, and was interested in the work of religion and education. He did much to build up society here. He died while he was on his way home from attending the yearly meeting of the Friend- in Iowa. He was a most excellent man, and his loss by death was deeply felt in the community. His daughter, Mrs. Fletcher, still lives at Pilot Grove; his son, Will- iam, died at Georgetown ; John was killed in Missouri by a falling tree; Mrs. Harrold, another daughter, died here, five of her eight children surviving her. Marion has long been one of the leading business men at Ridge Farm; John is also in business there; W. P. is on a farm, and Mrs. Dice and Mrs. Fellows reside there.

Passage source: History of Vermilion County, Together with Historic Notes on the Northwest, Gleaned from Early Authors, Old Maps and Manuscripts, Private and Official Correspondence, and Other Authentic, Though, for the Most Part, Out-of-the-way Sources, published 1879.

The land lying between the timber and Ridge Farm was called the " Texas country," because for a long time it was so wild. It began to fill up about 1845, and now embraces some of the finest farms in the township.

Passage source: History of Vermilion County, Together with Historic Notes on the Northwest, Gleaned from Early Authors, Old Maps and Manuscripts, Private and Official Correspondence, and Other Authentic, Though, for the Most Part, Out-of-the-way Sources, published 1879.

Charles Brady walked from Centerville, Indiana, in 1831, and took up a piece of land about three miles south of Yankee Point. He got forty acres, with Jackson's signature to the title deed, and built a slab house on it. He died there, and his son Enoch lives at Ridge Farm, where he is engaged in running the grist-mill.

Passage source: History of Vermilion County, Together with Historic Notes on the Northwest, Gleaned from Early Authors, Old Maps and Manuscripts, Private and Official Correspondence, and Other Authentic, Though, for the Most Part, Out-of-the-way Sources, published 1879.

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 Elwood Township - it names this place 49 more 49 times.

Storms near this place

22 since 1998

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Ridge Farm in 22 storm reports between 1998 and 2023: 14 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
May 1998Tornado (F0)Ridge Farm$50,000A tornado touched down one mile west of Ridge Farm. It destroyed a barn and machine shed. Also, it damaged another barn, machine shed, and a grain bin. No injuries were reported and damage was estimated around $50,000.
July 2013Thunderstorm WindRidge Farm$20,000Numerous trees and tree branches were blown down in Ridge Farm.
July 2008Thunderstorm WindRidge Farm$15,000Three foot diameter tree was blown over onto an unoccupied truck.
April 2013Thunderstorm WindRidge Farm$10,000A small garage was destroyed.
March 2012Thunderstorm WindRidge Farm$9,000Two 2-3 foot diameter trees were blown down and siding was peeled from a building in downtown Ridge Farm.
September 2012Thunderstorm WindRidge Farm$9,000A few trees were blown down, including one that became entangled in power lines and caught fire.
March 2012Thunderstorm WindRidge Farm$2,000A large pine tree was uprooted in Ridge Farm.
June 2023Thunderstorm WindRidge Farm-A backyard fence was blown down.
August 2022Thunderstorm WindRidge Farm-Several 8 to 12-inch diameter tree branches were blown down.
June 2021Thunderstorm WindRidge Farm-A tree was blown down.
December 2021Tornado (EF1)Ridge Farm-This tornado crossed from Edgar County into southeastern Vermilion County at 10:43 PM CST. No additional damage was observed as the tornado quickly lifted about 2 miles east-southeast of Ridge Farm at 10:44 PM CST.
August 2019Thunderstorm WindRidge Farm-A tree was blown down, damaging a tank and causing a propane leak.
May 2004Thunderstorm WindRidge Farm-Several large tree limbs and power lines were blown down.
May 2003Tornado (F0)Ridge Farm-A tornado briefly touched down in a field. No damage or injuries were reported.
June 2001Thunderstorm WindRidge Farm-Thunderstorm winds blew down numerous trees, tree limbs, power poles and lines, especially in the Ridge Farm area. In Ridge Farm, 3 homes sustained minor structural damage with major roof damage to a grade school.
May 2000Thunderstorm WindRidge Farm-Thunderstorm winds destroyed a tool shed, blew a tree onto a house causing minor damage, and took some shingles off of a garage roof in Ridge Farm.
September 2012HailRidge Farm-no account filed
September 2012HailRidge Farm-no account filed
June 2011HailRidge Farm-no account filed
June 2010Thunderstorm WindRidge Farm-no account filed
April 2003HailRidge Farm-no account filed
April 1998HailRidge Farm-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Vermilion 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
Vermilion Grove2.0 miles15
Olivet3.2 miles15
Indianola5.2 miles15
Georgetown5.6 miles15
Humrick5.6 miles16
Bethel5.7 miles16
Busenville6.4 miles15
Steelton8.0 miles20

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 Ridge FarmAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q1918286The 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 416635. 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.

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.