River Forest, Illinois
26 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1891 and the latest in 1997. It stands in River Forest Township. It lies in ZIP code area 60305. It stands on Silver Creek. The Survey maps it on the River Forest quadrangle. 11,717 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 630 feet above sea level.
On record in River Forest
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 4 records
William E. Drummond Houselisted 1970
William H. Hatch Houselisted 2007
William H. Winslow House And Stablelisted 1970- River Forest Historic Districtlisted 1977
Population over time
2 figuresRiver Forest grew from 11,172 to 11,717 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 | 11,172 | |
| 2020 | 11,717 | +545 (+5%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
12 surveys from 26 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.
- 1891 USGS Riverside quadrangle1:62500
- 1893 USGS Riverside quadrangle1:62500
- 1900 USGS Riverside quadrangle1:62500
- 1901 USGS Riverside quadrangle1:62500, 4 printings
- 1928 USGS River Forest quadrangle1:24000, 4 printings
- 1953 USGS Chicago quadrangle1:250000, 5 printings
- 1953 USGS River Forest quadrangle1:24000
- 1957 USGS Chicago quadrangle1:250000
- 1963 USGS River Forest quadrangle1:24000, 4 printings
- 1980 USGS Chicago quadrangle1:100000
- 1993 USGS River Forest quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1997 USGS River Forest quadrangle1:24000
Mines and quarries near this place
6 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 6 workings within 5 miles of River Forest: 6 past producers. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A C O'Laughlin Stone Co Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Bellwood Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Melrose Park City Eng. - Own Crews | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Northlake City Eng. - Own Crews | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| River Forest City Eng - Own Crews | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| West Chester City Eng. - Own Crews | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
13 since 2003Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names River Forest in 13 storm reports between 2003 and 2023: 6 thunderstorm wind, 5 hail, 1 flood, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 2006 | Hail | River Forest | $15,000 | Quarter size hail was reported in River Forest and lasted 10 minutes. The hail caused damage to cars and windows. |
| June 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | River Forest | $10,000 | Trees and large tree limbs were blown down along Wenonah Avenue. Trees and tree limbs were blown down across other parts of Oak Park. A large tree was uprooted along Clinton Avenue and fell onto a house causing damage to the roof and gutters. |
| April 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | River Forest | - | A photo showed a large tree limb snapped, blocking Thatcher Avenue south of North Avenue. |
| June 2021 | Flash Flood | River Forest | - | Street flooding was reported in Forest Park. The inbound Eisenhower Expressway (Interstate 290) was closed between Des Plaines Avenue and Harlem Avenue due to standing water. |
| July 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | River Forest | - | A very large tree limb was blown down in a backyard. |
| June 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | River Forest | - | A tree was blown down across a road. |
| June 2013 | Thunderstorm Wind | River Forest | - | Several 4 to 6 inch diameter limbs were blown down. |
| July 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | River Forest | - | A one-foot diameter branch was blown down with numerous smaller branches on Harvard Street between Clarence Avenue and East Avenue. |
| June 2009 | Flood | River Forest | - | Standing water was reported on right the side of Interstate 290 at Austin Blvd. |
| June 2019 | Hail | River Forest | - | no account filed |
| August 2014 | Hail | River Forest | - | no account filed |
| June 2006 | Hail | River Forest | - | no account filed |
| July 2003 | Hail | River Forest | - | 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.
| Map | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Forest Park | 1.3 miles | 26 | |
| Elmwood Park | 1.6 miles | 26 | |
| Oak Park | 1.8 miles | 26 | |
| Maywood | 2.0 miles | 26 | |
| Montclare | 2.0 miles | 26 | |
| Ellsworth | 2.1 miles | 26 | |
| Galewood | 2.1 miles | 26 | |
| River Grove | 2.3 miles | 26 |
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 River Forest | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q2299339 | 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 416701. 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.











