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Riverton, Illinois

20 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1907 and the latest in 1998. It stands in Clear Lake Township. It lies in ZIP code area 62561. The Survey maps it on the Springfield East quadrangle. 3,532 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 564 feet above sea level.

Riverton within Sangamon County

Population over time

2 figures

Riverton grew from 3,455 to 3,532 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
20103,455
20203,532+77 (+2%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

9 surveys from 20 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

2,685 words on this township

History of Sangamon County, Illinois; Together with Sketches of Its Cities, Villages and Townships ... Portraits of Prominent Persons, and Biographies of Representative Citizens. History of Illinois, published 1881 names this settlement in its chapter on Clear Lake Township. These are the passages that mention it, exactly as the scans read.

Clear Lake township is traversed by two railroads, the Wabash and the Springfield & Northwestern. The former enters from Springfield on section nineteen, runs in a northeasterly direction through the village of Riverton to section ten, when it runs due east into the township of Mechanicsburg. The latter from Springfield enters on section eighteen, and runs northeast, enters Williams township from section two.

Passage source: History of Sangamon County, Illinois; Together with Sketches of Its Cities, Villages and Townships ... Portraits of Prominent Persons, and Biographies of Representative Citizens. History of Illinois, published 1881.

The township was first settled in 1820, Hugh McGary was the first settler. He settled immediately upon the banks of Clear Lake. He was an old soldier under Harrison, and was a man highly respected, being a high-minded honorable man.

Passage source: History of Sangamon County, Illinois; Together with Sketches of Its Cities, Villages and Townships ... Portraits of Prominent Persons, and Biographies of Representative Citizens. History of Illinois, published 1881.

Archer G. Herndon, Sr., was engaged in mercantile pursuits, from 1825 to 1836, in Springfield, and during that time erected the first regular tavern in town. He was one of the "Long Nine" who were instrumental in having the Capital removed from Vandalia to Springfield, having been elected State Senator in 1836. He was receiver of public moneys, from 1842 to 1842, in the Land Office, in Springfield. A. G. Herndon, Sr., died January 3, 1867, and Mrs. Rebecca Herndon died August 19, 1875.

Passage source: History of Sangamon County, Illinois; Together with Sketches of Its Cities, Villages and Townships ... Portraits of Prominent Persons, and Biographies of Representative Citizens. History of Illinois, published 1881.

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 Clear Lake Township - it names this place 14 more 14 times.

Fires near this place

13 since 2010

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 13 fires within 5 miles of Riverton between 2010 and 2014, burning about 92 acres in total. None started naturally. None was recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause Fires
Debris and open burning7
Missing data/not specified/undetermined6

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
17 September 2010Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresIllinois Division of Forestry Resources10308
8 August 2010Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreIllinois Division of Forestry Resources10259
5 May 2014Debris and open burning1.0 acresIllinois Division of Forestry Resources14-0000148
6 April 2014Debris and open burning1.0 acresIllinois Division of Forestry Resources14-0000112
24 March 2014Debris and open burningunder an acreIllinois Division of Forestry Resources14-0000096
21 March 2014Debris and open burning12 acresIllinois Division of Forestry Resources14-0000087
21 March 2011Debris and open burning10 acresIllinois Division of Forestry Resources1193
15 March 2014Debris and open burning3.0 acresIllinois Division of Forestry Resources14-0000084

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Sangamon County

Mines and quarries near this place

5 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 5 workings within 5 miles of Riverton: 3 producers, 2 past producers. 3 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
Clear Lake DredgeSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Riverton Barrow PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Sangamon Valley DredgeSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Springfield Sand & Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Springfield Sand&Gravel Co. DredgeSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer

Every working recorded in Sangamon County

Storms near this place

24 since 1994

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Riverton in 24 storm reports between 1994 and 2025: 13 thunderstorm wind, 8 hail, 3 tornado. The reports record 5 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
March 2006Tornado (F2)Riverton4 hurtThe tornado touched down 3.75 miles south of Riverton. It moved northeast, between Dawson and Buffalo (passing 1.5 miles west of Buffalo), and lifted just south of the Logan County line, 5 miles northeast of Buffalo.This tornado started at F0 strength, about 100 yards wide, and quickly strengthened to F2 intensity (120 mph) with a maximum width of 200 yards. It weakened to F1 intensity, and was about 100 yards wide when it ended. Total path was 12.5 miles in length. Damage from this storm consisted of damage to barn buildings and some significant house damage. Power poles were snapped, with major tree damage.4 injuries were reported, but there were no fatalities
April 2006Tornado (F1)Riverton1 hurtThe tornado struck a mobile home park, destroying eight homes and damaging thirty others. Numerous trees were blown down. One injury (direct) occurred when a woman exited her mobile home and was blown into an adjacent home.
May 2013Thunderstorm WindRiverton$415,000Forty eight mobile homes were damaged at the Lincoln Place Mobile Home Park about a mile south of Riverton. Several large trees were uprooted just west of the park and numerous large tree branches were broken off and blown onto homes within the park. No injuries were reported.
August 2020Thunderstorm WindRiverton$60,000Power poles were blown down on South 9th Street.
March 2017Thunderstorm WindRiverton$15,000A small trailer was overturned.
June 2015Thunderstorm WindRiverton$2,000Tree limbs were blown onto Old Route 36 in Riverton.
July 2024Thunderstorm WindRiverton-Large tree branches were blown down onto a house.
April 2024Thunderstorm WindRiverton-Numerous trees were blown down in Riverton and areas to the east.
March 2023Tornado (EF2)Riverton-A tornado touched down near the intersection of Overpass Road and Old Route 36 about 1 mile east-southeast of Riverton at 6:18pm CDT. The tornado tracked northeastward, completely removing the roof from a business and causing damage to trees and outbuildings before crossing into southern Logan County at 6:32pm CDT.
May 2021Thunderstorm WindRiverton-A few trees were damaged near Riverton.
August 2021Thunderstorm WindRiverton-A 16-inch diameter tree was snapped and several tree branches were blown down.
August 2021Thunderstorm WindRiverton-Several trees were blown over.
May 2020Thunderstorm WindRiverton-A power pole was snapped and a large tree branch was blown down.
August 2000Thunderstorm WindRiverton-Several nine to twelve inch diameter trees were blown down within the city limits.
June 1999Thunderstorm WindRiverton-Several trees were blown down.
April 1994Thunderstorm WindRiverton-Thunderstorm winds blew the roof off of one mobile home and some siding and skirting off of another one.
April 2025HailRiverton-no account filed
April 2020HailRiverton-no account filed
April 2013HailRiverton-no account filed
May 2011HailRiverton-no account filed
July 2009HailRiverton-no account filed
June 2006HailRiverton-no account filed
September 2005HailRiverton-no account filed
September 2005HailRiverton-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Sangamon 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
Spaulding1.5 miles20
Bissell2.2 miles20
Barclay2.4 miles20
Clear Lake2.6 miles20
Arlington Heights3.7 miles20
Starne3.7 miles20
Devereux Heights3.9 miles20
Peabody4.0 miles17

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 RivertonAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2100595The 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 416729. 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.

Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.

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.